How To Do A Breast Self Exam

The best time to do a self-exam is when the breasts are not tender or swollen, so avoid "that time of the month." Most experts suggest checking your own breasts once a month but every weekend is better. You need to get to know what's "normal" for your breasts.

All women over 20 years old should examine their breasts whether they are natural, have implants, are pregnant or are nursing. If anything is unusual, make a doctor appointment for the same week. Most of the time, it's nothing to worry about. But if it is cancer, an early find and fast response can make a difference in how far it spread and whether you have to have mastectomy or lumpectomy, and whether you can to go through chemotherapy.

Breast cancer is not restricted to "old people." There is a growing group of women in their 40's getting it. It is also linked to high hormone levels due to the Pill, hormone replacement therapy and pregnancy. Hereditary breast cancer can strike at any age.

In the "old days" it was recommended to do examinations while standing in the shower. Nowadays laying on your back is the recommended way because the breast tissue spreads more evenly across your chest which makes it much easier to feel all the breast tissue.

Use the finger pads of the 3 middle fingers on your left hand to feel for lumps in the right breast. Use the right hand to check out your left breast. Make overlapping circular patterns with your finger pads to feel the breast tissue. Do this once lightly, again with medium pressure, and then a third time with firm pressure so you can feel down to your ribs.

Do the entire "circle" of your breast, in between them (sternum/breast bone) and all the way up to your collar bone. Your breast is actually teardrop shaped and goes up pretty high. Also check your sides up into the arm pit.

While standing in front of a mirror with your hands pressing firmly down on your hips, compare them for changes in size difference or shape. Check the skin for dimpling, redness, scaliness, orange peel textures, dimpling, inverted or changed nipple appearance. Use a hand mirror to examine the undersides.

Examine your underarms while upright and with your arm only slightly raised so you can easily feel in this area. Don't raise your arm too high because this makes the skin and muscle real tight which makes it harder to find changes.

These self exams are very important. I found my lump this way - it was very high toward the collarbone and too high to be captured in mammogram pictures. Mammograms alone are not enough. You must do both.
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Inflammatory Breast Cancer - What Is It?

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Inflammatory Breast Cancer develops rapidly. It accounts for up to 6 percent of all breast cancer cases in the USA. Survival rates are lower than those of other locally advanced breast cancers. The exact cause of IBC is unknown.

Different from other breast cancers that have a lump, Inflammatory Breast Cancer has the breast appearing normal in the beginning until tumor cells get into and block lymphatic vessels in the skin. This lymph fluid gets backed up causing the breast to swell up and become red, swollen and sore.

Here are some symptoms of IBC:

• Sudden, fast change in the appearance of one breast, over the course of days or weeks


• Thickness, heaviness or visible enlargement of one breast


• Discoloration, giving the breast a red, purple, pink or bruised appearance


• Unusual warmth of the affected breast


• Dimpling or ridges on the skin of the affected breast, similar to an orange peel


• Itchiness


• Tenderness, pain or aching


• Enlarged lymph nodes under the arm, above the collarbone or below the collarbone


• Flattening or turning inward of the nipple


• Swollen or crusted skin on the nipple


• Change in color of the skin around the nipple

If the breast becomes red, swollen or sore, see a doctor immediately (I mean the same week!) to rule out Inflammatory Breast Cancer. If the breast fails to improve despite a week of antibiotics, ask your doctor to do more like ordering an ultrasound, mammogram or MRI and a biopsy of the skin. You might ask for a referral to a breast specialist.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer can easily be confused with a breast infection but it won't go away with antibiotics. A breast infection also causes redness, swelling and pain, but breast infections usually develop only during breast-feeding. You will probably have a fever with an infection.

Another cause of breast changes are breast surgery and radiation therapy. These might block the lymphatic vessels in breast skin, temporarily making the breast swell and become discolored. These changes will gradually go away.

The average women with IBC is 59 years. Black women are slightly more likely than are white women to get it. Men can develop IBC, too.

If the biopsy confirms IBC, the next step is to see how advanced the cancer is. The doctor might order a CT scan of your chest and abdomen, chest X-ray, and bone scan. The biopsy will be tested for the presence or absence of hormone receptors and to see if the cancer produces too much of a protein called HER2. Inflammatory breast cancers are often hormone receptor negative and HER2-positive.

Inflammatory breast cancer is classified as stage III-B or stage IV breast cancer. Stage III-B is locally advanced cancer — meaning it has spread to nearby lymph nodes and to the fibrous connective tissue inside the breast. Stage IV cancer has spread to other parts of your body, beyond the breast. About two-thirds of newly diagnosed inflammatory breast cancers are stage III-B.

Treatment for IBC involves chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. About half the women diagnosed with the condition survive five or more years, and nearly one-third are alive 20 years after diagnosis.

Chemotherapy is done first to shrink the cancer and resolve skin problems before surgery. This allows proper healing of the skin. Most ladies receive more chemotherapy after healing. Radiation (it's like getting an x-ray, very easy!) is given to kill any remaining cancer cells in the breast and under your arm. Typical RT is 30 to 35 treatments, once a day, on week days.

The doctor might recommend further treatment to prevent cancer from returning. If the cancer tested positive for estrogen receptors, then you'll take hormone pills that are engineered to kill the cancer cells (they like to "eat" hormones). If the cancer is HER2-positive, the doctor will prescribe a pill for that, too.

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History of the Pink Ribbon

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This is a short history on the use of ribbons as a symbol of rememberance and awareness.

It starts with 19th century American women who wore a yellow ribbon in their hair as a symbol of their devotion to husbands and sweethearts who were away, serving in the US Calvalry. The Calvalry's official color was yellow. The John Wayne movie "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is a direct reference to this custom.

There is also the marching song "Round Her Neck, She Wore A Yeller Ribbon," sung in the US military that was copyrighted in 1917. (and no, that's not a typo)

In 1973 "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree," sung by Tony Orlando & Dawn, was a number one hit in the USA, UK and Australia. The message of this yellow ribbon was "You Are Welcome Home."

Six years later, during the Gulf War, Penney Laingen tied yellow ribbons on the trees in her front yard, showing the world her longing for the release and return of her husband who was a hostage held in Iran. Penney's display got into the news and yellow ribbons appeared on trees all over the world, in support of loved ones away at war.

At the 1990 Tony Awards, actor Jeremy Irons wore a red ribbon. This is considered to be the first time an actor wore a red ribbon publicly to bring awareness to the serious problem of AIDS. Soon after, other actors and public figures followed suit.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in the 1991 Race for Breast Cancer in New York City.

Charlotte Hayley, who had breast cancer, handed out peach colored ribbons with cards attached that stated that the National Cancer Institute only spends 5% of their $1.8 billion on prevention. She felt prevention and early detection deserved more attention.

Alexandra Penney (editor-in-chief at Self magazine) and Evelyn Lauder (senior VP at Estee Lauder) approached Hayley about working together but Hayley declined. Penney and Lauder teamed up to create pink ribbons as the international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

Legally, in most places, the symbol of the pink ribbon is considered public domain. In Canada, the pink ribbon is the official trademark of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Arabic: شريط وردي
Spanish: Lazo Rosado
French: Ruban Rose
Italian: Nastro Rosa
Galician: Lazo Vermello
German: Rosa Schleife

Dutch: Roze Lint
Danish: Lyserøde Sløjfe
Croatian: Ružičasta vrpca
Czech: Růžová stužka
Finnish: Roosa Nauha
Hungarian: Rózsaszín szalag
Norwegian: Rosa Sløyfe
Latvian: Rozā lente
Lithuanian: Rožinis kaspinas
Persian: روبان صورتی
Polish: Różowa Wstążka
Romanian: Panglica Roz
Ukrainian: Рожева стрічка
Russian: Pозовая лента
Slovak: Ružová stužka
Swedish: Rosa Bandet
Catalan: Llaç Rosa
Turkish: Pembe Kurdele
Japanese: ピンクリボン
Chinese: 粉红丝带
Serbian: Ružičasta mašna
Slovenian: Rožnati trak

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