I usually try to post about this during the month of October. This year, I may be late in doing so, but I still wanted to mention it.

I don’t know a lot of breast cancer survivors. Maybe three, in total, and each of them chose different options regarding how to treat it. I know more people who have been tested for the BRCA1 gene. One friend was shocked she didn’t have it, mainly because her mother had survived breast cancer (And is alive and well to this day, THANK G-D!), so she was expecting the gene to be present.

I have an 18-24 month wait to be seen in order to be tested for this gene, unless I can convince my primary care physician to order cancer screening. He is hesitant. If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, I would have already moved on to another doctor.

Self-check yourself monthly. I do it twice a month because I’m a lunatic. If anything feels or seems off, make an appointment with your doctor and don’t be afraid to pursue a mammogram at ANY age. My cousin died very young from breast cancer, and at the time, her birth control pill was found to be the root cause of something they didn’t detect until just prior to her death. Medicine is more advanced now, so do whatever you have to do in order to have peace of mind. And men, there has been a vast increase in male breast cancer, so if you don’t feel right, talk to your doctor about it.

Even during a pandemic, we all deserve quality health care. I know many of us aren’t getting it, myself included. I will discuss it another day, but for today, schedule that mammogram as a precautionary measure. It might very well save your life.