A year ago I finally went into the Doc's over-coming my fears & shame to discuss my breasts.Breast examination is not anything that was taught in Health/Sex Education and neither was it discussed by my parental units. Female friends only had the odd jovial/snide comment, driven by embarrassment or jealousy. Male friends on the other hand would either take the little boy giggle approach or make horny jokes. It's just not something anyone in my age group discussed & it was never a big deal. Breasts were breasts; they were supposed to be like Page 3 girls or you just kept them covered. Yup what a media driven era my teen years were.I smoked from around 16 and still do (No comments on smoking needed or wanted but if you're thinking of starting, don't); my diet, stress, mental & health weren't top notch. I developed breasts early & it was just a plain embarrassment for me, trying to squash them down and hide them away. Then of course I was asymmetrical ('lop-sided') and not by a little, by at least a cup size and then some.Then came the latest news, the new fear, Breast Cancer. Lumps here, there and everywhere, it was in magazines & on the T.V. & to someone who'd never really heard of anything like it before, it was all a shock & damned scary. People were talking about examinations but to me I could feel a lump if I pushed hard enough, I mean what was a normal lump and what was a bad lump.I just continued life letting it eat me up slowly, every ache in my breasts was scary, every blotch, dimple. It took a lot for me to finally walk into that surgery and strip down, tears welling up, confusion & fear straining my face. The Doctor was very kind to me, checked me over, showed me how to check myself and gave me the facts & dispelled the fiction.Now I do have 'lumpy' breasts but that isn't uncommon & it's not indicative of cancer, the difference in my breast size does hamper my self confidence & is so significant I've been offered plastic surgery (that's another post altogether). So I was finally put at ease & laid ghosts to rest, I know how to monitor myself now & have shown my breasts to so many Doctors (due to the aforementioned) that the shame is almost gone.I would recommend & urge every woman (men too, it is possible for men to get breast cancer) who even has the slightest worry to speak to their Doctor. I hope I am repeating everyone here in saying:Do not let misunderstanding or shame stop you from putting an end to fear.---------------------------------------------------------
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Breast Examinations
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If your worried I'd go straight, i wouldn't wait around too long or it might get worse...(to those in future)
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In reply to:
I would recommend & urge every woman (men too, it is possible for men to get breast cancer) who even has the slightest worry to speak to their Doctor.
I totally agree with that, my mum had breast cancer a few years ago, and is still here cos she caught it early. Last year i woke up with one of my breasts covered in bruising and a strange line in it, like something was pulling inside, I went straight off to the hospital and got it check, and yes it could have been embarrassing, tho i don't get embarrassed about stuff like that, but whats being a little embarrassed compared to the relief i felt when i was told everything was ok.
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i check myself a lot. i dont think id hesitate to go to the doctors if i ever had a lump as my family are very open about anatomy (theyre naturists). my mum had a breast cancer scare 10 years ago, thankfully it was just a fatty lump but she had to have it removed. again, i would urge everyone to check for lumps. recently my biology teacher and head of year collected all us year 11s and gave us a 'talk' about checking yourself, both men and women and told us about lance armstrong. all the boys sniggered when he said the word 'testicle' which pissed me off but please, everyone check yourself.