OK OK I KNOW. I've been bad. It's hard to fit in blogging everyday. It's not that I've run out of things to say; ask anyone who knows me if I've ever been at a loss for words.  Rarely. Maybe once last year.  I wish I had a portable blogging apparatus--I guess they call them laptops. (Is that what strippers call them?) Then I could address all my bloggees (those who have been blogged?)as things occur to me, at all hours of the day, but mostly night, since I am a night owl.

Today I had a mammogram. Everyone was complaining about the recent government task force recommendation -- that women don't need mammograms until they are 50, and shouldn't bother with self exams. How IRRESPONSIBLE AND WRONGHEADED.

Here's what I know and it's based on hard-won experience as a THREE TIME CANCER SURVIVOR. I had malignant melanoma once, and ovarian cancer twice.  EVERY TIME, I was misdiagnosed by at least one doctor; I fell outside statistical norms; and the main reason I am alive is because I KNEW MY BODY better than any x-ray, doctor, or government recommendation. I pushed for further tests, biopsies, and treatment. I was right.

So ladies: TUNE INTO YOUR BODY AND TRUST WHAT IT TELLS YOU. Then find a doctor who will listen. AND get your mammograms, early. YOU may be that someone who defies statistics. I was, and am here to alert you. 

And by the way, what harm could a breast self-exam do? It doesn't cost a thing and can tell you something about yourself that only you could know that early.

Stay tuned,

and goodnight!