October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month Welcome to October everyone, a month for the good and bad. Halloween happens as we all know, and that's always a fun holiday, but something that isn't as fun is the topic of Breast Cancer. Since it's Breast Cancer month in Australia (I'm not sure about everywhere else), I've decided to bring the awareness to forums too. What is Breast Cancer? Something you don't want, to be quite blunt, but it isn't always something we can help. Breast Cancer is a malignant tumour (which is a group of cancer cells) which starts in the breast, and can grow into surrounding tissues or spread to other ares of the body. How do individuals usually develop breast cancer? There are three main risk factors for the disease that unfortunately, cannot be changed. These include: Genetics; an inherited mutation in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes. Age; the older women get, the more likely they are to develop breast cancer. although, it tends to be more difficult to treat at a younger age as that is usually when the disease is more vigorous. Gender; well, being a girl and having boobs and girly hormones doesn't tend to help for obvious reasons (Please note: it is possible for a male to develop breast cancer, it is just extremely rare). Please don't think that just because you don't have a family history of breast cancer, it doesn't mean you won't develop it. More than 85% of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the disease. Anyone can get it, but that also doesn't mean you will. What treatment can be given to those suffering with breast cancer? There are a few tests that can be done to detect if breast cancer is present, such as ultrasounds, MRIs and mammograms. If it turns out that the individual does have the disease, there are several options of treatment available (depending on the situation of course) which include: Chemotherapy; this is treatment with cancer-killing drugs that may be injected into a vein or given by mouth. The drugs travel through the bloodstream to reach cancer cells in most parts of the body. Chemo usually goes on for several months. Surgery; to remove part of, or the whole of the breast. Radiation therapy; this is treatment with high-energy rays or particles that destroy cancer cells, and is usually used after surgery to prevent the cancer from returning. Hormone therapy; this is usually given to prevent the cancer coming back, and works by either stopping oestrogen from acting on breast cancer cells or lowering oestrogen levels (which usually increase the risk of cancer). Targeted therapy; research has enabled scientists to develop newer drugs that are similar to chemo, but usually have less severe side effects. Bone-Directed therapy; when cancer reaches the bones, it can cause pain and breaks or fractures. Drugs can be given to help reduce the risk of this occurring. Suffering Well, of course, as you can probably imagine, this would be a major problem present in individuals who have Breast Cancer and their friends or families. Unless you, yourself, have experienced Breast Cancer and the disadvantages it causes, I don't believe you can truly understand how it would feel, and I hope for everyone's sake they never find out. Try to imagine losing all your hair, or in a worst case scenario your boobs. Would you still feel like a women if you did? What would it be like to worry day and night about what's going to happen, but have to stay strong? How would you feel if your sister, niece, aunty, mother, grandmother, daughter, wife, girlfriend, friend had Breast Cancer? Would you be able to stay strong enough to support them? All questions we would never know how to answer unless it happened, but it's still something that needs to be considered if you wish to even remotely try to understand how people would feel in this situation. Self-checks These are extremely important for women of young and old ages to do as many cases of Breast Cancer have been detected this way. The earlier the detection, the easier it is to treat, and the higher chance there is that you will recover from it. Things for women to look out for include: a new lump or lumpiness, especially if it's only in one breast. a change in the size or shape of your breast. a change to the nipple, such as crusting, ulcer, redness or inversion. a nipple discharge that occurs without squeezing. a change in the skin of your breast such as redness or dimpling. an unusual pain that doesn't go away. These don't mean that you definitely have Breast Cancer, but it is always important to check with a doctor if you are experiencing any of them. My dearest respects go out to those individuals who currently have, have had, or have passed away from breast cancer. My respects and condolences also go out to the families and friends who support, supported or have lost these individuals. To those still fighting, may best wishes and love be sent your way. Donations can be given at websites such as: http://www.bcna.org.au/donate-now (Australia) http://www.abcf.org/ABCF-Donate.htm (America) https://secure.breastcancercampaign.org/appeal/bcc_oneoff/ (England) If you wish to find a way to donate for your country, wish to find out more information or find fundraising events you can participate in, you can google it, or ask me and I'd be happy to find out for you. Thank you for reading if you have, and please stay safe and well girls. Please excuse any spelling errors or bb code fails.
