On February 4, 2008, I entered my second blog post; it was entitled ‘A Lump Is Not Necessary To Have Breast Cancer.’
My link to it is as follows and I really hope that you will take the time to read it:
http://circlingmyhead.blogspot.com/2008/02/lump-is-not-necessary-to-have-breast.html
This information may help you or your mothers; aunts; sisters; daughters; wives; or granddaughters from ever falling into the trap of thinking that they have to have a lump to have breast cancer.
Seriously I am sorry about the gross picture but all the other pictures I could find on inflammatory breast cancer were pretty and inflamatory breast cancer is not pretty.
66 comments:
oh renee....
no words, just love.
Thanks for stopping by my blog Renee, and thank you for posting the information on inflammatory breast cancer. I have had information sent to me through my email from a friend about this disease. I believe all women should know about it. It is wonderful that you take the time during your fight to warn others. I will be praying for you.
Annette
Renee,
I appreciate this information so much and I am grateful that I now have this warning, this knowledge...thanks to you writing about it. I will definitely pass on all of this info to the lovely ladies in my life. After all, knowledge is power!
Blessings to you!
Renee, I'm grateful for this information because honestly I too assumed that a lump was an essential symptom and I hadn't read your earlier post - before my blogging time. Thank you for sharing it.
I'm thinking of you. I know that's not much, or of much use when what you are going through is so hard. But I am. ♥ K
I will make the time to read it.
I think that the image you chose is perfect.
You will be rewarded for all that you share Renee.... as the more we share the more we learn.
I think that you're a bit of a star!
best wishes always and a loving hug too x Ribbon
Yes. More informed is better. How are you my lovely??? We sold the damned business! How cool is that...at least she wont have that to worry about now....
xxxx
my heart is hammering here and my eyes are welling with tears....on my 60th birthday -which was such a joyful experience for me (as i was the first one in my family to reach 60, all the others died of cancer/heart before 60), there you were hearing this news. i don't know quite what to say to you today my dearest girl.....
i live with the fear of cancer every day of my life, because I lost 12 people in my family to it and heart deaths (all from 1980-1984). even my recent biopsies play on my mine every single day till i get the results....you have touched me very deeply today reneee.
Now dear girl thank you so much for all the info...I cannot believe that I did not know about this type of cancer...I had no idea that there would be clear mammography results and the absence of lumps....thank you thank you for telling us about it so that we can be aware for ourselves and for others.
ps The picture may not be 'pretty' but I think it is beautiful.
I, for one, do thank you for the picture. This is not just a women's issue, it's a humankind issue. And I thank you deeply for raising awareness of it.
Greetings from London.
I eat medical facts for breakfast, thank you for a wise and straightforward meal. I will always remember this breakfast and I will tell people about my meal with you.
I love u Renee, even more so for your ability to share your journey with all of us. You really do inspire me and I admire you like no other.
Have a beautiful day today 'lover'
love me
I did just go read that post. A couple o years ago someone sent me a video about IBC, which I sent to all the women I knew. I had never heard of it before, either. And I keep the symptoms in my mind. It's scary and I don't think the information is out there widely enough. I am in a fairly high risk category anyway, with a mother who had breast cancer twice and other relatives who have also had it, first child born in my 30s, and extrememly dense breast tissue making a cancer hard to detect. So I pay attention now, and do make some (not enough) effort to lower the risk factors I do have control over (diet, exercise, not smoking). And yet, so much of life is out of your hands. You can make yourself crazy by thinkhng about what you didn't know before. I think talking about it and getting information out is such a service and for that, I thank you.
Oh Renee, I am so sorry that your doctor didn't discover this sooner.
Thank you for re-posting. It is such an important message, especially the part about being your own advocate. Only YOU know your body - if you think sonething is wrong, chances are something is wrong.
Love to you!
xoxoxo
Thank you for your posts and bravery. You are the light that shines for all of blogland :)
hugs and prayers,
Meg xoxo
P.S. and I totally would eat crappy food if I could - I just allergic to it :(
I want a big fat cheeseburger!!
Renee, thank you so much of taking the time to think about us - especially during a time when you are in such a terrifying, life threatening predicament yourself - and for linking us to that salutary warning on Breast Cancer. I’ve said it before and I reiterate - you are a remarkable woman – so brave, so thoughtful and giving, so refreshingly forthright and always so eloquent. I am deeply honoured to ‘know’ you and I treasure every moment of our long-distance exchanges. Thank you, Renee, from the very heart of me. Bless you – always, and in all ways. xxxxoooo
Good morning, dear Renee.
This information is so important for you to keep repeating. So few women (and doctors, it seems) know about IBC. Everyone focuses on looking for lumps, which is valuable, but incomplete, information.
I don't think the picture is gross, at all. In my experience, women in my life who have had breast cancer surgery have bared their chests and shown their fresh scars to almost anyone who will look. I have two big scars from biopsies (lumpectomies, actually, since they were "precancerous lumps"), myself. Reality often isn't pretty.
With your blog's popularity, you are probably reaching more people on a regular basis than almost any other source of IBC information.
