Today I am going to talk about something personal, something scary and hard to face. It is something I have watched people close to me battle with, and something I hope to never battle myself. That thing is breast cancer. October is breast cancer awareness month. Since I have seen my own family suffer with this disease, I felt it was important to discuss on my blog. I am sure many of you have had personal experience with a loved one going through breast cancer, or maybe you have even experienced it yourself.
Both of my grandmothers fought and won the battle with breast cancer. As a granddaughter it was difficult to see them go through this. I remember my dad’s mom gave me a stuffed reindeer for Christmas when I was about 8 or 9. When you squeezed it the nose would glow red. She told me to squeeze it, and then wish for her every night, that her cancer would go away. I did that faithfully from Christmas until we got the news that she was cancer free!
Today I wanted to focus on what moms and daughters can do every day to reduce risk of getting breast cancer. Research in this field is still new and growing. However, scientists, physicians, and community partners in the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP) have recommended certain measures that can be taken to hopefully help reduce risk.
As I have read the information the BCERP I had a realization. Even now my daughter may be exposed to harmful things that could possibly increase her risk of breast cancer. Further research is needed to determine exactly how environmental factors play into your chance of getting breast cancer. But it is never to early to start taking measures to help your children avoid potentially harmful things. The BCERP created a mother-daughter toolkit. Mothers can use this kit to talk to daughters about steps to take together to reduce risk.
Ways to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer
We still have a long way to go before we have completely conquered breast cancer, but there is some great research being done. You can help support that research by taking this short survey. When you fill out the survey you will be entered to win one of 5 $100 visa gift cards! I took it myself and it only took about 5 minutes. It is a simple way to help support breast cancer research during breast cancer awareness month. I know we are all busy, but if you think of someone you love suffering from this terrible disease, a quick survey doesn’t seem so hard. And it can really help the research team.
Have you or anyone close to your had breast cancer? Do you think it is important to avoid potential risk factors and support more research on this topic?
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5 Responses
Thank you Rachel! I too am a Breast Cancer Survivor of 20 years now. I love you’re blogs!!
That is amazing Nancy! So happy for you, and thanks for reading 🙂
Thank you for this post. It was a good reminder for me to be more aware of this issue.
Thanks for reading! Miss you!!