I recently became fearful of possibly being a victim of one of the most leading causes of deaths in women. If that doesn’t ring a clue…then it’s Cancer of the Breast. Breast cancer is killing thousands of women yearly. It has been progressively getting worse since the early 90’s. I found a great site that gives more statistics on the cancerous disease which you can check out at www.cancer.org.
About a month ago I started having pain on the left side of my chest. After a few weeks of the pain not subsiding and me giving myself an examination I discovered a lump the size of a ping pong ball roughly. It really brought light to my eyes and I freaked out. Of course being new at my job and I do not have insurance; I freaked out even more. What do I do??? Well I put a call into my doctor, whom I have been seeing for over 7 years. I explained my situation to her and she immediately wanted to see me. She explained that it could be nothing, but we should not play around when it comes to this. So I made an appointment to go in and have her take a look. She felt the same lump as I did and she found a smaller one that I was not aware of. She requested that I have a mammogram and ultra sound to see what it is. Of course I am really worried about money, insurance and if they find something being classified under preexisting. Regardless I needed to find out just so I could go about my normal life, because normal it has not been since I discovered the lump myself.
Well after a recently having the test done I get a phone call from my doctor stating that the Radiologist says he didn’t see anything. However because she felt the lumps herself she wants to wait a couple of months and if things do not get better, then she will send me to a specialist. So here it cost me over $300 out of pocket to have test done and I get no results. Well, no sure answer and I say this because the Ultra Sound technician should have done a complete scan and she did not. She only checked the areas that I pointed out which means she could have been off and just over looked it. Trust me I pray that I do not have cancer, but what I am looking for is for someone to tell me why I am having the pain and what is the mass in my chest. Just some simple answers you would think.
I have to say I am not great about giving myself an examination regularly, but I do go to the doctor annually and make sure I take care of myself that way. However after this and not knowing what is normal or not; I really need to know more about myself. Normally breast cancer does not cause pain which is why many women go without detecting it until it’s too late. Once a year just isn’t enough either so I will do it regularly for my own health sake.
As I sat at the radiologist office waiting, I was listening to many women in the room telling their stories about having breast cancer. Some more than once and some stating the mammogram never detected it. That scares me and really makes me think….why is doctors utilizing a machine that is insufficient. Having a cancer that affects some many women and they can not come up with something better? The Ultra Sound is supposed to pick up what the mammogram does not, but that is not always the case and they do not always do the mammogram.
I truly feel for women around the world and have been donating to the cause for years. Let’s continue our support and efforts to find a cure and help save more lives. Do you have a story or know of anyone who has had to face Breast Cancer? I would love to hear your stories…
Click to Give – Breast Cancer Foundation
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2
