Wednesday I went to have a breast exam and mammogram. It has been over 5 years. Where has the time gone? Partially I don’t like having mammograms and partially I was busy taking care of Gpa.
And partially because I don’t know what I’m doing. The first time I did a self exam I was about 13 years old. There were all sorts of lumps! That freaked me out. Nope didn’t tell anyone. Just wasn’t going to do that again.
But I did. Periodically over the years, I’d be reminded and I’d do a self exam. Now that I knew I had lumps and bumps it wasn’t so freaky.
Over the years, I’ve met women who have had breast cancer, or a relative of there’s had it. Lots of different experiences. And spreading to lymph nodes and beyond.
So I learned Wednesday to start the exam under the arm. Makes sense, I know there are lymph nodes there. But I didn’t know there are some around the clavicle!
Another tip is to pick a day of the month that is easy to remember and do it then. Like a birthday. The woman who was doing the exam’s birthday is on the 27th. I think that is when I’ll do mine each month. That way I can remember her and how well she taught me.
She showed me on a model what normal and not normal lumps were. Then during the exam, she had me feel my lumps which are of the normal kind.
I am really glad I went!
Be sure to take care you, too!