Don't Be A Peg...Get a Mammogram

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As it is coming to an end, if you haven't already done so, PLEASE GET A MAMOGRAM. DON'T BE A PEG.

I went 7 years without getting a mammogram. There are no good excuses...work was too busy, life got in the way, it hurts, I always have to go back because my tissue is too dense, having to worry over the weekend for results, hoping for the best but thinking the worst.....

All of theose excuses pale in comparison to getting a diagnosis. After going through a very painful biopsy, (much more painful than a mammogram) my initial diagnosis was Stage I in my left breast. My attitude was "well if you have breast cancer, Stage I isn't that bad, I can deal with that."

I decided to remove both breasts and after the surgery, I was a Stage III with extensive lymph node involvement...16 chemotherapy and 33 radiation treatment later, I am cancer free but the journey was tough and could have been avoided. DON'T BE A PEG...GET A MAMMOGRAM!!