What do Lemons and Boobies Have In Common?

What do lemons and boobies have in common?

Nothing... except neither is perfect and both can be lumpy and bumpy. Despite what you may see on television. But looking at one can help you understand what might be unhealthy in the other. Lemons, amazingly enough, look a lot like breasts (boobies) and can be useful visual aids to help understand breast health.

Boobies, like lemons, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. We're not all symmetrical and perfect looking. You can have non-perfect boobies and be healthy.

Let me repeat that: You can have non-perfect boobies and be healthy.

The thing to keep in mind is to watch for changes. If you've never had anything noticeable about your breasts and then one day the booby is looking different (feels hot to the touch, is reddened, is hard), or maybe there's a lump, or maybe the skin is dimpling, or perhaps there's a discharge from your nipple, etc. -- and these changes don't go away after a few days or weeks -- then you need to call someone and have things checked out.

Tip: If things feel different then just take a moment to call your doctor and let them know your concerns and ask for an immediate appointment.

Visual aids rock!

I saw this great picture on twitter and was immediately struck by how great it is as a visual tool to show the different ways that breast cancer can possibly look in your breasts.

Keep in mind... sometimes you don't see anything and you may still have breast cancer. There may be no physical signs at all. That is where trusting your gut intuition and having a mammogram come into play.

I met a wonderful sister when I did the BET breast cancer promotional video a few months ago who was a survivor that had no outward signs of breast cancer. She felt it in her gut and pressed her doctor to check -- and she was right. Breast cancer (early stage) was present in both breasts. She had a double mastectomy and is now a bright beacon of breast cancer awareness. Your intuition is a valuable tool. Check out Shondia's story here: Bold and Breastless

But, sometimes there are physical changes that are a signal that something is wrong. If you see changes like these in your breasts and the changes stick around for awhile... it is a good time to see your physician and have your breasts checked out.

Protect your health, check your breasts monthly

Every now and then, I get reluctant to discuss monthly self-exams. There is so much discussion online & in the news about whether or not it is a good thing to do monthly breast self-exams or if its overkill. While I understand the concerns that have been brought up about the anxiety about checking your breasts and since it is not a fool-proof way to discover cancer in your breast I can see how some people might feel like its not necessary.

But then, there's me. I'm the outlier who stands as a reminder that checking your breasts works. I'm just a girl who happened to have a great professor who was a breast cancer survivor... and that professor made breast cancer awareness real for me. Because I respected her and admired her story, I made it my business to keep in mind that checking my breasts was a good thing. I checked my breasts one day - same as I'd done for many years - and that time I felt something different. After tests and clinical exams and sonograms and MRI's and mammograms and biopsies...

I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer just a few weeks after my 39th birthday.

Statistically, the chances of that happening are really small. Under 30. No family history. No breast cancer gene. African American. There aren't a lot of women like me out there. One is too many and there are definitely far more young sisters fighting breast cancer diagnoses.

I've been through a lot.

Six months after my diagnosis, I lost my breast. And that was after 4 months of chemotherapy. After putting my ovaries to sleep so that I could try to preserve my fertility -- because I had not started my family yet -- I emerged from treatment and I was in menopause. All in all, I spent over 2 years being treated for breast cancer. I lost a breast, lost my hair, lost my fingernails and my toenails. Lost a lot of weight. I spent a lot of time in the hospital because my immune system was so weak. I had a few surgeries. I had my breast reconstructed. I developed lymphedema and had to undergo physical therapy for months to get the range of motion back in my arm after my mastectomy and reconstruction.

I've been through a lot BUT I made it through. And I'm grateful for that.

The earlier that breast cancer is caught, diagnosed and treated... the better the results and the more treatable the cancer is. Again, there are no guarantees but early detection helps tremendously.

So, its your choice whether to check your breasts or not each month. And statistically, you're not likely to get breast cancer at this point in your life. More women don't have breast cancer than do. My readership is relatively young and while the truth is that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime... most of those women will not be under 40. It can happen. It does happen. I have an entire circle of friends that it happened to -- so its real.

And yet.... here I am. A survivor.

The choice is yours. As for me... I'm glad that I had a professor who respected me enough as a young woman (with everything on my mind except breast cancer or my health) to share her story and encourage me to be concerned about my breast health. Before her, no one else had really given it much thought to share the information with me because they thought I was too young to worry about such things.

Turned out that her faith in my concern for my life was not in vain. That is why I share with you. So that you know that someone out here is concerned about your health and wants you to be concerned too.

If you liked this post, please share it with your social networks. Spreading the word about breast cancer awareness is why I'm here. Click the share button of your choice to the left and remind your friends.

Thanks!

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