Thank You for Helping Make June Breast Cancer Survivor Month

At the beginning of June, Mariuca's Perfume Gallery hit me with a tag for a really good cause...to help spread the word on Breast Cancer Awareness. Many of our fellow bloggers joined us in helping to convey the importance of regular examination and early detection of breast cancer in order to catch this potentially deadly disease when it first erupts, maximizing the chance of survival and recovery.

By hitting the "pink button" as many times as we could, we all helped The Breast Cancer Site to receive 8 million clicks during the month of June. Their premier sponsor -Bare Necessities- has donated $10,000 for more free mammograms. You can still CLICK the pink button today:

Something every woman should know is that you're never too old or too young to develop breast cancer. My mom learned from her annual mammogram that she had breast cancer back in 2004. While she unfortunately required a mastectomy and radiation treatment, she is now cancer-free and turns 83 this year. Regular (monthly) breast self-examination should begin by the age of twenty, and all women over 40 (or in a higher risk category) should have an annual mammogram.

In doing my bit to help spread awareness on the issue of breast cancer to women, here are several facts on breast cancer that everyone should know:

• The first sign of breast cancer usually shows up on a woman's mammogram before it can be felt or any other symptoms are present.
• Risks for breast cancer include family history (mother and sister(s)), atypical hyperplasia, delaying pregnancy until after age 30 or never becoming pregnant, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.
• Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.
• Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.
• Over eighty percent of breast lumps are not cancerous, but benign such as fibrocystic breast disease.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all of your clicks!

Roxy