October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month Welcome to October everyone, a month for the good and bad. Halloween happens as we all know, and that's always a fun holiday, but something that isn't as fun is the topic of Breast Cancer. Since it's Breast Cancer month in Australia (I'm not sure about everywhere else), I've decided to bring the awareness to forums too. What is Breast Cancer? Something you don't want, to be quite blunt, but it isn't always something we can help. Breast Cancer is a malignant tumour (which is a group of cancer cells) which starts in the breast, and can grow into surrounding tissues or spread to other ares of the body. How do individuals usually develop breast cancer? There are three main risk factors for the disease that unfortunately, cannot be changed. These include: Genetics; an inherited mutation in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes. Age; the older women get, the more likely they are to develop breast cancer. although, it tends to be more difficult to treat at a younger age as that is usually when the disease is more vigorous. Gender; well, being a girl and having boobs and girly hormones doesn't tend to help for obvious reasons (Please note: it is possible for a male to develop breast cancer, it is just extremely rare). Please don't think that just because you don't have a family history of breast cancer, it doesn't mean you won't develop it. More than 85% of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of the disease. Anyone can get it, but that also doesn't mean you will. What treatment can be given to those suffering with breast cancer? There are a few tests that can be done to detect if breast cancer is present, such as ultrasounds, MRIs and mammograms. If it turns out that the individual does have the disease, there are several options of treatment available (depending on the situation of course) which include: Chemotherapy; this is treatment with cancer-killing drugs that may be injected into a vein or given by mouth. The drugs travel through the bloodstream to reach cancer cells in most parts of the body. Chemo usually goes on for several months. Surgery; to remove part of, or the whole of the breast. Radiation therapy; this is treatment with high-energy rays or particles that destroy cancer cells, and is usually used after surgery to prevent the cancer from returning. Hormone therapy; this is usually given to prevent the cancer coming back, and works by either stopping oestrogen from acting on breast cancer cells or lowering oestrogen levels (which usually increase the risk of cancer). Targeted therapy; research has enabled scientists to develop newer drugs that are similar to chemo, but usually have less severe side effects. Bone-Directed therapy; when cancer reaches the bones, it can cause pain and breaks or fractures. Drugs can be given to help reduce the risk of this occurring. Suffering Well, of course, as you can probably imagine, this would be a major problem present in individuals who have Breast Cancer and their friends or families. Unless you, yourself, have experienced Breast Cancer and the disadvantages it causes, I don't believe you can truly understand how it would feel, and I hope for everyone's sake they never find out. Try to imagine losing all your hair, or in a worst case scenario your boobs. Would you still feel like a women if you did? What would it be like to worry day and night about what's going to happen, but have to stay strong? How would you feel if your sister, niece, aunty, mother, grandmother, daughter, wife, girlfriend, friend had Breast Cancer? Would you be able to stay strong enough to support them? All questions we would never know how to answer unless it happened, but it's still something that needs to be considered if you wish to even remotely try to understand how people would feel in this situation. Self-checks These are extremely important for women of young and old ages to do as many cases of Breast Cancer have been detected this way. The earlier the detection, the easier it is to treat, and the higher chance there is that you will recover from it. Things for women to look out for include: a new lump or lumpiness, especially if it's only in one breast. a change in the size or shape of your breast. a change to the nipple, such as crusting, ulcer, redness or inversion. a nipple discharge that occurs without squeezing. a change in the skin of your breast such as redness or dimpling. an unusual pain that doesn't go away. These don't mean that you definitely have Breast Cancer, but it is always important to check with a doctor if you are experiencing any of them. My dearest respects go out to those individuals who currently have, have had, or have passed away from breast cancer. My respects and condolences also go out to the families and friends who support, supported or have lost these individuals. To those still fighting, may best wishes and love be sent your way. Donations can be given at websites such as: http://www.bcna.org.au/donate-now (Australia) http://www.abcf.org/ABCF-Donate.htm (America) https://secure.breastcancercampaign.org/appeal/bcc_oneoff/ (England) If you wish to find a way to donate for your country, wish to find out more information or find fundraising events you can participate in, you can google it, or ask me and I'd be happy to find out for you. Thank you for reading if you have, and please stay safe and well girls. Please excuse any spelling errors or bb code fails. this is what it's supposed to look like; I'll get support to change it.
I love this. I just found out my close friend has breast cancer. I really enjoy this thread. Keep it up Rina
Awe im sorry hunny I can't imagine how horrible that would be to hear. Hopefully she gets the best treatment and beats it, then can live her own happily ever after
Awesome post! Had an Aunt pass away from breast cancer, and another Aunt is currently going through treatment for it as well as my grandma who was recently diagnosed. My grandma found out it has traveled to her bones. It's really hard to watch her suffering everyday. I wouldn't wish anything like this on anyone. Respect & love to all of those currently fighting it and those supporting someone fighting it. My heart goes out to the ones that have lost the battle and their families & friends that supported them through their difficult time.
awe, I'm sorry. Best wishes to you and your family in dealing with this hopefully some sort of good news comes out of it
I dye my hair each month to a colour that coordinates to what awareness month it is, I love October because I'm able to dye it pink and it really means a lot to me since I have family that have been through breast cancer and it's not fun for anyone involved
Oh my gosh that's so cool I want pink hair but cause I'm a pussy maybe I'll buy hair chalk.. good for you Hun! Be proud of yourself ️