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as many know by now, my grandmother is now gone. she had breast cancer. no one told me the first time she got it, she had a double mastectomy (thats where they remove both breasts) and it was gone. she was a survivor...6 years later in 2003, i was told it had metastasized in her jaw bone. she underwent kemo untill 2 months before her death. by that time it had not only spred throughout her whole skull, but into her brain, lungs and they assume by the day she died her liver had been affected as well

i really didnt know how hard it would affect me, as once she started losing weight, i became scared and didnt go over to visit her as much. in the end she weighed little more than 80 pounds.

when serching for a pink ribbon graphic, i came accoss an online newspaper of sorts and found some things i'd like to share with all the women...that sounds funny...all the girls i know, no matter the age!

firstly, taken from an offocial breast fancer site, are "the facts"
Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today (after lung cancer) and is the most common cancer among women, excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year worldwide. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2005, approximately 211,240 women in the United States will be diagnosed invasive breast cancer (Stages I-IV). The chance of developing invasive breast cancer during a woman's lifetime is approximately 1 in 7 (13.4%). Another 58,490 women will be diagnosed with in situ breast cancer, a very early form of the disease. Though much less common, breast cancer also occurs in men. An estimated 1,690 cases will be diagnosed in men in 2005.

It is estimated that 40,410 women and 460 men will die from breast cancer in the United States this year. According to the American Cancer Society, the chance that breast cancer will be responsible for a woman's death is about 1 in 33 (3%). The incidence rate of breast cancer (number of new breast cancers per 100,000 women) increased by approximately 4% during the 1980s but leveled off to 100.6 cases per 100,000 women in the 1990s. The death rates from breast cancer also declined significantly between 1992 and 1996, with the largest decreases among younger women. Medical experts attribute the decline in breast cancer deaths to earlier detection and more effective treatments.

A Womans Chances of Breast Cancer Increases With Age
By age 30
By age 40
By age 50
By age 60
By age 70
By age 80
Ever 1 out of 2,212
1 out of 235
1 out of 54
1 out of 23
1 out of 14
1 out of 10
1 out of 8

Statistics on Mammography

The key to surviving breast cancer is early detection and treatment. According to the American Cancer Society, when breast cancer is confined to the breast, the five-year survival rate is close to 100%. The early detection of breast cancer helps reduce the need for therapeutic treatment and minimizes pain and suffering, allowing women to continue leading happy, productive lives.


thats where we clash, the article i read said, and i quote...

How curable is breast cancer? University of Dublin researcher Petr Skrabanek has written, "The evidence that breast cancer is an incurable disease is overwhelming." Despite the twenty year, multibillion dollar war on cancer, the death rate for breast cancer has not declined since statistics began to be compiled in the 1930's: 40% of women who get it die of it, regardless of their treatment. Physician and writer John McDougall goes further "In over 90% of [breast cancer] cases the ultimate cause of death will be cancer of the breast."

Early detection techniques such as breast self exam (BSEs) or mammograms don't necessarily extend a woman's life; they may just lengthen the period of time she knows she's sick, as well as the time during which she receives treatment. As Dr. McDougall puts it: "The real beneficiaries of early detection are the providers of health care, who now have a longer time in which to treat the victims before they die."

they clash, pick and chose your beliefs i suppose

however, prevention isnt something im going to just skim on, because im paranoid now, and i want no one else to die at an early age if it can be prevented, so heres some more from that article (and please, dont assume im thinking breast cancer cures are a scam, i just want my friends to look into this if it may help in any small way...


Mammograms don't save our lives; it now looks like they may cause even more deaths from breast cancer. Treatment does not prolong our lives. High tech medicine, in spite of elaborate rhetorical and statistical squirming, has failed dismally in its war against this epidemic. What's a woman to do?

Plenty. It's called prevention.

Real News 1: Fatal Fat

We can, for a start, lower the fat in our diets. Animal and population studies have produced dramatic evidence that a low fat diet can reduce the risk of breast cancer. High rates are found in countries with high consumption of meat, particularly beef. Dr. Peter Greenwald of the NCI says "Countries that eat half the amount of fat calories that we do have half the incidence of breast cancer." Dr. Takeshi Hirayama, of Tokyo's National Cancer Research Institute, has found those women who eat meat daily face four times the risk of breast cancer of those who eat little or no meat. Death rates as well have been found to be affected by dietary fat: the less fat a woman eats in her lifetime. the more likely she is to prevent breast cancer.

Despite this evidence, the National Institute of Health (NIH) rejected research projects to study the role of dietary fat in breast cancer in 1985, 1989 and 1991. This policy--due in part to the agency's general reluctance to do research on prevention, as opposed to diagnosis and treatment--is sexist. The NIH spends less that 14°% of its budget on women's health issues, although 17.5% of cancer cases and 8.6% of cancer deaths are from breast cancer alone. Thanks to an outcry from congresswomen and vigilant women's organizations--most notably the National Women's Health Network and the National Black Women's Health Project--the NIH has directed the NCI to fund a study of the link between dietary fat and breast cancer. The Women's Health Initiative, which will involve 60,000 women over nine years, will begin next year.

In the meantime, with a 1 in 8 risk, we can't afford to wait for the results. A low fat diet, free of animal fats in particular, is the kind of preventive measure that can do no harm. At the very least, we would be reducing our chance of heart disease, not to mention our intake of the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that permeate our meat and dairy supplies.

Real News 2: Use 'Em or Lose 'Em

One of the best-kept secrets in the breast cancer and infant formula industries is--breastfeeding prevents breast cancer. Yale School of Medicine Professor W. Douglas Thompson admits, "Aside from breastfeeding, there is not much researchers can recommend to prevent breast cancers.'' And Dr. Nancy Lee, epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, has said, women who breastfeed have significantly lower rates of breast and ovarian cancer than mothers who don't.

Population studies reveal longer nursing is associated with fewer breast cancers. Countries with low rates practice prolonged breastfeeding, and the rise in breast cancer correlates internationally with the rise in bottle feeding. Canadian Eskimo women have large families, generally nurse for two or three years, and have the lowest rate of breast cancer of any group studied. The few reported cases have occurred in the unused breast among women who nursed only on one side. A 1977 study found that Tanka boat women, who traditionally nurse only on the right side, have a higher incidence of breast cancer in the left breast. Moreover, epidemiological studies suggest protection increases with longer periods of nursing. One 1986 study found women who nursed had half the risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer--the type with fastest-increasing incidence--compared to women who had never nursed. And women who nursed for two years cut their risk of breast cancer by a third. Hippocrates said in the 5th century, B.C.: "Use leads to health and disuse to disease." Breasts are for feeding--use them or lose them.

Back to the Facts

There's no profit for industry in breastfeeding or in eating differently--in preventing this scourge that's taking our lives in unprecedented numbers. Just as infant formula companies rake in billions while endangering the health of babies and mothers, mammograms, not to mention surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, produce huge profits without making a dent in the ravages of this epidemic. So the body count grows.