<p>Purina Cat Chow will donate $1.00 to Susan G. Koman for the Cure for every person who answers a brief breast cancer awareness quiz. Might be worth the couple of minutes and those dollars can add up. They’ll donate up to $50,000 for their quiz and this is on top of a $175,000 donation! Check it out…</p>
<p>[Purina®</a> Cat Chow® Pink - Breast Cancer Awareness Program](<a href=“http://www.catchow.com/pink/?DCMP...HQS=donate]Purina®”>http://www.catchow.com/pink/?DCMP...HQS=donate)</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. Women can also sign up at [Home</a> - Army of Women](<a href=“http://www.armyofwomen.org%5DHome”>http://www.armyofwomen.org) to receive information about research studies in which they may be able to participate to help find causes and ways to prevent breast cancer.</p>
<p>Done! thanks for the link.</p>
<p>May as well have some fun while we support Susan G. Komen. Be sure to check out these cute lunch totes: [LEAN</a> CUISINE® - Special offer for LEAN CUISINE insulated designer lunch bags](<a href=“http://www.leancuisine.com/Komen2008/Index.aspx]LEAN”>http://www.leancuisine.com/Komen2008/Index.aspx)</p>
<p>rutgersmamma, thank you for posting this. A close friend who is a 10+ year breast cancer survivor was diagnosed with a recurrence this week. :(</p>
<p>Went to the dentist recently and was gently admonished for missing my last six month appointment. Told her I missed it because I had been focused on finishing up breast cancer treatment. (All is well, thanks for asking.)</p>
<p>She says “Oh, I’ve never had a mammogram, I’m afraid of what they might find.”</p>
<p>Trust me, it is better to find out that they have found something sooner than later. When they found mine, it was stage one, low grade, easy to take care of. </p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who supports cancer research, but please remember to make an appointment for yourself.</p>
<p>Well, 9 years ago I put off investigating a lump for a few months. It’s oh so easy to do. One more “cycle” to see if it goes away on it’s own. Then it was next month, after Thanksgiving. Oops, Christmas, I’ll do it at the first of the year. Boy did that ultrasound technician’s eyes get wide while he was checking it out after the mammogram! Mine was not stage one OR low grade. While I will never know what those few months did or did not cost me - I surely wish I had not put it off for even one day.</p>
<p>Knock on wood, all is good today. It is a sneaky disease. Even though the tumor I had took a number of years to progress to the point of me finding it - it did not show up on a mammogram I had 2 years before feeling the lump. It was an odd location on the very edge of the breast and took a lot of effort to capture on the diagnostic mammogram.</p>
<p>So yes, make an appointment to get a mammogram. But do not let that take the place of regular self exams. Both are so important to early detection.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. Did it and forwarded it to a few friends.</p>
<p>And thank you all for the reminder - I need to go get a mammogram soon.</p>
<p>My friend and I were shopping today, and I noticed a sign at Nordstrom sayng that for anyone who tried on NYD jeans (Not Your Daughter’s Jeans), the company would donate a buck to breast cancer research. Great pants and great cause! Too bad they were out of my price range.</p>
<p>(Every time I hear the word “cancer”, I think of LTS.)</p>
<p>I am usually on these boards under a different name but I don’t want to out myself in regards to this disease. I found my lump in my mid-40s through a self-exam and quickly got in for diagnostic mams, biopsy, surgery etc. I am in the middle of chemo right now. I am glad I found the tumor and took it seriously as it was caught at early stage. I have a good prognosis and am trying to be as positive as possible, obviously easier said than done.</p>
<p>Best wishes, and hugs, to you survivor. Although you probably feel like c**p going through chemo, your long term prognosis is indeed excellent having caught the disease at an early stage. If you aren’t already aware, there are a couple of good discussion boards - the best being Breastcancer.org - which offer a lot of good advice and support. I doubt that there are many people in this country who have not been touched by this disease, either personally or through loved ones. Take care…and take it one day at a time.</p>
<p>Thanks for the bc.org recommendation. I have been on it several times. </p>
<p>The diagnosis is difficult enough by itself but to add to it, my so-called DH had decided to opt out of a what I thought was a committed, loving marriage shortly before my diagnosis. I do have a lawyer as I can’t handle all of the legalities in a weakened condition.</p>
<p>Best wishes, survivor. This kind of reminds me that I’m overdue for a mammogram myself; I had one three years ago and had an appointment for another one four or five months ago, but something came up and I had to cancel it, and I haven’t gotten around to rescheduling. I also could be better about self-examination. My older sister (who lives in Europe) was diagnosed with breast cancer at an early stage about a year ago, but so far everything has gone positively. Knock on wood.</p>
<p>Survivor, I hope you have some friends/family you can be open with. The first time I had a biopsy, I kept it to myself, and was scared and miserable. The other times, I was open about it to my friends, and they were a huge support. Even though the last biopsy found the dreaded ‘C’, I was much more able to cope, because of my friends. Talking about it made it much less scary.</p>
<p>First of all, best wishes to you survivor.
