The Best "Breast" Advice is Self Examinations

I’m totally against the latest advice from the Department of Health and Human Services advisory panel saying doctors should no longer instruct women to conduct regular breast self-examinations.

I had breast cancer resulting in a radical mastectomy in 1987. My cancer was detected early because of my self-examination. I had always been lumpy, but the lumps constantly moved around. This lump did not move at all, and it felt warm. Even though I had had a mammogram just 6 months before, I went straight to my doctor. He too felt the warm lump, which had not shown up on my previous mammogram. He then did an ultra sound, and there it was. The biopsy proved the tumor to be malignant, and I had a radical mastectomy on my left side.

That was 22 years ago, and I have been cancer free ever since. I attribute that fact to my regular self-examinations.