Marathon Me

Now normally I don’t like to get too serious on here, but this is a topic close to my heart for several reasons. Most importantly, my mother and Shelley’s aunt are both breast cancer survivors. Rock on, Ladies!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and it is a good time to reflect on all of the good things that come from breasts. Almost assuredly they played a key role in your conception (wink), and for a large percentage of the population, for 99% of human history, they fed you (unless you’re in a 3rd world country and a victim of the formula campaigns to vilify breast feeding, but that’s a topic for another day):

The National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that each year, over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and over 40,000 will die. One woman in eight either has or will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Approximately 1,700 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die each year.

If detected early, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer exceeds 96%. Mammograms are among the best early detection methods, yet 13 million U.S. women 40 years of age or older have never had a mammogram.

That is an amazing statistic of what early detection can do. 96%! The Breast Cancer Site is collecting clicks to provide free mammograms to women in need, who otherwise would be unable to afford them. So I suggest that you quickly click here. (Go ahead. I’ll wait. ) Go there, click the bright pink button and save some lives. Feel free to go back every day this month and continue doing good in the world.

After you’ve made a quick impact, you might be looking for some more information.

Some useful sites:
http://nbcam.org/
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
http://www.komen.org/
http://bcsupport.org/
http://www.breastfriends.com/

But if you’re looking for a more distilled and down to earth discussion of simple things you can do to lower your risk, such as…

Please to remember that, in pre-menopausal women, an extra 4.6 hours of moderate exercise per week (slow running) or 7 hours of easy activity (hello, walking or folding laundry with vigor!) can lower your risk of breast cancer by NINE PERCENT over sedentary women. The activity lowers your levels of estrogen and insulin both hormones which are correlated to breast cancer risk.

…then head over to Mizfitonline. Today, MizFit, while dressed all in pink, poises the question of who inspires you the most to keep fighting this terrible disease. We think MizFit is pretty inspiring herself - and not just because of her sweet ass pink hat and huge guns. Check her out!

So rock on, ladies. I will close with the following early detection tips:

One of the earliest signs of breast cancer can be an abnormality that shows up on a mammogram before it can be felt. The most common signs of breast cancer are a lump in the breast; abnormal thickening of the breast; or a change in the shape or color of the breast. Finding a lump or change in your breast does not necessarily mean you have breast cancer. Additional changes that may also be signs of breast cancer include:

• Any new, hard lump or thickening in any part of the breast
• Change in breast size or shape
• Dimpling or puckering of the skin
• Swelling, redness or warmth that does not go away
• Pain in one spot that does not vary with your monthly cycle
• Pulling in of the nipple
• Nipple discharge that starts suddenly and appears only in one breast
• An itchy, sore or scaling area on one nipple

Seriously, life is too short to not get checked out.

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