OCTOBER - Breast-Cancer Awareness Month

Why is that important? Statistics show that 1 out of every 3 women will experience breast cancer in their lifetime.

My sister had breast cancer. So did my mother-in-law. Both back when breast cancer was almost a death sentence.

I have first cousins who are cancer survivors.

And I have two beautiful daughters. Here's a picture of me with our two daughters, Marilyn and Jennifer a few years ago.

A lot has happened in those few years. Jennifer, the one in blue, has lost a lot of weight and Marilyn has become the one of these three women who was hit by that awful foe. I certainly didn't want one of my daughters to have that fight. Marilyn is the one who several years did the Komen Race for the Cure in the name of my sister, Shirley Jean Nelson. Her grandson ran with her when he was old enough to go with her. 

But let me tell you a little about our background. Because of the family history of breast cancer on both their maternal side and their paternal side, as soon as the girls became adults, I urged them to keep a close watch on their breasts. They did with the breast self-examination and mammograms.

Marilyn's lump was very small when they found it in May and removed it. She chose to do radiation, because she was on the borderline of needing it, and they gave her the choice. By the end of the year, she was cancer free. And that was over two years ago.

Whatever you do, dear friends, don't neglect your breast examinations and mammograms. Then if you should have BC, they will be able to catch it early, and you, too, will have a better chance of beating BC.