I know, Breast Cancer Awareness month is still a few days off, but, that is no excuse to wait to post this information.
1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with some form of breast cancer.
95% of women diagnosed with some form of breast cancer are over the age of 40
5% of women diagnosed are under that imaginary line, and sad to say are usually told that what they have is a cyst.
The only risk factor you need is to be a woman, men can even get breast cancer.
If you go to the doctor after finding a lump in your breast, and you do not have all of the red flags, being over that imaginary line, family history, overweight, push to have it checked further. Its frightening when you find out close to a year later what you were originally told was a cyst actually is cancerous.

The reason I am posting this.
October 8, 2008, i found a lump that literally showed up over night. There was no way i could have missed something this size. This pointed toward a cyst. I made it to the doctor in the first week of December and was informed it was a cyst, it moved, it showed up over night, there was no family history and not to worry, but, to set my mind at ease, lets get a mammogram. That happened in January of this year, at which time a 4cm mass was found. The radiology report was sent to my doctor, who told me then "the radiologist wants you to get a biopsy, but, i still feel its a cyst, you can do a consult, but, i don't feel its necessary"

Had he been a little more persistent that a biopsy should be done and not brushed it off, i may have taken it a little more seriously.

This summer, my youngest had to have extensive dental surgery, so all of my efforts were going into getting him fixed, i left the mass alone, forgot about it for a while, until i got him taken care of, which, he pulled through better than i could ever imagine.

September 2. My doctor hired a new clinical supervisor, and in her review of files, she luckily came across mine. She was able to say "yes, i know doc said not to worry about it, but, lets get this checked out, i can't refer you, but call this women's hospital, it can happen without the risk factors, you need to go out on your own without doc and get this done" Ok, we'll go get this checked out, got an appointment for a biopsy at the hospital out of state because, frankly, HGH is better equipped than the local hospital, scary, i know, but, my results came back on the 18th. Unfortunately, even after a little bit of hope during the ultrasound of the same day of this being an abcess, it came back as malignant.

I am 31 years old, found this when i was 30, I am not obese, no one in my family as far back as i can find has had breast cancer, nor even fibrocystic breast disorder. The biopsy showed that i have invasive ductal carcinoma, nucleus grade three with necrosis. That sounds frightening when you look at it, and honestly, ladies, even gentlemen with lady friends, wives, daughters, sisters, i want you to see how frightening this can be. The standard for being screened for breast cancer, or even cervical cancer, which, thankfully, im OK that way, is at the age of 40. I just don't want to see anyone miss anything or be brushed off because of their age or lack of family history in the matter.

Now, all of this said. I'm fine. Yes, I have breast cancer, but, I will beat this. As far as I am concerned, I am a survivor all ready, i just need this thing out of my tit.

There have been some that i have told about this, and been asked "what can i do? what do you need me to do for you, how can i help you through this" my answer to this, and i know its not cheap, im going to be paying for this all out of pocket, but, go get it checked out, if something doesn't feel right to you or your partner, go get it looked at and don't settle for "its just a cyst" Chances are, it is just a cyst, but, as i found out, it can be much more than that.