Cancer leaves no room for complacency

I'm quickly approaching the first anniversary of being told I have breast cancer and, while I don't generally dwell on it, I was nevertheless somewhat nervous about last week's annual mammogram - albeit I don't get to join the 'screening mammogram' club anymore (as my oncologist described it). I'm now in the diagnostic mammogram club, at least for a year or two anyway.

And it was at last week's follow-up mammo (the first since just prior to my diagnosis) that I learned my small cancer actually didn't even shown up on last year's screening mammo. It was only by having noticed the small lump myself and mentioning it to my GP a few days prior, that I even had a pre-cautionary ultrasound to check it out. Had I not noticed it nor mentioned anything (given I'd already become aware of the lump a few months earlier but had decided to wait until the screening mammo, believing it was probably nothing) then I might never have got the diagnosis last year and it could still have been growing..... It doesn't bear thinking about!

Although I've made virtually no mention of the whole breast cancer thing on Facebook (I'm not that public about my life), I felt compelled to share this latest, quite shocking news, and similarly I'm writing it here, as a serious warning to all women, in the event anyone actually looks at this blog:

I wanted to post a personal note to my female friends on the importance of getting to know your boobs: In May 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer (thankfully very small & early stage) for which I had a lumpectomy, several weeks of radiation and will take the medication Tamoxifen for 5 years.

Imagine my surprise when, at a follow-up mammogram this morning, the technician confirmed that my ‘screening mammogram’ last year didn’t actually pick up any sign of the cancer, even though I’d indicated where I felt a small lump! Thankfully I had mentioned it to my GP around the same time (thinking it was probably just a gland) and she’d suggested getting a diagnostic ultra-sound just to be sure. As it turned out, that ultra-sound led to a biopsy and then the Big-C result no-one wants to hear.

I just wanted to stress how important it is to really get to know your boobs and how they feel, because a regular screening mammogram isn’t 100% reliable. Within 2 weeks of an ‘all-clear’ screening mammogram, I was told I had breast cancer. I’m definitely not trying to instill fear, I’m just saying you owe it to yourself, not to mention your loved ones, to get intimate with your boobs….so to speak. :-)

(Besides, I'm sure there are plenty of men who are only too willing to help out!)

Anyway, the lesson in all of this? You really cannot afford to be complacent - ever! I'm the first to admit that I lived thinking (somewhat naiively) that I was okay 'because we don't have a family history of breast cancer'. And then Vicky got it in 2009....and I thought it was freaky but it nagged at me nevertheless. But I still wasn't all that diligent about self-checking, even after Vicky's diagnosis (head-in-the-sand maybe?), though I must've been doing it subconsciously since I managed to notice that little lump on my right side, towards my armpit.......and I'm so thankful that I did!

Moreover, my cancer was small and early stage but was already classed as invasive - i.e. it had started to spread beyond its original location. Imagine I had merrily relied upon the apparent 'all clear' results of last year's screening mammogram, my story might have turned out quite differently indeed!

If I can help even one female (or male come to that) by sharing this unexpected revelation, then it's the very least I can do.

So listen up, people - it takes hands-on experience and diligence. Literally. What are you waiting for? There really is NO time to waste!