How can you tell

[Rasbunny]

If you have breast cancer?

My best friend, who is going into college, wants to know the signs. She made a doctors appointment to ask, and it's scheduled for next month or so, but she wants to know beforehand so she can confirm it with a doctor.

Could anyone please tell me, so I can give her a little peace? She's really worried about it, since cancer is like, the biggest scare in her life at the moment.

[fubenkunai]

While it's not 100% perfectly accurate, a breast self-exam is a very good way to check your health. It's actually something that doctors recommend you do every month, because it's the best way to catch any abnormalities. If she gets in the habit of doing a monthly exam, she should have enough peace of mind.

[Dievulge]

Rasbunny

If you have breast cancer?

My best friend, who is going into college, wants to know the signs. She made a doctors appointment to ask, and it's scheduled for next month or so, but she wants to know beforehand so she can confirm it with a doctor.

Could anyone please tell me, so I can give her a little peace? She's really worried about it, since cancer is like, the biggest scare in her life at the moment.

the more common signs include a lump, an area of thickening, or a dimple in the breast. Less common signs include breast swelling and redness or an enlarged underarm lymph node.

[seabrume]

One way to check for breast cancer is to raise your arm up, and roll two fingers around your breast to check for lumps. The lumps will feel hard, and can be as small as a pea. Do this on both sides.

[Rasbunny]

fubenkunai

While it's not 100% perfectly accurate, a breast self-exam is a very good way to check your health. It's actually something that doctors recommend you do every month, because it's the best way to catch any abnormalities. If she gets in the habit of doing a monthly exam, she should have enough peace of mind.

Okay, thanks!
I sent the link to my friend, hopefully she can do it with no abnormalities.

[Inscriven]

One if the biggest risk factors is medical history on the maternal side. Did her mom or grandmother have breast cancer? Did any of her aunts? If she doesn't have any such history her chances are reduced dramatically.

Aside from doing a self-exam (videos can be found on youtube), and finding an odd lump, there's no way to self-diagnose or even medically diagnose BC without the required tests like a Mammogram and possibly an ultrasound or a biopsy if they are unsure. Even looking at Mammo images, it's not always definite either.

But while getting breast cancer at a young age is not unheard of, it's also not very common. Nearly all the mammograms I see at work are at the least 40 year olds and above because one of the bigger risk factors for any kind of cancer is age. She needs to calm the hell down or she'll make herself sick with anxiety.

[Veiruu]

I agree with everything above, however I felt I should add one nugget you should definitely tell your friend: not all lumps are cancer! It is perfectly normal for women to have cystic lumps in their breasts. So I suggest that if your friend is going to start making a habit of examining her own breasts, that she go to the doctor and make sure she's clear and that the doctor does one on her first. This way, the doc makes sure she's fine, so when she does it herself she knows that everything she feels is normal until something new appears.

[geminikitten]

You can only really do a self-exam and find any suspicious lumps then go for a screening.