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Below, you'll find extensive information on leading
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Breast Cancer, Not Just For Women
By Eln Albert, Thu Dec 8th
According to the American Cancer Society, eight out of ten womenwill be diagnosed with Breast Cancer. And men are not exempt. Itaffects more of us then we can ever imagine. Since there hadbeen no history in my maternal family line of breast cancer, Ifelt I was at a very small to no risk. Of course, it would neverhappen to me. On my father's side of the family, there were twosisters with breast cancer, one in her late forties and again inher seventies and the other in her seventies when they werediagnosed. Faithfully, I went for my yearly exams to my ob/gyn. Never had Ihad any lumps in my breasts during an exam. Although I was in mymid-forties, I had not yet had a mammogram. My list of reasonsfor not doing it and my excuses were probably just like yours ifyou haven't done it either. My doctor had advised upon gettingone; but I didn't sense any urgency. I had just gone throughpregnancy and nursing. Considerably late in life, I gave birth to my son. I was busybeing a new Mom, breast-feeding and basking in the glory of mylittle miracle. Fortunately, my pregnancy was fairly easy and Ihad a very healthy baby in spite of my age. Jason was 7 lbs. 8oz. and 21 ½ " long! Big enough for me thank you! My doctoradvised that when I stopped breast-feeding to allow a littletime and then we'd schedule a mammogram. Again, there was nourgency, just advice.
While I was nursing, the very tip of my nipple developed a verysmall sore. I had had some difficulty nursing and someirritations; and this small sore seemed no more than part ofthat. When I fist pointed it out to my doctor, she said it wasnothing. She thought it was a breast-feeding irritation. Several more months went by. I stopped breast-feeding and gavemy nipple time to heal. It didn't. Conscious that my body didn'tusually take this long to heal, I went in to see another doctorand get a second opinion. She said it's either nothing at all ora very rare form of breast cancer. She scheduled a mammogram.Immediately following the mammogram was my appointment with thesurgeon and he diagnosed me with a rare calledPaget's Disease. The dismay and shock I felt made it hard for meto find my way out of the Doctor's office. As I sat in my car inthe hospital-parking garage, I screamed and screamed, wonderingif I would live long enough to raise my now two-year-old son. After the initial shock, there were moments when I would feel atremendous calm in spite of all the emotional chaos. When Icould be in touch with my feelings, I knew that God was with methrough this entire ordeal. Two weeks after diagnosis, and justtwo weeks before Christmas, I had a mastectomy! On Christmas Evemy gift was the removal of the drainage tubes from surgery. Iwent through chemotherapy treatment and lost 95% of my hair.Although I never went completely bald, wigs and hats became mynew fashion statement. I loved that I could put my head out ofthe car window when driving, enjoy the speed and not mess up myhair! Now that was pretty cool. Every person's experience with cancer is very personal and notwo people seem to have the exact same experience even though weall go through similar treatments. One thing that was amazing tome, people that you barely know will step up and lend their helpand support in unexpected and amazing ways. And sometimes,people whom you would expect to be supportive are not. Manyclose friends and family are at a total loss as what to do tohelp a loved one. They are so afraid for you and for themselves. It was a conscious decision on my part to ask as many people aspossible to add me to their prayers. Although I am a spiritualwoman, I would not say I am deeply religious. This was not atime to be shy, coy or modest. My life was at risk! Many womenand men that didn't know me or vice versa, included me in theirprayers and on prayer boards. I firmly believe their prayersmade a hugh difference in my getting through the cancer as wellas I did. Some people even today keep me in their prayers eventhough the obvious cancer is gone; and I have been cancer freefor nearly three years. I welcome and appreciate those prayersand always say thank you. The power of prayer is strong. An example of my getting through fairly well are, my red bloodcell count levels never went below normal even though I hadmonths of chemotherapy. Some people loose their blood countlevels after the first treatment. I had my chemotherapies
onFridays. One Friday, I was to join my friends on an annual tripto the mountains in Idyllwild for hiking and relaxing. OnSaturday, the day of the hike, I decided to go and just go foras far as I could or was comfortable for me. As the trail woundup the mountain, I found the view and the fresh air exhilaratingand energizing. I ended up hiking that day for about five toseven miles! Now that may not sound like a lot when you'rehealthy; but after chemo, it's quite a feat. Needless to say thenext day I was very tired; but it was a good kind of tired; andI felt proud of myself for even being able to do it. I came to realize that although having Cancer is an awfulexperience, God meant for me to go through it for some reason.It is also not the worst challenge a person can have. I can lookat the challenges that others go through and feel I am blessedthat mine was "only" breast cancer. There is always somethingworse. The attitude you chose to have in a crisis is also of majorimportance to the success of the outcome. No, it's not easy. Butfind what is important to you and focus on that. For me, it wasliving to raise my son for a long, long time to come. We may notunderstand what God wants from us, but we can have trust andjust go with it as best we can. Have you heard, "make lemonade out of the lemons" in your life?Sure you have! For most of us, unless we are challenged to dothis, it is only a saying. It is real. No matter what you gothrough and the challenges you face, there are sweet spots.Don't get me wrong; it doesn't take the tragedy out of things.But when we look for even the smallest, tiniest glimmer of whatis positive out of the experience you can and will have a newperspective. When I asked my Aunt Mary, who had gone throughbreast cancer two times, with two mastectomies years apart, "Howdid this experience change you?" What she shared with me is whatI have since heard many other women say in similar ways, "Youquit sweating the small stuff. I learned to appreciate mychildren even more. Every day is precious." Like Aunt Mary, Ismile now when my son does something that might have made meangry before. Now, I tend to think, it's not that important andthings happen. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't reallymatter. I am thankful to be here for him and he for me, becausehe is the most precious thing in the world to me. Did you as a child ever envy the guys because they could taketheir shirts off on a hot summer day? Well, I did. Girls didn'tget to do that. After the mastectomy, in my rare case ofsick-sense-of-humor, I wondered, "If I had had a doublemastectomy would that mean I could take my shirt off in thesummer and no one would care?" Obviously, I came to theconclusion that, "Yes, many would care," but it was a ratherfunny thought. More and more women can and do survive breast cancer. Ladies andmen, if you find anything unusual for your own body and how itwould normally react, get it checked. See your doctor. You areyour best super sleuth when it comes to your own body andhealth. Don't ignore those little things that just don't seemquite right. Early diagnosis is best. The women I know that havelost their lives to often ignored their earlywarning signs. I was on Tamoxifen for two years and am now on Aromasin for anexpected three more years. More people need to be aware thatbreast cancer is not just about lumps and not just about women.Men are diagnosed with Paget's Disease also. Help get the word out. Emails are circulating in an attempt toinform people. It seems to be more prevalent than initiallythought. I am a volunteer for the American Cancer Society. Ialso donate a percentage of my sales to the ACS. If you wouldlike me to speak on Paget's Disease and/or Breast Cancer, Iwould be happy to. Also if you know of someone going throughbreast cancer and are wondering what you might be able to do tohelp them, go to my website, www.ElnAlbert.com and you will findin the free articles, "How To Help Her With Cancer." Thisarticle will give you dozens of little ideas on how you can helpa loved one with cancer. Believe me, all those little thingsmake a big difference. About the author:Copyright 2005 Eln Albert Best known for her expertise in Interpersonal Communications,Eln Albert works with those that want to be at their best wheninfluencing others. Eln is a Professional Speaker, Trainer andWriter. Subscribe to receive Eln's FREE bimonthly ezine newsletter, "TheMagic of Influence". Go to http://www.ElnAlbert.com.
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