Please read this if you don't want to be tested for cancer

I'm writing this because I want to save someone's mom

I never thought I'd be writing something like this, but reality hit me: my mom is battling late-stage breast cancer. Until she was 50, she never wanted to have a mammogram. She always said it "wouldn't happen to her," that there was nothing to worry about, that she was healthy, and that I was exaggerating when I advised her to get tested.

And then the symptoms appeared — an inverted nipple, changes in the skin of her breast — and yet she ignored them for almost two months. She confidently said that she "just hit herself" and that it was from the impact, even when it was clear that something was wrong. Fear convinced her that it was better to deny it than to know.

When I finally talked her into getting tested, it was discovered that she had cancer that was no longer localized. It had metastasized to her armpits, which further complicated treatment and reduced the chances of a complete cure. Now she has to have surgery and have her lymph nodes removed, and there is a risk that her arm will swell up afterwards and develop lymphedema. All of this could have been avoided if she had gone for the check-up on time.

I am sorry, sincerely and to her, that she did not go earlier. If she had reacted in time, this would have been behind us already — cured, resolved, without complications, without fear. And one more thing: she had far fewer side effects from the chemotherapy than she expected, almost unbelievably mild compared to what she imagined. She was afraid of something that, in her case, turned out to be much easier than her fear suggested.

That is why I want to say to all women; please, get yourself checked. Don't wait for symptoms. Do a breast self-exam every month. Once a year, until you are 40, have a breast ultrasound, and after that, get a mammogram regularly. You need your children, your family, the people who love you. A mammogram only takes a few minutes, and it can literally save your life.

Don't make the same mistake as my mom — react in time.

https://ift.tt/4cePnEu Submitted December 09, 2025 at 11:57PM by Inevitable_Poem_8145 https://ift.tt/K8NXBvS