October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hello: May I add to your public service announcement, which I fully endorse?

Many people don't realize it, but men can get breast cancer too, and they're statistically more likely to die of it because it's so frequently caught at a later stage. They don't think that little lump they feel on their chest could be cancer, so they don't go to the doctor - and often they do feel it fairly early, since there isn't mostly as much breast mass in the way. Yes, much rarer among men, but it can happen, so help the men in your lives understand it isn't women only!

I had stage III locally advanced breast cancer, 5 tumors in left breast (largest 3.1cm), 1 tumor in right breast, one positive lymph node (9 nodes removed on the left side). I had bilateral mastectomies (one simple, one modified radical, no reconstruction by choice), 6 months of chemotherapy every 3 weeks (Adriamycin/Cytoxan then Taxol), 6 weeks of radiation on the left side (yes, even with the mastectomy), 2.5 years of Tamoxifen, 5 years of Arimidex. In the months shortly after the initial surgery/chemo/radiation, I was diagnosed as severely hypothyroid and treated for that, too.

Breast cancer diagnosis was 21 years ago . . . in fact surgery was 21 years ago *today*. No evidence of disease, at this point.

I was diagnosed at age 44, am 65 now. After surgery/chemo/radiation, I started being very active athletically (despite a quite sedentary life beforehand, and a desk job). I stayed overweight to obese for around another dozen years, finally losing weight (class 1 obese to healthy weight, 50-some pounds) back in 2015-16 at age 59-60 using MFP, and have maintained a healthy weight since, and I'm still very active (rowing, biking in summer; indoor versions of those in off-season plus some strength training). FWIW, I'm 5'5', around 125 pounds nowadays.

For belly fat: Mostly, it's going to be about keeping a sensibly moderate fat loss rate going until one's body decides to give up some in that area. For many of us, that zone is among the last place for fat to leave, unfortunately.

Working on posture can help the appearance: In brief, anterior pelvic tilt (top of hip bones forward of bottom of hip bones, instead of stacked atop), and a computer head/neck head-forward, rounded shoulders thing will tend to push any belly fat forward and compress it downward/outward respectively. That makes the belly fat look more prominent. There are exercises for those things, if they're a factor. They're both pretty common posture issues, these days, in men and women both.

Finally, there is some limited research hinting that regular strength training may help a tiny bit extra with fat loss in the abdominal region, for post-menopausal women. It's a little speculative to advance that as a true thing, but strength training is so good for us in other ways, that it's worth doing for the improved strength, longer probable independent life, fall avoidance, bone-strengthening benefits and more . . . and if it actually does help a little with belly fat, that's just an extra bonus.

For those who (unlike me) still have breasts: Do those self-exams, get those mammograms! (I do self-exam, but don't have anything to mammogram, of course.)

Hugs to those of you still going through treatment, or for whom it still looks pretty large in the rear-view mirror. Long-term survivorship, even from fairly advanced stages, can happen. I'm not the only long term stage III survivor I know, for example.

I had DENSE BREASTS!
Be sure you know whether or not you have dense breasts. Dense breasts make your mammogram hard to read! Things get missed!

5-year survivor here. At age 60, diagnosed with IDC left side; DCIS both sides; lobular both sides.
DMX August 2016, 17 nodes removed left axillary; 3 nodes positive.
ER/PR +, HER2 negative
AC/T + radiation left side + Femara for 10 years.

I was diagnosed and biopsied on both sides after 3D mammogram. Surgeon gave me the option of only a lumpectomy on the right side; they saw only DCIS and Lobular there. I said please take the whole thing--mastectomy both sides.

Good thing I chose double mastectomy: post surgery pathology found a .9 cm Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in that right breast tissue.

If I had opted for only a lumpectomy, I would have gone home with that tumor hiding and growing! Who knows whether the chemo would have killed all of it.

Lana

I’ve been meaning to make an appointment for a mammogram. My doctor recommended it when I turned 50 which was a few months ago. Reading this thread has served as a good reminder. I’ll make the appointment tomorrow.