Digital Streets

My wonderful wife turned 40 last month and did as she was supposed to, she went and had her first mammogram.  A few days later, we were notified that they had found something and needed her to come back in for some more tests.  We figured it was no big deal.  The second mammogram and then ultrasound revealed there was in fact something there that shouldn’t have been.  Last week she had an ultrasound guided needle biopsy and yesterday we received the results.  My wife has been officially diagnosed with breast cancer.  At this time, it looks to be Stage I and this is positive.  She needs to undergo further tests, then surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

The truth is, until this ordeal, I was aware of breast cancer.  I knew it was bad and I had a rough idea (very rough) of how it works.  Now it truly hits how clueless I was on the subject.  Chances are that sometime during your life, you are going to know someone that is impacted by breast cancer.  Get educated for when that time comes.  I have found that the internet can be a very informative, and in some cases, scary place to do research on the subject.  You can get factual information presented in a helpful manner or you can get it in the form of a horror story.  My recommendation is to stay with well established medical information sites and breast cancer support groups.  Those impacted by cancer need to be careful where they get their information.  The information should educate you, to help you know the enemy that you are declaring war on.  It should never be a road towards hopelessness.

Some useful sites that I have come across:

• WebMD Breast Cancer Health Center
• MayoClinic.com Breast Cancer Center
• Swedish Medical Center’s Online Health Library
• BreastCancer.org
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure