Source
Yes, go on.
Touch your breasts right now. Stand in front of the mirror and do some visual examinations, check for any obvious / imagined changes in the layout of your breast...any unusual wrinkling or crinkling...any changes in the nipples...then raise your arm and feel your breast with the small of your palm in a circular motion...first one...then the other.
Sorry, this isn't a command...but...now lie on a flat surface / bed with a small pillow underneath the shoulder of the breast you want to check out. Like that.
First one, then the other.
Notice any change? Feel any unusual lump? See fluid oozing out of your nipple? Observed any discoloration? Anything unusual? Time to head to the hospital...flag it.
This doesn't take more than 10 minutes, at most but we are usually lost in the hustle and bustle of our daily activities to bother with this simple test that could turn out to be a life saver. (I'm also a defaulter here)
Until we have a rude awakening, that is. Like I did last week.
And it dawned on me again that this doesn't cost anything other than some few minutes of my time which could actually end up adding several years to my life. Get the logic?
So I was fiddling with my BBM last week -fiddling consists mainly of scrolling through my contacts doing some psychological checking on my friends when I suddenly had to literally screech to a stop on seeing a friend's dp.
You know those kind of dark dps that send the jitters down your spine? Total blackout. Weeping emoticons. Lamentations.
Now I hate seeing stuffs like that but who doesn't?
I mean, those dramatic displays indicate sorrow, pain, grief...and, noone deserves to go through that. Everyone is entitled to happiness, long life, prosperity, good health, basic amenities, etc etc. But life is hardly fair now, is it?
On making inquiries, I discovered my friend just lost a close family friend.
To cancer...of the breast.
The deceased left behind two young ones...5yrs and 3yrs!
A young devoted mother with young children who could not wipe their own butts yet...children who depended on her for everything. She was a giver and a child of God. It was further disclosed during our chat that the deceased's constant prayer had been to live long to care for her children until they are fully grown. How sad.
Isn't that every mother's dream? That really got me teary eyed.
Like I'm a young mother with two young ones who have become the center of our lives. We work hard, praying daily to live long enough to see these kids children's children if the Lord tarries.
The news hit me in a way I still can't put into words.
She loved her children so much and they were said to be the fulcrum and pillar around which her life revolved. Now she's gone, what happens to the children?
Who would love and take care of them like she did? Of course, only one Being is capable of loving and caring for them more than their mother and that is God. I trust He has already hearkened to our petitions and taken over.
More saddening to me was the fact that it didn't have to end that way, could have been prevented.
Maybe if she was diligently committed to doing breast self examinations....
Maybe the cancer would have been detected early....
Maybe a mammogram...
Maybe it's her time...
Maybe not....
Maybe...
Even though I did not have the privilege of knowing / meeting her, I totally relate and I am feeling overwhelmed, right now.
I love God...I love life...I love my loved ones.
But do I love them enough to start taking real steps to stay alive?
It has become a real battle for survival out there and we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to keep fighting...to keep striving...to keep living
Need I say more, lovely people?
Please I need you to start feeling your boobies right now. Just go on and do it. Before your monthly periods...after your periods....everyday. Let us will ourselves to do it.
Just.Do.It!
You still don't have a clue how to go about it? You may want to check here for instructions.
For the sake of all that we hold dear, please let's add this to our daily to-do list and help reduce the sad incidence of breast cancer.
Collectively, we can kick cancer out, one breast at a time.
Moreover, it's breast cancer awareness month...so let's love ourselves and our dependents enough to go touchy-feely.
Again...just do it...and get others doing it by sharing and spreading the awareness....
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder. I have lost too many friends and relatives to breast cancer.
ReplyDeleteI am following your lovely blog via GFC.
Happy Thursday!
Thanks, Veronica.
DeleteFollowing back now; do have a great weekend.
Hiyaa, sorry for the loss of a friend, RIP.
ReplyDelete#Breast cancer aware#
Thank you, sis.
DeleteSigh. Let me go touching asap
ReplyDeleteToinlicious, please do o.
DeleteThank you for creating the awareness. Breast cancer is a silent killer.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is a very silent killer but it doesn't always have to end up in tragedy if we take early steps like checking ourselves often.
DeleteHello Sistah. I tagged you;
ReplyDeletehttp://newdawn40.blogspot.com/2014/10/yours-sincerely.html
Thank you.
Hello sistah, I welcome you to the sistah-bloggers-club. E-hug.
Deletehttp://newdawn40.blogspot.com/2014/10/blogger-sistahs.html
Thanks, New Dawn.
DeleteThe month of October was a very busy one for me otherwise, I'd have responded.
Better late than never.
Hugs,