Are You Paying Attention to Your Health, OUTSIDE of Covid-19?
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Seven years ago, I walked along this trail the morning after receiving the results of my biopsy: Breast Cancer confirmed. As I listened to my favorite local musician (Peter Breinholt) and wondered (with both trepidation and curiosity) what I would face in the weeks and months ahead, I had no way of knowing what a blessing that frightening diagnosis would turn out to be!
To make a long story short … I had fallen behind on getting my annual mammogram, busy with my responsibilities as a working single mom. I wasn’t paying the needed attention to my health until my then 84-year old mother (recently diagnosed with breast cancer herself) asked me the life-saving question, “Are you up to date on your mammogram?”
With a little research I learned I was not. So, to appease my tiny but persistent mother (and to do what I knew I should have done 10 months before), I placed a quick call, got it scheduled, and had my mammogram. This led to my diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) which, I was told, was the “best” type of breast cancer I could have. My chosen course of treatment ultimately led to the discovery of a SECOND cancer which, it turns out, was the "second WORST" type of breast cancer, because it is so aggressive and fast growing. (I will forever remember my surgeon calling that second cancer “ugly, ugly, ugly”!) Fortunately, this second cancer was extremely small and in its earliest stages when it was discovered. You can imagine both the sobering effect and my tremendous relief when Dr. Lloyd said to me, “If you had waited even a couple of months for your surgery, this second cancer would have cost you your life.”
So today I am compelled to ask … “Are YOU paying attention to your health, outside of Covid-19?”
I know this pandemic takes much of our focus and attention (and rightly so). But now that “non-essential” medical procedures are once again available, PLEASE take the time to get in for your mammogram, colonoscopy, or any other relevant health screening procedures.
You owe it to yourself … and to those who love and count on you!
Medical experts across the nation say cancer screenings have plummeted since the Covid-19 pandemic began and worry that thousands of people could be missing early diagnoses as a result. I worry about that, too.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute estimates that delayed diagnoses due to the pandemic could result in 10,000 additional deaths from breast and colorectal cancers in the next 10 years. From Norman E. Sharpless, Director: "Cancers being missed now will still come to light eventually, but at a later stage and with worse prognoses."
"Cancer is not quarantining like we did," said Dr. Ethan Cohen, assistant professor of breast imaging at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "We are seeing less women coming in for screenings now, and it is unfortunate. We are concerned because we're trying to avoid delayed diagnosis, and we know that the best way to survive breast cancer is to find it early when it's treatable and the way people do that is with screening mammographies.”
So, let me close with this. When I have the opportunity to share my story, I ask the audience to do me a favor (and I request the same of you). “Think of the most important women in your life … perhaps your wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, best friend, YOU … and commit to asking each of them the life-saving question my own mother (now a delightful 91 year old) asked of me: “Are you up to date on your mammogram?” If the answer is “No,” please make it a top priority to place that phone call and get your appointment set. Then put on your mask and go get it done!
Even in this crazy and unprecedented time, mammograms (and other health screening procedures) ARE essential, and time may be of the essence.
It was for me … and now 7 healthy years later, I am deeply grateful for that life-saving mammogram.
Jenny Hendricksen Haase is a grateful daughter, a mother of three, and a self-proclaimed Kindness Ambassador. As a breast cancer survivor, she is dedicated to helping spread awareness of the importance of early detection and of being your own health advocate.
