Ladies... Don't Be Afraid to Touch Yourself!

Hey y'all,

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A time set aside for education, engagement and early detection of this deadly disease.

According to The American Cancer Society in 2013, an estimated 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed among US women, as well as an estimated 64,640 additional cases of in situ (abnormal cells inside a milk duct in the breast) breast cancer.

That year, approximately 39,620 US women were expected to die from breast cancer. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women.

Breast Cancer is real. It effects so many families, it goes beyond color lines, social economics, religion etc. It is a destroyer of families and is not to be ignored or discounted. As I do every year I write about Breast Cancer and the effect it had on my family. The loss of two of my aunts and most recently the disease has reared it's ugly head into my generation and touched my beautiful sister in law. Thankfully with knowledge and aggressive medial and spiritual measures my Sister is on the mend. God is certainly good and His mercy endures forever!

Please self test and be aware of the changes your body may be going through.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. The best way to fight breast cancer is to have a plan that helps you detect the disease in its early stages. Create your Early Detection Plan to receive reminders to do breast self-exams, and schedule your clinical breast exams and mammograms based on your age and health history. Everything has gone digital so please download this app with reminders etc.

Self Exam Directions...
1) IN THE SHOWER
Using the pads of your fingers, move around your entire breast in a circular pattern moving from the outside to the center, checking the entire breast and armpit area. Check both breasts each month feeling for any lump, thickening, or hardened knot. Notice any changes and get lumps evaluated by your healthcare provider.

2) IN FRONT OF A MIRROR
Visually inspect your breasts with your arms at your sides. Next, raise your arms high overhead.

Look for any changes in the contour, any swelling, or dimpling of the skin, or changes in the nipples. Next, rest your palms on your hips and press firmly to flex your chest muscles. Left and right breasts will not exactly match—few women's breasts do, so look for any dimpling, puckering, or changes, particularly on one side.

3) LYING DOWN
When lying down, the breast tissue spreads out evenly along the chest wall. Place a pillow under your right shoulder and your right arm behind your head. Using your left hand, move the pads of your fingers around your right breast gently in small circular motions covering the entire breast area and armpit.

Use light, medium, and firm pressure. Squeeze the nipple; check for discharge and lumps. Repeat these steps for your left breast.

This year I am making these cute Breast Cancer Awareness earrings and will donate a potion of the funds to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Inc.  in honor of my Aunt's Ruby and Betty. Please show your support at Leah Simone Designs.

Until next time.... be safe.
MUAH!

Love/Avon Army of Women: Going Beyond a Cure

Hey Y'all,

Each year, 19,000 new cases of breast cancer occur among African American women. That’s 19,000 too many.

I don't know about you but my family has been severely affected by breast cancer. Two of my aunts were taken from me way to soon due to the disease. I know that I carry the gene and am prepared to have my first mammogram next year (I'll be 39) and I make sure to give myself breast exams at least once a week. I have three beautiful children to care for and a fantastic husband to love until we are old and gray. I will not become a victim of this horrible disease. So when I heard about the Love/Avon Army of Women project I knew I had to participate.

According to the American Cancer Society, our five-year survival rate of breast cancer is 77%, compared to white women's rate of 90%. African American women are more likely to develop breast cancer at a younger age, and we tend to develop more aggressive tumors, which are harder and more expensive to treat.
Enter Dr. Kathleen Arcaro from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She studies breast cancer by studying breastmilk, which is full of breast cells key in figuring out how breast cancer develops. Over the past ten years she's worked to improve our understanding of breast cancer risk, and her findings may lead to new screening, prevention and treatment strategies.

The problem? Black women are underrepresented in the research. As a result, findings that work for white women or women with less aggressive forms of breast cancer, don’t work for the majority of black women grappling with the disease.

To ensure her findings are applicable to women of all races, she has been working to recruit African American women for the Love/Avon Army of Women, a project aiming to recruit one million women to sign up to participate in breast cancer research (if they choose to do so). By signing up, participants will receive an email newsletter with breast cancer research opportunities. Some research is as simple as a questionnaire or a phone interview.

Having African American women well represented in the breast cancer research is key, for her research and many others.’ So Dr. Arcaro hopes black women will sign up for the Army of Women (and be sure to select “breast milk study” in the drop down menu to help track the impact).
You can learn more about Dr. Arcaro’s work, and see if you or other women you know might qualify for one of her studies, at the website of the UMass Breastmilk Lab, and follow the lab on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Please sign up today!
Until next time...
MUAH!