Beating our Breasts

I don't have breast cancer. But I do know many people who have been dealt this random card. I started this blog with several objectives.
The first one is to try and get some information on what our national statistics are actually like. No one seems to know how common breast cancer is in Trinidad or Tobago. This is because of several factors- many people never register with the cancer society. Some get lost between the public and private health sectors- and some battle on solo.
My mother walked a long, hard road fighting this awful disease In my Mum's case, her lesion started down near the chest wall so it was impossible to feel. By time it was picked up, it was close to 6cms and attached to the chest wall. So I am a big believer in mammograms. If this blog makes at least one person pay more attention to their breasts- that's a huge plus. I guess that's my next objective-to raise awareness that we are all at risk- ALL of us.
The other objective of this space is to allow the people that I know currently battling the disease to have a forum to discuss their journey- to give hope and encouragement and to put a new face on breast cancer in Trinidad.
Finally I would like to create a map of Trinidad and Tobago and have people identify their location- this is not hard data but will give some sort of anecdotal point to move from. It seems to me that something is up here- theories include- Chicken......plastic.....pesticides......dairy......
But I know right at this moment at least 7 people under 50 who have been recently diagnosed and that's just in my circles on a small island.
If you would like to share your story on the blog, I can add you as an adminstrator-, if you'd like me to put your pics up, email them in low res for me and I'll ppost them for you. It's really to get info out and pull in support. Ot just vent. Or whatever you'd like to do.
I've put up a list of links on the side that you can clilck on and they will take you to other blogs that deal with breast cancer.
We are beating our breasts in a war cry against errant cells. I hope this blog will help in some way.
Yayyy to call the who did the Scotia Breast Cancer 5K.
Congrats.