We often start learning about breast cancer after it enters our lives.
We learn the terminology. We learn about mammograms, biopsies, stages, surgeries and treatments. Suddenly, words we may have barely thought about become part of everyday conversations.
But some of the most important conversations about breast cancer need to happen before a diagnosis ever comes.
Not because every case of breast cancer can be prevented. It can't.
Not because living a healthy life guarantees that cancer won't happen. It doesn't.
But because there are things we can do to understand our risk, take care of our health and, perhaps most importantly, give ourselves the best opportunity to find breast cancer early.
Feeling Healthy Doesn't Mean You Don't Need to Get Checked
This may be one of the easiest mistakes to make.
When you feel healthy, it's natural to think there isn't anything to look for.
I know because I thought exactly that.
I had my first mammogram when I was 42 years old, and the truth is that I went because my OB-GYN pushed me to do it.
I had never had a mammogram before.
I felt healthy. I didn't have any symptoms that made me think something could be wrong. Breast cancer wasn't something I believed was happening inside my body.
So I found every little reason not to go.
I thought the mammogram was going to hurt. It was going to be uncomfortable. I had a copay. I had to take time out of my day.
At the time, I was already dealing with severe allergies and asthma-like symptoms and going through other medical testing. Those appointments were already taking my time and costing money.
Did I really need another appointment when I felt perfectly fine?
In my mind, I already knew what was going to happen.
I would go to the appointment, have an uncomfortable test, spend more money and eventually be told everything was normal.
But I went anyway.
What happened after that appointment is something I'll talk about in the next article.
For now, there is only one thing that matters:
Getting checked saved my life. Literally.
Three years later, I still think about how naive I was to believe that because I felt healthy and had no symptoms, nothing could possibly be wrong.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Screening Is for the Time Before You Have Symptoms
This is something I wish more women understood.
A screening mammogram isn't something we should think about only when we feel a lump, have pain or notice that something has changed.
Screening is intended to look for breast cancer before symptoms appear.
That's the point.
For women at average risk, current U.S. screening recommendations generally begin mammography at age 40, although recommendations about frequency and when to stop can differ among medical organizations. Women with higher risk may need a different screening plan.
That's why your individual situation matters.
Your age matters. Your family history can matter. Your genetics, breast density and medical history can matter too.
Instead of assuming you're too young, too healthy or simply not the kind of person who gets breast cancer, have the conversation with your healthcare provider.
Understand your own risk.
Understand when you should begin screening.
And if you're already overdue for a mammogram that has been recommended for you, don't let a collection of small excuses turn into another year.
Prevention Doesn't Mean Guarantee
We need to be careful with the word prevention when we talk about cancer.
There are breast cancer risk factors we cannot change, and people can develop breast cancer even when they don't have the risk factors they expected to have.
That matters because nobody diagnosed with cancer should be made to feel as though they somehow failed to take care of themselves.
Cancer isn't a punishment for eating the wrong foods, missing workouts or failing to live a perfectly healthy life.
At the same time, taking care of our bodies still matters.
Regular physical activity is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. Maintaining a healthy weight is important, particularly because excess body weight after menopause is associated with increased breast cancer risk. Alcohol consumption is also associated with increased breast cancer risk.
Those are reasons to make healthier choices.
They are not reasons to blame ourselves when illness happens.
We can reduce certain risks.
We cannot control everything.
There is an enormous difference between the two.
A Healthy Diet Isn't a Bottle of Vitamins
Eating well is another part of taking care of our overall health, but there's an important distinction to make.
A healthy diet does not mean adding a collection of vitamins and supplements to your daily routine.
There isn't a vitamin or supplement that can guarantee protection from breast cancer.
Supplements are not a replacement for a nutritious diet.
Instead, think about the eating habits you build over time: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and other nutritious foods, while limiting highly processed foods and making choices that support your overall health.
It doesn't have to mean eating perfectly.
And it certainly doesn't mean buying every supplement that promises to improve your health.
If you believe you need a particular vitamin or supplement because of a deficiency, medication, medical condition or another reason, that's a conversation to have with your healthcare provider.
The goal isn't to find a miracle pill.
It's to build healthier habits that support your body over time.
Know Your Own Risk
Another important part of breast cancer awareness is understanding your history.
Breast or ovarian cancer in close relatives, multiple cancers within a family, certain inherited genetic changes and other personal or family-history factors may affect someone's risk.
You don't need to become an expert in genetics.
But you should know as much of your family medical history as you reasonably can and share it with your healthcare provider.
These aren't conversations meant to frighten us.
They're conversations that may help determine whether standard screening recommendations are appropriate or whether someone should consider additional evaluation, genetic counseling or a different screening approach.
And family history isn't the whole story.
You can develop breast cancer without having a strong family history.
That's why the conversation shouldn't simply be:
“Do I feel anything?”
It should also be:
“What is my risk, and what should I be doing about it?”
Stop Waiting for Your Body to Warn You
If there is one message I would most like another woman to take from my experience, it's this.
I didn't get my mammogram because I suspected cancer.
I didn't feel sick.
I didn't believe something was wrong.
I went because my doctor kept telling me I needed to go.
Before that appointment, all my reasons for postponing it seemed perfectly reasonable.
The money.
The inconvenience.
The discomfort.
The other appointments.
The time.
But underneath every one of those excuses was one very powerful assumption:
I'm healthy. Nothing is going to be there.
Maybe you're thinking the same thing.
Maybe you've had the reminder sitting in your patient portal for months.
Maybe your doctor has already mentioned your mammogram more than once.
Maybe you keep telling yourself you'll schedule it when work slows down, after your vacation, after the holidays or when life becomes a little less complicated.
Maybe you simply don't want to deal with it.
I understand.
I really do.
But make the appointment anyway.
Take Care of the Things You Can Control
None of us can eliminate every possibility of becoming sick.
That's something I understand much differently today than I did before cancer entered my life.
But there are still things within our control.
We can move our bodies.
We can build healthier eating habits.
We can limit alcohol.
We can learn our family history.
We can talk with our healthcare providers about our individual risks.
We can pay attention when something in our bodies changes.
And we can get the screenings recommended for us.
Then we have to accept that there are parts of life we simply cannot control.
I once believed being healthy meant something like cancer wouldn't happen to me.
Today, I understand health differently.
Taking care of yourself isn't about believing nothing bad will ever happen.
It's about doing what you can before you know whether you'll ever need it.
So if you're reading this and you've been putting off your mammogram, consider this your reminder.
Schedule it.
You may walk out and never think about that appointment again.
I sincerely hope you do.
But don't skip it because you're convinced there's nothing to find.
I was convinced of the same thing.
And going anyway saved my life.
This article is intended for general education and personal reflection and is not a substitute for medical advice. Breast cancer screening and risk-reduction recommendations can vary based on age, medical history, family history and individual risk. Talk with your healthcare provider about the screening schedule and health decisions that are appropriate for you.
Sources
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations
- American Cancer Society — Breast Cancer Risk and Prevention
- American Cancer Society — Guidelines for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention
- National Cancer Institute — Breast Cancer Prevention
- National Cancer Institute — Cancer Prevention and Dietary Supplements
