Smart Women Breast Check Challenge

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I am a mother of two lovely 5 and 7 year old.

I am a wife to a loving and attentive husband whom I have been married to for the past 8 years.

I am a sister to a caring brother who lives halfway across the globe.

I am a career woman trying to build her own consultancy business with Smart Tinker.

I am 37 years old and I HAVE BREAST CANCER.

My story is not different from other women who have/had cancer.

It strikes the young and the old. It chooses no age and if the statistics are correct 1 out of 8 get it in a woman’s lifetime.

Two weeks ago I was not even familiar with that statistics. Now I am that “1” out of 8 who is battling cancer.

My mother too was part of that 1 out of 8.

A few days ago, my husband and I went to a geneticist to get my blood work done and to find out if it is genetic. A month is what it takes to get the results. But for the time being I am scheduled for a breast sparing operation to get that stubborn “boo-boo” out. Yes I even named my breast cancer. I named it not to be familiar with it but to make it less daunting. I named it so I can think every night before I go to sleep visualizing how “boo-boo” is shrinking.

After the operation, a week after I will get the pathology report. Another moment of truth where I will find out what course of treatment I will get. The thought of radiation being sent on my left side, near my heart is frightening. The radiologist was frank enough to tell us about the precaution that they will take. The thought of chemotherapy frightens me as well. Not only because of losing my hair (well i wasn’t too worried about that) but more because of how my body will react. I am terrified of the weakness it can bring. Weakness that is not just physical but also emotional and the memories of how my mom went through her chemotherapy and radiation, as brave as she was, do not alleviate any of my worries. Questions like “how about my family? Who will take care of them?” come in and out of my mind. But I get reassurance time and time again from my husband and my friends who are cheering me on.

But there is more that fills my mind. The thought of other women going through the same ordeal saddens me. So what can I do? I decided to start an awareness campaign that EARLY DETECTION MATTERS. Men and women all over the world are encouraged to take part in the Smart Women Breast Check Challenge. Be one to care about yourself and other women by spreading the breast check challenge to young women, mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmas and let your experience be heard by blogging and linking your blog in the Smart Women Breast Check Challenge Page and sharing it in social media. Take note men can take part too by joining the third challenge!

Take part in the Smart Women Breast Challenge.  Let’s help in changing the statistics on breast cancer.

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Lana Jelenjev

Lana Jelenjev is a freelance educational consultant who recently got diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37. She blogs about her activities with her children at Smart Tinker (http://www.smarttinker.com/). Lana recently started writing about her musings on parenting at Goodness, Grace and Gratitude (http://www.goodnessgraceandgratitude.com/), as she navigates through a new territory of hospital visits, a whirlwind of feelings and in finding compassion as she battles breast cancer, a disease that her mom succumbed to at age 49.

Latest posts by Lana Jelenjev (see all)

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