Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Reality Check

This is what happens when you get bored. Yesterday my sister was looking up old high school classmates just to see where they are now. She looked up Joseph Roy Ewen III, son of a former city councilman of Arlington. He was her boyfriend in high school. Do you know what she found. DECEASED! I couldn't believe it when I heard it. After much digging, she found that he had passed away of cancer Nov 2004, and was only 27 years old. Wow, so young.
Needless to say, when someone you know dies and is about your age you start to wonder "who will be next, and will it be me"
Well in light of this my sister and I have vowed to get mammograms as soon as possible. See breast cancer runs in my family, and it does not discriminate against age. A woman that works with my sister who is 35 has stage 4 breast cancer, she's only 5 years old than me. I can not stress how important it is to get a yearly checkup, both men and women, and for women I encourage you to get mammograms yearly.

1 comment:

Minnie said...

I have been getting mammograms since I was 23. My mother died from breast cancer when she was 35 - diagnosed at 31. The big kicker (and what most people don't realize) is that the percentage of people who are diagnosed with breast cancer that actually have a family history is only in the 5% range. Birth Control, diet, and other factors are what really play a part in whether or not you are at risk.