One thing I’ve talked a lot about on Twitter this year is the importance of women under the age of 40 to get a mammogram if it’s financially feasible – or better yet if your insurance will cover it. Not only does it establish a baseline for future comparisons, but women under 40 often do not discover lumps early enough for effective treatment. So if it’s within your budget, get a mammogram.
Now, this Friday Video was sent in my SO MANY PEOPLE. Have a look:
Link? Link!
I’ll be honest. Some of the looks and the close ups of dinner-plate nipples gave me a squick, but I did like the message behind it: check your boobs! (The last 40 seconds are hilarious, and filled with some amazing gold lame’—though I don’t think I was the target audience for that bit…. 0_o).
There is also a Free App on iTunes from ReThinkBreastCancer where you can select a gentleman to remind you that it’s breast exam time. Reader Becky wrote me and said, “Fair warning: I hear the app has way less mantitty in it. I do wish they’d encouraged all the ladies watching this video to get their husbands and boyfriends to do self exams, too. If you’ve got nipples, you can get breast cancer.” Amen to that.
I wonder if there should be a couples app where your smartphone reminds you to go check your partner’s chest. I can think of many couples who would be ok with that.
I hope your weekend is spent taking care of yourself in all the best ways, and if you’re fighting cancer, kick it’s ass. RAR!
Great post! It’s a very important message!
The video was hilarious! xD
It’s important to check not only your breasts but also your pelvic area. Get a pelvic ultrassound once every 2 years!
I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 22. Thankfully they found it on the very first stage, when I was doing a routine ultrasound. 2 years before that, the ultrasound had shown absolutely nothing wrong. I was lucky that they found it so early.
I’m in my thirties, and have been specifically told by my doctors that women my age should get breast ultrasounds, not mammograms. So I got the ultrasound, and I’ll have them annually until I’m the right age for a mammogram. It’s important to keep in mind that we should be responsible for our health, but that not everyone is going to need the same tests and checkups. As Aly noted, pelvic ultrasounds are something every woman should have (so glad the cancer was caught in time, Aly). If you’re over 50, and you haven’t yet had a colonoscopy, you should. Skin cancers are more common than breast cancer, and can be caught early – but this too requires paying attention and getting tests if needed.
I think it’s great that there are so many initiatives to raise awareness for breast cancer, but it’s really important that people get screened for other things that they are at risk for, too. So I’m hijacking this thread as a reminder. There. Now we can go back to discussing the video and mantitty in its various forms 🙂
I’m definitely sharing this – I have had two friends, both in their early 40s, who have been diagnosed this year. It’s never too early to develop the habit of checking. No one knows your body as well as you do.
Fantastic way to wake up in the morning. It was funny with a lot of eye candy. Great way to remember.
I’m a long time champion of also checking your man for lumps. Geezus.
In his breast.
My neighbor’s husband has had two instances of cancerous lumps. Try calling it chest cancer. Call it foreplay. But if he won’t check himself then do it for him.
That just made my day. Very good cause and a great video for it.
A word about mammogram affordability.
Check with your local county hospital to see if they offer breast cancer screenings that are either low budget or free in your area.
When my partner lost her job this year, there went the insurance (cue days and days of fear and scariness when that happened). Luckily, I had already had my mammogram but she hadn’t had hers. Our doctor did the best thing ever: she gave us the information that would allow us to access the county health system. We’re able to see her through the women’s clinic and our yearly womanly related screenings are covered under a separate pot of money which means that those screening are free since we’re over 40. For women under 40, they cover pap smears and the like.
It takes some getting used to: for the purposes of the county, we are now reclassified as ‘charity cases’. It was an ego blow that I hadn’t expected. The convenience of being able to get meds and the like are gone. But, I can sleep better knowing that there is something out there to cover us.
It may take some detective work (we’re dealing with the county health system) but eventually you can find out what you qualify for. And as the gentleman who signed us up reminded me: “Your taxes pay for this. Use it.)
Thanks for reminding me that it’s time for my check up! My mom had breast cancer, and I had endometrial two years ago, which had its ass kicked by a great team of doctors who were on top of it immediately.
Obviously in agreement with all that has been said here. But I do wish that, in this day and age, they could use methods for mammograms that were not so damn painful. The cheese-press device that is standard here resembles medieval torture equipment, though it is clear from talking to friends that the degree of pain it causes varies a lot between individuals. For some of us, it really is much, much worse than any dental treatment, because it brings on panic as well as pain. I can put up pretty well with being stuck with needles, but not with any part of my body being compressed (blood-pressure cuffs make me panic, too, with predictable effects on the reading…).
Mammograms are free in the UK on the NHS (National Health Service), though one would have to request one specifically if under 50. I imagine that the cheese-press method is cheaper than using an ultrasound scan, which is why we have to put up with it.
Love the video – I think the doctor at the end may be my favorite! Early exams and early detection are so important in beating breast cancer. I found my lump (in the shower) when I was 42 and got the treatment I needed to beat it.
