My Boobs Betrayed Me

As I look down at my chest I can’t help but think that my boobs betrayed me. Flippin’ traitors, these two.

Firstly, I have small boobs. While this caused me much angst in my youth, I eventually learned to live with it. I convinced myself that while it was hard to fit clothes properly, at least I don’t have back problems and could play sports without a bother. I developed this misconstrued understanding as well (when pondering the prolific abundance of others) that at least I didn’t have to worry about getting breast cancer, since I barely had any boobs.

I also spent over 5 years of my life breastfeeding. I had always heard that the longer you breastfeed the less likely your cancer risk. Less likely, but still a possibility. So not only did they deflate, but they beat the odds too.

Speaking of beating the odds, I not only have cancer in one breast, but two. Of the less that 10% of women who develop breast cancer, less than 1% of those have cancer in both breasts, at the same time. Not sure how many of them have two different types of cancer too. Looks like I won double jeopardy with this one!

Lowering the Risks

Research gives you information about how to lower your risk of developing breast cancer but unfortunately it is all about probability. One in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the US. Lowered risk means less likely odds, but the possibility will always remain.

Check out info on how to reduce your risk:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/breast-cancer-prevention/art-20044676

Breast Cancer Myths

You won’t get breast cancer if:

Myth: I caused this

It’s hard not to wonder if I did something to cause this. Was it the aluminum in my deodorant? Parabens in my personal care? Was it moving back to AK and living off grid? Is there something in my well water, or was it from changing the oil or accidentally sniffing the gas or exhaust from the generator? Did I smoke us out of the house one too many times when trying to start the wood stove and did that mess with my body? (In this case I figured it’d be my lungs.).

Fact is that we don’t know. No one knows. And it is not my fault. Even if you do everything to lower the risks, it is only a process of lowering the risk. Nothing guarantees that you won’t get it. You can’t take a magic pill or drink a magic potion or follow some guidelines not to get it. Unfortunately, some people just win the lottery of suck, and some don’t.