Breast Cancer- Sheila Valencia Ochoa

Breast Cancer 


What is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. Breast cancer can begin begin in any area of the breast. There are three main parts which are the Lobules, Ducts, and Connective tissue. Breast cancer can occur in women and rarely in men as well. 

Symptoms:

• New lumps in the breast or underarm (armpit)
• Thickening or swelling in parts of the breast
• Irritation or dimpling of breast skin
• Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or breast
• Pain in the nipple area or any area in breast
• Nipple discharge ( Milk, Blood) 
• Change in size or shape of breast 

Risk Factors:                                              

• Getting old 
• Genetic mutation                                          
• Reproductive history 
• Having dense breast 
• Previous treatment with radiation 
• Changeable Risk Factors 
• Not being physically active
• Being overweight or obese after menopause 

Statistics:

• 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her life.
•  An estimate of 268,600 new cases of  invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in 2019 and 62,930 new cases of non invasive breast cancer.
• About 41,760 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2019 from breast cancer.
• Breast cancer death rates are higher in the U.S then those of any other cancer. 
• As of January 2019, there are more than 3.1 million women with a history of breast cancer. This includes women being treated or have been treated 

Personal Experience:

About 3 months ago my family and I had the worst news every that my mom, my best friend, the person I can rely on for anything was diagnosed with a mass in one of her breast and they were not sure what it was. Of course my mother panicked and thought of the worse the doctor sent her to get another exam to conclude what the mass was. Thankfully it was not anything to do with breast cancer but that does not mean she is risk free. From now on she is going to be monitored every year to make sure the mass does not have an association with cancer. This diagnosis got my family and I thinking of the worse such as the cost of treatment to help get medical care for my mother incase she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am thankful my mother is cancer free and it was nothing to worry about but we can never be to precautiones about such situations. 

Interviews:

Noemi Jacobo

" I think there should be less women associated with breast cancer. We need to find a way to treat women and men with breast cancer at lower costs or at least provide them with accessible health care so they can be treated and we reduce the amount of deaths associated with breast cancer around the world not only in the U.S. but in other nations too."

              

                        Ildegarda Valencia 

" El cancer es muy triste para las personas que le detectan el cancer de ceno porque es muy difícil de combatir cuando lo diagnostican en una de las etapas avanzadas. Los tratamientos usados para combatir el cancer de ceno son muy fuertes que ay veces que muchas de las mujeres pierden un pecho y es muy triste porque callen en la depresión por la misma razón que su cuerpo no es el mismo."

                                             

                                                 Luis Martinez 
" Even though I am not a women but as the youngest brother who has two sisters and a mother I feel related to this issue because anyone can be affected by this issue since there isn't an exact cure to fight this disease.  I believe there should be more studies being conducted to the different stages of breast cancer so that men and women can get the right medication or treatment needed to fight such a killing disease to the ones we love. As a nation we should be able to provide accessible health care for people going through a diagnosis like this one which is hard to deal with in a personal level but also as a financial level it becomes a big pain that not everyone can afford which can lead to more deaths when we can help prevent them."

Call to action:

After reading about such disease I came to realize that a lot fo the deaths due to breast cancer are due to it being diagnosed in late stages due to women not having regular check ups called mammograms. During the month of October many local clinics provide free or low cost check ups but not everyone knows about such events. Therefore, we could all work together or team up with the city and provide information flier to everyone or at community meetings just so people are informed of such events and the word gets spread. That's the best we can do to helping with having accessible health care and providing information about the topic so women and men are aware of such disease. An important thing to remember is that your not alone no matter what you are going through there is always someone else going through the same process don't give up keep on pushing through!


References:
Breast Cancer Statistics. (2019, May 28). Retrieved from 
https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/index.htm.
U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics. (2019, February 13). Retrieved from https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics