A news report came in today that older women are at risk from developing breast cancer because they don’t realise there are more indicators of it than just lumps. As far as I’m concerned this doesn’t just relate to older women, this relates to all women.
My own breast cancer wasn't evident in a lump, mine was apparent in the form of innocent looking dimples. At first one appeared and I thought it was because I’d put on weight, then another one came a few weeks later. I knew something was up. I did the thing you’re absolutely NOT meant to do and I Googled it. Sure enough, on the CRUK page were a variety of symptoms, and dimples were one of them. Here’s their list:
· A lump or thickening in an area of the breast
· A change in the size, shape or feel of a breast
· Dimpling of the skin
· A change in the shape of your nipple, particularly if it turns in, sinks into the breast, or has an irregular shape
· A blood stained discharge from the nipple
· A rash on a nipple or surrounding area
· A swelling or lump in your armpit
When I saw that third one I knew that I had to go to the doc – even though I had the usual feeling of not wanting to waste their time.
I didn’t have a great experience at that appointment. I saw a doctor I hadn’t seen before at the end of a long Thursday. She looked like she wanted to go home and I felt like I shouldn’t be there. Nonetheless I voiced my concerns and insisted she examine me, which she did, with not a lot of bedside manner and rather more roughly than I would have liked.
After she finished she said she couldn’t feel a thing, didn’t consider my dimples as cause for concern but would refer me to the breast unit in order to ‘put my mind at rest’. In other words, my worries were dismissed. I truly feel that if I hadn’t pushed for an examination or an appointment at the breast clinic, I’d be in a very different situation now.
So my early diagnosis from being breast aware myself saved my life. Some people have said to me that maybe that doctor could feel lumps and knew what it was so was dismissive as she didn’t want to worry me, but I don’t think that. I think she’s a woman like the rest of us; who dismisses stuff because we’re not familiar with it, or we’re tired, or we think we might be wasting the doctor’s time, or we’re just too damn busy to have cancer.
None of us are too busy but all of us can look after ourselves. Check your breasts, check the symptoms, go to the doc, put yourself first. Breast cancer doesn’t need to kill if we catch it soon enough.
Here's the article,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33480866
Here's the CRUK page,
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/breast-cancer/about/breast-cancer-symptoms
Help raise funds here,
https://www.justgiving.com/baldys-buddies/
Find me here,
https://twitter.com/Baldybitesback
https://instagram.com/baldybitesback/
https://www.facebook.com/felicity.gibson1
My own breast cancer wasn't evident in a lump, mine was apparent in the form of innocent looking dimples. At first one appeared and I thought it was because I’d put on weight, then another one came a few weeks later. I knew something was up. I did the thing you’re absolutely NOT meant to do and I Googled it. Sure enough, on the CRUK page were a variety of symptoms, and dimples were one of them. Here’s their list:
· A lump or thickening in an area of the breast
· A change in the size, shape or feel of a breast
· Dimpling of the skin
· A change in the shape of your nipple, particularly if it turns in, sinks into the breast, or has an irregular shape
· A blood stained discharge from the nipple
· A rash on a nipple or surrounding area
· A swelling or lump in your armpit
When I saw that third one I knew that I had to go to the doc – even though I had the usual feeling of not wanting to waste their time.
I didn’t have a great experience at that appointment. I saw a doctor I hadn’t seen before at the end of a long Thursday. She looked like she wanted to go home and I felt like I shouldn’t be there. Nonetheless I voiced my concerns and insisted she examine me, which she did, with not a lot of bedside manner and rather more roughly than I would have liked.
After she finished she said she couldn’t feel a thing, didn’t consider my dimples as cause for concern but would refer me to the breast unit in order to ‘put my mind at rest’. In other words, my worries were dismissed. I truly feel that if I hadn’t pushed for an examination or an appointment at the breast clinic, I’d be in a very different situation now.
So my early diagnosis from being breast aware myself saved my life. Some people have said to me that maybe that doctor could feel lumps and knew what it was so was dismissive as she didn’t want to worry me, but I don’t think that. I think she’s a woman like the rest of us; who dismisses stuff because we’re not familiar with it, or we’re tired, or we think we might be wasting the doctor’s time, or we’re just too damn busy to have cancer.
None of us are too busy but all of us can look after ourselves. Check your breasts, check the symptoms, go to the doc, put yourself first. Breast cancer doesn’t need to kill if we catch it soon enough.
Here's the article,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33480866
Here's the CRUK page,
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/breast-cancer/about/breast-cancer-symptoms
Help raise funds here,
https://www.justgiving.com/baldys-buddies/
Find me here,
https://twitter.com/Baldybitesback
https://instagram.com/baldybitesback/
https://www.facebook.com/felicity.gibson1