Breast Cancer - Affects Breast Tissue

1
(No Transcript)
2
SHOULD YOU GET A MAMMOGRAM IF THERES NO CANCER
IN YOUR FAMILY?
3

• Just a waste of my time, I remember thinking
  while waiting my turn for a mammogram in Dr. Ira
  Bergers office.  I had brought my briefcase and
  had work spread on my lap, but spending time
  driving the 97-mile round trip from my home
  office to the radiologists was an unproductive
  part of my day.
• It was 1992 and I had been getting annual
  mammograms for more than 10 years ever since I
  turned 45. But I felt I had better things to do
  with my time, especially since no one in my
  family had ever had breast cancer, or cancer of
  any kind.

4
(No Transcript)
5

• I had a new job working as a consultant for a
  company headquartered in Pennsylvania, and I
  wanted to succeed beyond their wildest
  expectations.  My world had recently been shaken
  at the roots when my brilliant career as a
  marketing and sales director ended in a lay-off
  following a merger.
• Even though I had finished with standing in the
  unemployment line, the shame of that weekly
  ordeal lingered in my memory. Each week the line
  had move dagonizingly slow while I glanced
  without making eye contact at the gray, cheerless
  faces and realized mine probably looked the same.

6

• At least I was still alive.  The extreme stress
  of the last months on the job following the
  merger took the lives of two of my colleagues. I
  needed outstanding success in this new position
  to resurrect my shattered ego and calm my
  shredded nerves.
• And then I got the news  the mammogram showed a
  tiny mark on my right breast, a spec of a growth
  that needed to be removed.  After a
  quickly-arranged meeting with a surgeon, a
  lumpectomy was performed.

7

• It was after I was told, Its breast cancer,
  that I realized I was being given a wake-up call.
   Oh yes, I definitely needed to change my life.
  Time with family and friends, even my daily
  prayers and meditation, had gone by the wayside
  after rumors about the merger turned into a
  nightmarish reality.
• And so, even before the surgeon removed all the
  lymph nodes under my right arm (negative, thank
  goodness), I took a good hard look at my life and
  decided to make changes.  Succeeding in my career
  would no longer take first place in my life.
   Communication with my spiritual source and
  giving attention to my family and friends would
  be my top priorities. 

8
(No Transcript)
9

• Being told you have breast cancer is a scary
  thing. I downplayed it to my kids (who were in
  their 20s and 30s) and told only one close
  friend. No one at my new consulting job knew
  since I worked at home and used lunchtime to
  drive myself to radiation treatments every day
  for six weeks.
• If only I could have seen the future!  I would
  have rejoiced when I was laid off knowing that a
  far better job was in store for me. The
  consulting position turned out to be with the
  best company in the world a kind, caring boss
  much, much more money colleagues who loved their
  work and I got to work at home. Instead, I
  allowed the circumstances to throw me into fear
  and lost my spiritual center.

10

• As is often the case, what appears at first to be
  a catastrophe turned out to be a valuable wake-up
  call.  Just as losing my job was a blessing in
  disguise, the breast cancer turned out to be a
  blessing too. I am very grateful for the changes
  it brought to my life. 
• Now when confronted with a challenge, Im back to
  trusting and remembering to say Something good
  will come of this. And it ALWAYS does. I just
  need to expect it and watch for it.

11

• After 26 years I can definitely say Im cured of
  breast cancer. Theres just one last thing I must
  do to complete that phase of my life, and that is
  to break my silence and encourage every woman to
  get her annual mammogram or breast ultrasound. It
  was a routine mammogram and an incredibly gifted
  radiologist that possibly saved my life.  By
  writing this article and sharing my story, if
  just one of you reading about my experience
  decides to get regular screenings, then I can
  say Something ELSE good has come of this.

12
(No Transcript)