Today is October 2. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Today my best friend’s daughter had surgery to remove both breasts. Her daughter is just 25.

The young woman’s grandmother had breast cancer, her aunt had breast cancer, and she had a small lump removed this year. The biopsy proved it was cancerous but confined. The doctor advised she have genetic testing…so she did. She carries the gene. He also advised after having children, she should have the surgery to remove both breasts. The young woman chose not to wait. She will be fine, she will have reconstructive surgery. Her reasoning is that now she won’t have to worry about a life with her new husband that may have held breast cancer in her future. She can look forward to a long life…an option that was not offered to her aunt.

My prayers are with her and her family and with all the women who are experiencing cancer. My mother had an inoperable brain tumor and my aunt had breast cancer. I never worried before because my aunt was my father’s sister. I was told the gene is passed down through the mother. My friend’s daughter’s grandmother and aunt were of her father’s family…not her mother’s.

Please be sure to have a breast exam every year. Take a friend with you…you may save her life, if not your own.

Visit the sites under “Help Fight Cancer” on the sidebar. Using “Search to Fight Cancer” will help raise money for the American Cancer Society through Yahoo. Thank you.