Herb's Corner

Do it gently, but do it

By Herb Drill

My mother died of cancer. A woman I cared about deeply died of brain cancer – Sherry was 37. Later, another woman I was very fond of died of ovarian cancer – Vicki was 40.

My wife’s first husband died at age 36 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after her father had died of cancer years before – also at age 36.

Can you say the words “hurt” – and “CHAOS”?

A story in Jacksonville , Fla. ’s main daily/Sunday newspaper, the Florida Times-Union, stated recently that two Jacksonville , Fla. area women are told the news every day that they have breast cancer, and more than 211,000 U.S. women will be found to have invasive breast cancer this year alone.

The newspaper detailed that this past summer a Ponte Vedra Beach resident became one of those women. She detected her tumor through a breast self-examination – and asserts they’re critical. The 44-year-old woman found calcifications in one of her breasts two years ago, which prompted

her to do a breast exam every day. “My oncologist was shocked I found the tumor,” she told the reporter. “Because I was in tune with my breast tissue, I

knew something wasn’t right.”

More of us Jacksonville area residents are familiar with First Coast News Anchor Donna Hicken. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in November 1999 and contributes finding her cancer to regular breast self-exams. “It saved my,” she says.

While October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, dedicated to increasing awareness of breast cancer issues - especially early detection of breast cancer, every month, every day, should convey that awareness.

The widely-renowned Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation recommends beginning monthly breast self-exams by age 20. Or, if there isn’t a family history of breast cancer, at age 35. The best time to do a self-exam is the same time each month after a menstrual cycle has ended. For post-menopausal women, it should be performed the same time each month.

Annual screening mammography should begin at age 40 because: the older a woman gets, the greater the risks for breast cancer; most women diagnosed with the disease have no history of it in their family; finding breast cancer early often means less surgery, and it can give a woman peace of mind.

Go to all the women in your life you identify as people you would miss if they weren’t in your life and suggest politely that they begin mammography tests, where applicable, and do self-exams. I love my wife and stay on her case concerning such tests. Still, the older I get the more I miss my mother’s wit and wisdom – and the other women I mentioned were special to many people.