You are incredibly generous, wise, honest and funny. You are a gift to the world and I love you and am honored to know you!
xoxoxox
Angela
Thank you for the post, Renee. So important!
Thank you....I have learned to not always take the gospel of the dr. My Dad showed a shadow on his lung a few years earlier and they never checked into it. And when they did here by accident he came home from visiting my brothers for easter the ER found it and it was huge.
Thank you for your insight...because I always make my doctor check everything. And my insurance allows us to go to any specialist without our Primary recommending it.
Love you xoxo
Sonia ;)
Such important information that can be posted over and over again. I think we have an opportunity to teach others ... and so we should.
I'm glad you used that gross picture ...
YOU ARE ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY THE BEST!
do you want a job? how about International Public Service Czar?
or better yet Most SpecialPerson for the Ages.
have a good day moon sister.
xo
thank you, renee: sometimes tears come too easily. i was glad to see this.
xo
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
~ Anais Nin
Dear dear Renee,
Yes, it's so wonderful to be friends. And I'm am so unbelievably privileged to call you my friend. You are a new world to so many.
Love you,
Angela
xoxoxo
hahaha renee. if only you knew. ask laurel... :)
Dearest Renee, you are a shining beacon in the darkest night, a true life-saver and a soul healer of the highest order.
I swear, I'd never even heard of IBC until I read about it on your blog. And I'm one of those obsessive people who reads tons of medical articles (I have a doctor and 2 nurses in my immediate family). Still, I thought, "You have to have a lump." I plan to share the information about IBC with every woman I know.
God only knows how many lives you've saved by selflessly sharing your experiences. You're a Goddess AND a Saint and I love you for your awesome courage and loving compassion. You ROCK!!
Hi Renee,
I think the photo is beautiful in the bravery and power behind it - and perfect for your message. I remember when I first found Circling my Head, and you, my dear friend, and I went to the beginning to find out - who is Renee? How did she begin this blogging journey - was it with cancer? Instantly I learned, on so many levels, who you are and the power of your words and message. Thank you for your teaching and reaching to us all, so that we may protect and care for our bodies with so much more information.
My words don't begin to express how deeply important you and your message are. I hope everyone reads every word, and passes it on and on and on...
I recently had a breast thermography scan, with you in mind, because it can pick up IBC. Thank you for raising my awareness.
xoxox
I think the picture you chose is perfect. Thanks for sending the link to your previous post too. I'm so glad I was blessed with the 'Renee' award awhile back because it helped me to find you. I want more people to find you and I believe it will continue to happen. You ARE a rock star baby!
p.s. Thanks for the f-bomb yesterday, now I KNOW you luv me♥ :)
Huge Hugs,
Darla
This is a very good point Renee and thank you for passing it along. All my love to you.
don't appolize for the image...it's real..
thanks for posting this info. it's so important.
hope u a feeling well. i think about u always. ((((((((hugs)))))))))))
lin
Renee, I actually like the picture. It is powerful. It is a statement. I remember a beautiful young model who has breast cancer and had a mastectomy and continued to model, only she insisted on modeling nude. She did a beautiful series of her scar and her bald head and it was stunning, moving, emotional, powerful, and mostly, it showed her strength. I am so happy you posted that picture, for I had not thought of her in quite a while. Now I am wondering how she is. Sending you all my love, Deborah
Dear Renee,
No. Don't apologise. You have done a loving thing. Even if your message helps one woman, it is worth it for all to look at this picture.Now I read every ones comments and i see we all feel the same way.
Thank you for thinking of us.
sending you a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles on top!! (all organic and fat-calorie free of course!)
love to you dear Renee
don't be sorry about the picture, it tells it like it is...thank you for your thoughtfulness and sharing....
Thank you.
It's not a gross picture - says it like it is. I think you are doing all of us good by giving us the bare facts about this disease. Bare facts. Naked truth. Exposure. No way to sugar coat any of it. In my heart you are xoxoLiz
You are very kind to visit me. I think your comment makes a lot of sense. I am thinking much lately, and this is food for thought...
All the best!
I'm so glad you posted this! I read that post just last week (I think) and was hoping that other readers would stumble across it too. It's so important for people to know!
Oh Renee, you do it with such grace.
You are one of the most Generous people I know. Encouraging women to keep in check, using your own private experience to warn them... I am speechless at your selflessness.
It's beyond admiration, I think the correct word is Love.
Renee, I had no idea! The info in your linked post is SO important for every woman to know. I thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.
Thank you also for the above image. Gross? No not at all. Powerful, yes.
Hugs
Good info to pass along.
I just wish you were the messenger and not the patient.
I love you.
xoxoxo
Lolo
It is so important to get the word out there - pretty or not ... I would have found this picture gross before, but now all I see is beauty - it very poignantly depicts you and the other lovely and loved women who have suffered before you.
My Dearest Debbie: (Dixie here, I love you, I love you, I love you… ..)
There is no room for you in this house Debbie, I see you sneaking in.
Renee the graphic is much softer than that dam disease in any of our lives. You are so precious to care enough to tell the world that where the LUMP is absent; that, it too can be a sign of cancer, everyone beware. Women everywhere need to know and hear this.
