I am having trouble writing anything today. I just delete then start again. It is grey and cloudy and I am tired from the weekend! Not too much got done. And now here we are at Monday.
It may be that I had my first mammogram today. I'm 35 but my doctor advised me to do it now, instead of waiting until 40 given my family history. (Both my maternal grandmother and aunt are breast cancer survivors and my aunt was quite young when she was diagnosed.) I am not a pessimist. I don't think much about my own mortality - or of those around me for that matter. Maybe it was losing my dad so suddenly. I try and cherish each day (try!) and not to worry about things I have no control over. I do eat healthy (organic where we can) and exercise (not often enough) and do all those things one should but I know that there is still a chance that "something" can go wrong and that I don't want to spend my time worrying about what that may be.
And it was so much less painful than I thought it would be. And certainly worth it. (Did you know that a mammogram can detect a lump up to two years before it would be felt by a physical exam?) An ounce of prevention as they say... Anyone who has any apprehensions about going through with it shouldn't. I think the worst part was trying to make small talk with the technician about Canadian beer while standing there with my shirt off and my (still!) post-pregnancy diastasis belly hanging over my belt!! My doctor will review the films and be in touch in a few days.
happy monday.
2 comments:
There was a really interesting program on Marketplace over the weekend. It was on cancer and how we are encouraged to pursue personal prevention (eat well, exercise, etc.) but that there is little motivation for real prevention because companies make too much money from selling cancer drugs, or from selling the chemicals that are linked to cancer. http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/
I had a mamogram a couple of years ago when I found a pea sized lump in my breast. Coincidentally, it was the same area of the same breast as my mom's cancerous lump. Had the thing removed and it turned out to be a fatty cyst. No regrets about any of the choices I made. Would rather be safe than sorry.
Mom mentioned that program to me too. Coincidently I got a call last night that the wife of someone we know - a mother of 6, with one being a new born and the oldest 10 I think - has just been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. You never know...
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