October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Every female out there should check herself in the shower, at the doctor's, or during a mammogram.  I cannot begin to preach how important this step is.  

My mom was diagnosed in January of 2007 with Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  This type of cancer makes up between 1-6 percent of all women diagnosed with Breast Cancer and is one of the more deadly.  My mom went through six months of chemotherapy beginning in February 2007.  Once a month she & my dad would go to the doctor's office and she'd sit there with needles in her arms and poison being poured into her to kill the cancer cells.  Thankfully, the poison did it's job, but while doing so, wrecked havoc on my mom's physical and mental state.  She lost all of her hair, even her eye brows, and the treatments made her violently sick to her stomach.  I can't even imagine what it was like going through through all of that.  In June, 2007 she underwent a single mastectomy, removing the tumor and the entire breast.  Once she "recovered" from the surgery, she began a rapid treatment of radiation.  These treatments lasted around 2-3 months.  Every two-three weeks she would go and sit under this machine while it did its job.  The radiation was to kill any remaining cancer cells left over from the chemotherapy & surgery.  This past summer she had yet another surgery to basically clean up from the original mastectomy.  My mother is now scarred and only has one breast, but you know what?

She is a survivor.   

Her being diagnosed with breast cancer at such an early age (50) puts a fear in my heart. Not a scared fear, but a healthy fear, for myself to continually get checked and keep a close watch on anything that looks or feels suspicious.  I can't begin to tell all of you how shocked I still am to see how many lives cancer has become a daily part of.  When my mom was getting chemo treatments, the room would be full.  Full of women, men & children.  Cancer doesn't discriminate.  

So whether it's October, March or July... be aware.  Get yourself checked, and tell your friends and family too.  It's not worth it not to.