The strength, the bravery that you display in this Blog astounds me, and really I cannot agree more than to agree with Ces…
Debbie leave the room and take you friend cancer with you…
Tykerb anyone?
Renee, I just love you and wish you were well.
Colette
Renee,
Thank you for the warning. Your willingness to share your knowledge and experience is indeed a gift.
Holy heck, you got my attention! I'll click over after I read your last post.
No breast cancer is not beautiful.
That picture tells a story...
I'm glad you posted your second blog about lumps/breasts/cancer....
Awareness and education is a must~
Love Pattee
You are such a beautiful woman
Oh Renee, I read, I learned. Frig. I'm sorry.
Hi Dearest Renee,
Hope all is well.
You are such a caring person.
Thanks for the Warning, and for caring.
My Prayers are with you always.
God Bless.
Many, Many Hugs..
Tammy
Renee - love you, sista. :) And thank you for the clunk on the head. Because honestly, I think that is what it takes with me. Someone to clunk me a good one. Now I will go clunk my daughter and her friends.
xox Pam
I think the picture is just perfect.
Brutally honest!
The disease demands candor, well done.
Love and hugs.
Funny how our bodies and that voice in our head whispers "this isn't right, something is wrong,don't stop asking". So often we deny the intuitive part of being a woman, that feeling that our kids need us, something is going to happen, or that we need to keep looking for an answer.
I appreciate the information, so often as women we tend to think "not me" or take a doctors word as final when our gut and heart speak loudly and say "no". While I can understand the doctor feeling bad, it still wasn't her that had the cancer. I hope our medical people can reach a point where when someone who lives in their body 24/7 says "I think there is something wrong" they listen, and if they are not sure are not afraid to say "I don't know, I am not sure, let me look it up, or send you to someone". I am not saying it would have turned out better, but who knows.
Thanks for telling me the signs too, you know, all these years of self exams and check ups, not once has any doctor said "you know you don't have to find a lump to have cancer, you could have IBS if you have these signs....". No, not once.
Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and experiences. I have a strong family history of breast cancer - knowledge is the best defense.
Thinking of you and hope you are enjoying a beautiful summer.
Thank You Renee,
Have a Wonderful Night..
Many Hugs and Blessings..
Tammy
Thanks Renee! Women need to know this.
I had three benign tumors removed at 30 and two years ago I had a biopsy for calcifications, (no lump). Everything was fine but we all need to know this info!!
Thank you Renee. I didn't know any of this about IBC. Also thanks for the good advice to trust ourselves.
Love Sarah xx
Hi!
I think you have a nice blog, beatiful photos and smart posts.I'm wating your visit.
http://amigadamoda.blogspot.com kisses
Thank you, Renee. Hard to see, hard to think about, but absolutely life saving....
Blessings to you!
xox
Oh dear Renee thank you for the warning. I didn't know anything about IBC and I learn something that could save mine or a loved ones life. Also thank you for being you- you are so kind sweet and very generous.
Although I have never met you I feel like I know you and when I was telling my sister about your blog a few days ago I was brought to tears.
I pray for you often.
xo-jj
Do you know, teabags are the one thing I forgot to pack this morning... and what is a picnic without a cup of tea?!? I'm so glad you joined us Renee - it was lovely to see you!
And yes, I am loving Tessa's blog - it's a treat! Thank you so much for the intro! She is lovely and I nearly choked on a gulp of tea today when reading her post it made me laugh so. :) ♥ kendalee
It's been more than 10 years since her recurrance, so she seems to be in good shape.
Hi Renee. My appt. is on the 8th of July. Thanks for the info and hope you are doing well. Take care.
Dear Renee
Thanks again for sharing so openly with us. I read your post all the way through and learnt a lot that I would never have known otherwise. So thank you. Surely this is the sort of thing we should be taught in health studies in schools. Prevention is the best treatment and knowledge is a good start.
As for the pic? It isn't pretty I agree... but let's hope it makes people stop and think.
Lots of love to you.
xx
Hello Hon! I just wanted to say goodnight to you. It's 1:15 AM.
Cancer is not beautiful even though it tries to destroy the beautiful.
Good morning Hon! I am trying. I am trying to recapture the magic of blogging.
It's not my time here. It's why I blog. I can't find any magic in it anymore.
Hello, dear Renee,
I included a link to your blog, and this post, in my blog yesterday. I hope you don't mind. I did it because I felt that, even if only one person reads it and learns about IBC this way, it was worth it.
Love ya!
xoxoxo
Angela
Again,
Thank you
and BLESS YOU!
xox
Constance
Let's hope all the love and appreciation being sent to you creates a miracle for you! As women we need to learn to love our sometimes scarred, wounded and ageing bodies. Your picture is so appropriate - beautiful, in fact.
Thank you for your important work. Love and light,
Bonnie
I dont think you had a huge part to play. There is no way you could have known. Even if you felt something was wrong... The general assumption is that if you have a lump you have it. That is what you went by.
A lot of people (including me) don't even go to see drs unless we are on the verge of death. At least went and tried to find out what the problem was!
Anyway, thanks for sharing and helping people out. You are a saint xx
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