Fifth grade was a tough year. Not only because I might or might not have been in my awkward stage deciding to join the choir, even though you would never believe me if you heard me singing now, or because my everyday hairstyle was a ponytail. But because my mom had breast cancer. I think I was too young to fully understand what was going on, but I knew that mom was very sick and I was very scared.

Not to go into too much detail, my mom struggled with it for a while, got chemo and had surgery and then she started getting better. She still has to take some medicines and goes to her oncologist regularly. But she is the bravest, caring and extraordinary person I have ever met and will ever meet in my entire life.

Ever since then my mom has taken care of herself like nobody’s business and she makes sure my sister and I know how to do the self-exam to check for lumps, which you all should do too! Granted, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is not until October, but it is never too late to be safe! So here is some information that might help you or someone you know.

Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells. These tumors can be benign which is not dangerous to health or malignant which has the potential to be dangerous. Benign tumors are not considered cancerous because their cells are close in appearance to normal ones, they grow slowly and they do not invade or spread to other areas of the body. The malignant tumors are cancerous since they can spread and affect other tissues and organs of the body.

Breast cancer is always caused by a genetic abnormality or mistake. However, only five to 10 percent of breast cancers are because of an inherited abnormality from your parents. Around 85 to 90 percent of breast cancers happen because of genetic abnormalities that come with the aging process and the “wear and tear” of life.

There are things everyone can do to reduce the risk of getting breast cancer and keep their body as healthy as possible like a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, limiting alcohol and exercising regularly. Remember that these suggestions will only reduce the risk of getting breast cancer but will not eliminate the risk.

Here is a chart of the different stages of breast cancer:

In the early stages of breast cancer, symptoms might not always be present which might lead to the growth of the cancerous cells and to affect other parts of the body. The most common breast cancer symptom is a new lump or mass and for that reason it is very important to get any new lumps, masses or any changes really checked by an oncologist. Other symptoms are swelling of all or part of a breast, skin irritation or dimpling, breast or nipple pain, nipple retraction, redness, scaliness or thickening of the nipple or breast skin, or nipple discharge other than milk.

Okay, now that you have some more information make sure you do the auto exam once-a-month and you can just take advantage of taking a shower every day, or every other day whatever floats your boat, and do it while you are taking a shower. Let's give our parents a little bit of peace of mind by helping ourselves. And if you have a parent who had cancer, accompany them to one of their visits to the oncologist because having your support, physically, makes them feel a lot better and calmer. Or at least it makes my mom feel better!

Lastly, shout out to my mom, I love you, and to all of the brave and beautiful people out there who are cancer survivors. And make sure you donate to cancer research!

If you would like more information please don't hesitate to check these websites and visit an oncologist.

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-signs-symptoms