A Breast Cancer Survivor's Tale

Breast cancer is a killer. Everyone knows this. Approximately 40,000 women are expected to die from breast cancer this year. While this is a horrifying number, it is going down. Since 1989, this statistic has been declining. Advancements in treatment are to thank for increase in survival rates, but so is early detection. The stigma of talking about breast cancer is long gone, too.

• About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
• In 2014, an estimated 232,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,570 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• About 2,360 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2014. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
• Breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. began decreasing in the year 2000, after increasing for the previous two decades. They dropped by 7% from 2002 to 2003 alone. One theory is that this decrease was partially due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women after the results of a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative were published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT and increased breast cancer risk.
• About 40,000 women in the U.S. were expected to die in 2014 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989 — with larger decreases in women under 50. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. Just under 30% of cancers in women are breast cancers.
• White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than African-American women. However, in women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women. Overall, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer. Asian, Hispanic, and Native-American women have a lower risk of developing and dying from breast cancer.
• In 2014, there were more than 2.8 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
• A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.
• About 5-10% of breast cancers can be linked to gene mutations (abnormal changes) inherited from one’s mother or father. Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. Women with a BRCA1 mutation have a 55-65% risk of developing breast cancer before age 70, and often at a younger age that it typically develops. For women with a BRCA2 mutation, this risk is 45%. An increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with these genetic mutations. In men, BRCA2 mutations are associated with a lifetime breast cancer risk of about 6%; BRCA1 mutations are a less frequent cause of breast cancer in men.
• About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.
• The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).
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Early Detection

Everyone I know has a friend or a family member who has had breast cancer. Years ago, no one talked about it. Thankfully, the stigma is broken. We are talking about it. One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. The likelihood of developing breast cancer doubles if there is a first-degree relative who has suffered with the disease. What that means is that the risk doubles if your mother, aunt, sister, or daughter has had breast cancer. That is a terrifying statistic, especially because my diagnosis puts my daughter into this category.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pNnbutHO4

My Story

On October 15, 2010, my life forever changed. I was getting ready for bed when I brushed a stray hair from my chest. It was that moment that I felt the lump for the first time.

I didn’t immediately press the panic button. I found my first lump at the age of 17. It was a nonmalignant fibroid growth. No big deal. At 19, the second lump came out. At 28, while I was six months pregnant with my daughter, the third lump came out. I am lumpy and bumpy.

The next morning, I saw my family doctor. She was very reassuring. I had none of the physical characteristics of breast cancer. It looked as thought it was “just another lump.” Early the next week, I got a mammogram and ultrasound to look at the invader. Everything was still looking good. My diagnosis was that I had a cyst. Wow, I’d never had one of those before. This was even less of a “nothing” than I thought. Rather than taking it out, I was going to have an ultrasound-guided procedure to drain the cyst. How easy was that?

To read the complete article:

http://juliedaniels.hubpages.com/hub/A-Breast-Cancer-Survivors-Tale