I just had a mammogram the other day after having skipped last years. I shouldn’t skip because I had to have a needle biopsy a few yrs back and also had a lump in my armpit once. All proved to be nothing.
I have developed an aversion / fear of getting routine medical care, which I need to get a grip on at my age.</p>
<p>Survivor: {{{hugs}}} to you.</p>
<p>Breast self-exam: My sister diagnosed one year ago. She felt a lump; her doctor could not feel it, a mammogram did not pick it up, finally an ultrasound located the lump. Her doctor trusted her; she knew her breast tissue and so he pushed forward. She was diagnosed at stage one. Thank God. Please do your self-exam every month.</p>
<p>Bad news: My sister’s husband has her doing ‘holistic healing’ and alternative, unproven treatment instead of conventional treatment. She goes to a doctor who is prohibited from peddling his medicine across state lines and this is all his doing. Her husband is very controlling and punitive towards her and the kids. I could go on and on about him - argh. The cancer has come back twice within the year. None of us, her family who loves her, can get through to her. She is putting her faith in him, unfortunately. I am trying to let go of the terrible worry as it has taken a toll on my own health at times. We can’t alienate her husband as we want to be there for her 10 and 13 year old when she is not. Sad.</p>
<p>I did not know where else to go for support, but CC is such a wonderful resource. How appropriate that in this the month of awareness I’ve had one mammogram, one call-back mammogram, and now will have a biopsy next week. I wonder where this will end.</p>
<p>MyLB,
This is what happened to me with my very first mammogram. I had an ultrasound and then a needle biopsy that proved to be nothing. Six years later and still nothing. I was frightened ,as I am sure you are . I wish you well.</p>
<p>MyLB, while you are waiting to get results, keep in mind that BC treatment has improved tremendously in the last 20 years. Give yourself a pat on the back for taking care of this. You will be able to get through whatever comes. </p>
<p>Try to keep busy until your biopsy, and while waiting for the results. Waiting is the worst.</p>
<p>Best wishes for good news from the biopsy. If it’s not good news, this is a great place for support while deciding what the next step is. When I was in your shoes, it was very nice to use CC as a sounding board. Someone is always online!</p>
<p>While I am definitely in favor of breast cancer awareness and support, I do wish that the same level of funding were available for other, more deadly cancers. </p>
<p>[Cancer</a> Funding: Does It Add Up? - Well Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/cancer-funding-does-it-add-up/]Cancer”>Cancer Funding: Does It Add Up? - The New York Times)</p>
<p>"The big loser in the cancer funding race is lung cancer. It is the biggest cancer killer in the country, yet on a per-death basis receives the least N.C.I. funding among major cancers. In 2006, the N.C.I. spent $1,518 for each new case of lung cancer and $1,630 for each lung cancer death, according to data from the institute and the American Cancer Society.</p>
<p>“Among the big cancers, breast cancer receives the most funding per new case, $2,596 and by far the most money relative to each death, $13,452. Notably, prostate cancer, the most common cancer, receives the least funding per new case at just $1,318. But on a per-death basis it ranks second, with $11,298 in N.C.I. funds.”</p>