Too Many Die From Breast Cancer!

Sherry was buying a pink ribbon jewel for her cell phone earlier this week and the young cashier asked, in a sweet voice, "that's for breast cancer, right?" Sherry told her it was and the young girl went on to tell us how her grandmother had lost 3 sisters to breast cancer. She is scared, that she too, will have it someday. She said she had a scare while showering and saw blood but it turned out to be nothing. Thank the Lord! I told her my story in short form and how I found my lump while showering. I encouraged her to be diligent about her self-exams and she assured me she would be.

As we parted, she spoke with such sincerity and said, "God bless you and I hope everything goes well". I was so touched by the gentle spirit of this young girl. Even now, I'm teary eyed as I write about it and I'm reminded how much I have to celebrate today! Too many people die from breast cancer!

Do you know the statistics according to breastcancer.org ?

Every three minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2006, an estimated 212,920 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed, along with 61,980 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. And 40,970 women are expected to die in 2006 from this disease.

Breast cancer is the leading cancer among white and African American women. African American women are more likely to die from this disease.

Breast cancer incidence in women has increased from one in 20 in 1960 to one in eight today.

Please remember to do your self-exam! Remind your loved ones, too! It may be something that you're uncomfortable talking about but it's necessary! We may not have a cure for breast cancer but we can do our part to lessen the effects of this horrible disease. Early detection and timely treatment are SO important, as I have experienced first hand.

Life is precious! I would rather live without breast than die with them...you can quote me on that one!