Today I posted on my Facebook page about where to find free or reduced priced mammogram screenings. Mammograms are great if you’re over 40, but please, please, please dedicate one day a month to check your ta-tas. If you don’t already do it, start. Unless you’ve got a known, high risk predisposition to breast cancer, regular screenings aren’t recommended until you are 40 years old. If you’re interested in where to get mammograms in WI for free or low cost, that info can be found here: https://www.freemammograms.org/state/wisconsin?fbclid=IwAR1lcP9AZ-s0g0pqn60eohPtjltkmtCdFRy7XQ1nFM2vZZOOWi19urE_-f8
I detected my tumors myself, and a former coworker dubbed them “Monday and Tuesday”, as a joke, because they’re the worst days of the week. I made an appointment with the nurse practitioner at my OBGYN office for an exam, who seemed to think that Monday and Tuesday could very well be cysts, but to be sure she had me schedule a mammogram and ultrasound. The mammogram and ultrasound appointment was a week and a half later, on Halloween. Before I left the imaging office the radiologist had been very honest with me, advising I had every marker they look for with breast cancer. Two days later I sat at the hospital learning about my treatment options, what type of breast cancer I had, and how advanced it was. Initially they told me I was early stage 2, but eventually I learned I was late stage 3, grade 3, triple negative. Five weeks later my genetic testing came back positive for a BRCA1 mutation. Only 10-15% of breast cancers are triple negative, and a BRCA1 mutation increases your risk by 60% of getting cancer. Many times if you do get cancer with a genetic mutation, it’s triple negative.
So how can you combat something like your DNA? That’s a hard question, but one I’ve thought about unendingly. Diet is one way I’ve worked to be healthy. Low sugar, lots of fruits and vegetables, and mostly eat seafood, nuts, and legumes as a form of protein. I haven’t given up meat, but I do limit it. I don’t deny myself a treat here and there, but my diet is different than it was. I also try to get at least 30 minutes of cardio in at least 5 times a week. Usually it’s either my stationary bike or a walk, but I DO IT. Now, admittedly my weight isn’t as low as I’d like, but I am working at it every day. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/diet-physical-activity/diet-and-physical-activity.html
My next post will be about my opinions and experiences with natural deodorant, and why I insist EVERYONE SWITCH, ASAP.
My 4 year wedding anniversary is 10/1, and the 2 year mark of my diagnosis is coming up on 10/31, too. October is a bizarre month for me. I think about my diagnosis a lot, but not as much as I did. It’s still every day, but not all of the time every day. That’s an improvement. Today for instance; I thought about it in the shower this morning, then again when I started talking about my grandpa in the above paragraph. When Tyler and I were first married I worried he’d have to take care of me when we get old, specifically with the fear of Alzheimer’s. Now I worry he won’t have to... it’s a strange feeling. The fear of dying makes me feel self centered and selfish, which is another thing I’m working through; not only trying not to worry about what I can’t control but also that self forgiveness I talked about earlier.