The secret world of breast cancer

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Interesting article. I knew some, others were new to me. Oh, and knitted knockers has to be one of those incredibly ingenious solutions that only comes out of having an experience like cancer. :giggle:
 
Thanks for sharing that. It has to be useful to get some basic info out into the world. No doubt the medical people and the patients deal with a changing landscape all the time too as new facts come to life.
 
Northwind said:
This is an excellent article. I'm sure I could add to the list.

The secret world of breast cancer
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You should add to the list, it might help someone out there.
I found the article very informative especially as a woman with a sister and mother who had both died from cancer fairly young. (49 and 57) It was suggested my sister's breast cancer may have been caused by her premature menopause in her 30s and given Hormone therapy drugs because of it...I'm not sure if she was even checked to see if she had an inherited gene.
 
I'll read the article again to see what I can add. The one that was my bigger learning was that breast cancer isn't one thing. There are many versions. As a result, there are many different treatments. What helps in one, doesn't in another. That's part of the reason I don't like the simplistic pink message
 
Northwind said:
I'll read the article again to see what I can add. The one that was my bigger learning was that breast cancer isn't one thing. There are many versions. As a result, there are many different treatments. What helps in one, doesn't in another. That's part of the reason I don't like the simplistic pink message
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The whole notion of "cancer" is really a problem. The only thing most cancers have in common with each other is cells dividing out of control. Saying someone has "cancer" is like pointing at an animal and saying it's a "mammal". Doesn't really tell you much beyond some very broad strokes. So "breast cancer" might be like saying "feline" which could then be a lion, tiger, ocelot, or domestic cat.

Of course, this is why the whole field of designer drugs and other treatments tailored to a specific person's condition has become a hot research area. The problem is how to make it affordable so insurance and public health care systems won't balk at paying for one-off treatments.
 
My husband's prostate cancer is genetic...related to pancreatic cancer and breast cancer. I let my daughter know about the breast cancer right away but when she went to her doctor. he said he wasn't worried about it!
 
Nancy said:
My husband's prostate cancer is genetic...related to pancreatic cancer and breast cancer. I let my daughter know about the breast cancer right away but when she went to her doctor. he said he wasn't worried about it!
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In many professions they are not bothered by the topic only their concerns with the practical bottom line as they fear other demands will sink it ... like getting emotional about folk not in their circle. In medicine they even reinforce emotional dissociation to excess ... so all care is sacrificed for reason unknown ...irrationality growth? I experienced it in my career in engineering ... thus engineered failures to allow continuance ...

If observed from outside it gets ridiculous ... they disposed of me like belief systems do with enlightenment of the shadowy parts of existence ... bête noire? Thus we are trounced ...
 
I suppose I wouldn't be too concerned if it was his cancer possibility. Other than that I'd seek another opinion.
A friend who was approaching her 40th birthday shared with me that NONE of her female relatives lived to be 41. Needless to say she was very concerned. She asked me for advice and I recommended a particular female Dr. she hadn't seen before. When she shared her worries the Dr. set up a complete ongoing care plan and the friend is now 74.
 
I think her doctor wasn't worried because of her age (32) but also because he will just check regularly....so 'don't worry'.
 
Traditionally I think many older western educated doctors take the approach of waiting until something actually shows up and then they act. Fortunately we are now increasingly changing to acknowledge high risk individuals and focus more on preventative measures and early diagnosis. In the meantime, people may have to still strongly advocate for themselves to get whatever testing is needed.
There's a billboard in my town that says, " Young Women Get Breast Cancer Too"
 
My daughter just did a fundraiser for a young mother of three who has been dealing with breast cancer. Her story was interesting: She worked for a place in the U.S. that had a mobile unit come around once a year offering breast screening. This individual took advantage of that, even though she was quite young and had no breast cancer in her family. Then, when she moved, and got a new job, that opportunity was not available any more but she told her doctor that she had been receiving regular screening and would like to continue that. Her doctor obliged. And that's how they caught her breast cancer quite early.
 
Nancy said:
My daughter just did a fundraiser for a young mother of three who has been dealing with breast cancer. Her story was interesting: She worked for a place in the U.S. that had a mobile unit come around once a year offering breast screening. This individual took advantage of that, even though she was quite young and had no breast cancer in her family. Then, when she moved, and got a new job, that opportunity was not available any more but she told her doctor that she had been receiving regular screening and would like to continue that. Her doctor obliged. And that's how they caught her breast cancer quite early.
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I think the US is a bit different from here in that, at least in some states, as long as you or your insurance can and will pay for something, you can get it. One of the problems in our system is that access to tests is often limited based on what provincial health ministries deem necessary, which can be based on cost rather than actual medical reasons. So if your province starts breast screening at 50, you need a pretty good reason (like family history) to get screened earlier.
Waterfall said:
Traditionally I think many older western educated doctors take the approach of waiting until something actually shows up and then they act.
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Not just older ones. I had to ask for prostate screening based on family history. My current doc (just finished residency in 2019) wasn't even doing a rectal until I got the news of my brother's cancer while my old one was doing that and even contemplating a PSA (but didn't since OHIP only pays if you have family history or other risk factors) even though we did not know of any history at that point.
 
Mendalla said:
I think the US is a bit different from here in that, at least in some states, as long as you or your insurance can and will pay for something, you can get it. One of the problems in our system is that access to tests is often limited based on what provincial health ministries deem necessary, which can be based on cost rather than actual medical reasons. So if your province starts breast screening at 50, you need a pretty good reason (like family history) to get screened earlier.

Not just older ones. I had to ask for prostate screening based on family history. My current doc (just finished residency in 2019) wasn't even doing a rectal until I got the news of my brother's cancer while my old one was doing that and even contemplating a PSA (but didn't since OHIP only pays if you have family history or other risk factors) even though we did not know of any history at that point.
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Does this fit the order of rationality and the ancient study of Logi ... Gi Zues; what are you doing down there? Even Lenard Cohen sang to that lady of the downs ... always lesser than highered emotions ... an old profession that sold out! Thus irrational passions prevail and the information exits as hated intelligence ... eliminated like Elijah .... for the shawn, shorn and clipped by code ... balled troth?
 
I was surprised by nose dripping. Hadn't connected the dots, and as we talk about different types of treatment, I didn't lose my hair
 
I think the important take away is don't presume.

Don't presume you know impact or prognosis. Don't presume others do.

Listen. No matter who you are. Listen
 
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