I also have a male co-worker my age who developed breast cancer at in his 30s. Everyone needs to be aware of their bodies and check for changes.
My mom and my sister both have breast cancer, so we are high risk family, I do check every year. My mom had surgery 15 years ago, yes you read right and that’s because she got diagnosed on time.
Don’t forget to get tested!!! and if this video didn’t send you to the doctor nothing will…….. amazing eye candy by the way.
Thank you!!!!
re: painful mammograms
My imaging center offers a pad to cushion your breast on the shelf before the compression begins. The first time I tried it, I thought ‘yeah, right, this is going to help’, but I was amazed at the difference it made in comfort. It costs me $5 (insurance doesn’t pay for it, apparently) and it’s one-time use only, but I get it every time and it makes the procedure more than bearable. I know nothing works for everyone, but you might ask at your breast center if these are available, if you’ve never tried it.
One good thing about being post-menopausal is that mammograms no longer hurt, at least for me. Breast tissue generally becomes much less dense and I no longer fear biting through my tongue. Of course, the technology would have changed l-o-n-g ago if men went through the same torture with their testicles.
@kathybaug: thank you for that suggestion. It is the actual compression, and the pain it causes, more than the hardness of the torture machine, that gets me, so I don’t really see that padding/cushioning would help; one is still being squashed flat. But I shall certainly ask about the possibility next time I have to have a mammogram. Any compression makes me hyperventilate and panic, even when it is not actually all that painful, as in the blood-pressure example I gave.
It’s almost like a form of claustrophobia: I keep imagining the pressure going on and on and crushing the body-part concerned into a paste… With a breast, which is very sensitive anyway, this is particularly scary. Give me a root-filling at the dentist’s any time.
🙂
Oh, how true! But alas, the mammograms still hurt me, and I am 70, menopause but a distant memory…
😀
Well I can certainly attest to getting a yearly checkup. I’m only 36 and just found out I’ve got breast cancer. And, 2 other friends in their 30’s also found out this summer. So don’t wait until the magic age of 40 to start checking. It’s never too early to take precautions.
Actually, they’ve de-emphasized breast checking because by the time you find something, it’s generally pretty advanced. My last mammogram showed a cyst of 7 cms and one 18cms. I couldn’t feel them, I’m pretty sure the doctor didn’t, either, because when she did the ultrasound, she lingered over certain spots and she didn’t do that for the manual exam.
Stage 1 cancer is defined as a tumor under 2 cms. Stage 2 is under 5 cms. So, basically, if my lumps, which neither I nor the doctor could feel, were cancer, I’d have been at stage 3. Stage 4 is when the cancer has metastasized and is incurable. One of my cysts was more than 3 times larger than the cut-off size for stage 2.
They didn’t remove the 7 cm cyst (they are monitoring it), so I know I have it and I know where it is, and I can not find it by feel, even knowing, pretty much, where it is.
I have largish breasts which have always had, in gyn speak, heterogeneous density (meaning naturally slightly lumpy). Your mileage may vary, but the bottom line is, for many woman, by the time you feel the lump, it’s already quite late.
So, don’t think self exams can substitute for ultrasounds or mammograms.
@SAO: surely you mean mm? A 7 cm cyst would be about the size of a baseball 🙂
I used to work in a small veterinary hospital, and whenever a dog came in with breast cancer, the vet would have all the women on staff come back and palpate it, “so you’ll know what you’re looking for.” I remember being surprised at how small and hard the lumps were—like little BBs.
And yes! to checking your man as well. My father-in-law died of breast cancer. At the time, male BC survival rates were an appalling 17%, largely because of late diagnosis.
Earlier this week, someone linked me this thru Facebook but I’ve had a busy hectic week and just didn’t have the time to check it out. THANK YOU for giving me that second chance! [slow lazy wink]
— Bonz
Yes, it was 7 mm, which makes the 18 mm one nearly 2 cms, which is the point at which cancer is likely to have spread.
Sorry about the mix up. My point is still valid, though. It’s hard to catch a lump early enough by feel. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be trying, but just that it can’t replace regular screening with a machine.
@Lizzi Beth: KICK CANCER’S ASS.
I’ve just come from seeing my mom, who had a surgical biopsy on her breast on Thursday, and we’re waiting for the results to come in next week. My physician sister reviewed the MRI and said that it looked very bad, so I’m holding my breath for better news. Either way, I’ll be paying much closer attention to my breast health in the future.
@Lizzie Beth: I’m sending positive thoughts your way. Ditto what SBSarah said!
I think there was a wide swatch of fun-fur under that gold lame’.
That video really bothered me. The idea that only the young dudes can be attractive (okay, I was somewhat mollified when the “doctor” did his sexy bit at the very end), the blatant use of the guys as sex objects—sure, a little of that can be fun, but if this sort of thing were done with women, wouldn’t we be be screaming the house down?
Not criticizing anyone who enjoyed it, it just bothered me.