My Ped Assessment

My Connection to Cancer
“Over the course of a lifetime, 1 in 8 woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer.”(ncbi). There are certain factors that cause it that you just can’t help, for example, genetics. In my circumstances almost every female on my mom’s side of the family has either had a breast cancer scare, or has had it. I am at huge risk for it developing later in life.
After seeing this, it hit me that maybe it isn’t too early for me to be looking out for this, and really seeing how at risk I am. According to PubMed Health, if a girl gets her menstrual cycle before the age of twelve, that puts her more at risk also. Although this doesn’t apply to me, I still had no idea this played a factor.
My grandma’s very first symptom was the lump in her breast, and also weight loss. She went to the doctor and had a mammogram and after testing they found out it was breast cancer. Unfortunately, they caught it late, but it was a major wake up call for the women in my family. The doctor told us there are things we can do to recognize breast cancer earlier and get it treated.  
The first step is important, a yearly mammogram, and self checks often. If you feel anything that wasn’t there before you shouldn’t be afraid to get it checked out.   A few other symptoms to name some are, breast pain and discomfort, swelling of your arms near the breast with the lump and weight loss.
After the family health portrait, and just knowing my history in general with breast cancer playing a major factor, I know that I need yearly checks. I don’t do self-checks as often or if at all like I should.   That is something that I can work on to make sure I catch it early if I do get it, and try to prevent further things from developing, or just making a bad situation worse.