Saturday, May 30, 2009
Feel Your Boobies Campaign
Ladies, are you feeling your boobies?
We all the know the importance of having an annual breast exam from our doctor, but research shows that it is also important to be examining ourselves on a regular basis for the prevention and early detection of breast cancer.
We recently discovered the campaign, Feel Your Boobies®, founded by breast cancer survivor Leigh Hurst. Her story is an example of a young woman who was feeling her boobies on a regular basis, and because of that found a lump long before her doctors. What started out as a fun and creative way to remind her friends about something that had saved her life, evolved into a non-profit Foundation to spread this important message. Read more about Leigh’s story and the history behind the campaign.
Leigh's Story
I was diagnosed with breast cancer on April 7, 2004. I was 33, I ran marathons, ate well, and thankfully I felt my boobies! I wouldn’t necessarily say I did “self-breast exams” as they are traditionally defined, but I did feel my boobies during the course of my daily routine and because I did, I knew when something was different.
For the two years leading up to this diagnosis, I had noticed the small lump in my left breast. It didn’t hurt or change very much, but I noticed it. I was living in New York City at the time and when I would go to the doctors for normal checkups, I would wait for them to do their clinical exam of my breast to see if they would notice the lump on their own. They didn’t. It wasn’t until I held their hand and placed it on the lump that they noticed what I had felt on my own for some time. For whatever reason, none of them felt it was something to be concerned with so I trusted their judgment and figured it was fine.
At some point during this two year period of time, I tired of the city lifestyle I had led for the previous 10 years and made a major decision to move back to Middletown, PA -- the small town where I grew up just outside of Harrisburg, PA. I moved home a successful professional woman, but was single and 33, and with my childhood friends mostly being married I feared I had embarked on life as a spinster. Just six months after buying a home and moving to PA, it was time for my annual exam. It was at this exam where the nurse practitioner (forever my angel) suggested I go get a mammogram.
Read more…
Find out more about the Feel Your Boobies Campaign® at feelyourboobies.com
posted by getupgirl.org |
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Labels:
Breast Cancer Prevention,
Health and Wellness,
Women
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1 comment:
Thanks for featuring Feel Your Boobies in your blog! Get up and get feelin girls!
leigh, fyb founder
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