National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Are you aware?

If you're a man, do you think you're safe? (You're not - Men get breast cancer, too. Just because women's breasts look better than ours doesn't mean our breasts can't get cancer cells, too. Check yourself.)

Are you too young to have breast cancer? (No... you're not. It's not a disease just for mature women... Ellicia died at the age of 39. Check yourself.)

You're safe... no one in your family has ever had breast cancer. (Sorry, folks... that doesn't rule it out for you, either.)

Bottom line. Check yourself. Are you over 40, or other riskier categories (check the websites for details - I won't duplicate their fine efforts here)? Have the mammogram. Yes, it might hurt (not all women say it hurts like hell, and considering there're a few parts on me I don't want squished flat, I'm going to acknowledge that it probably does hurt like hell), but... which would you rather have... a mammogram, or find out the rough way that you have breast cancer?

Do the Self-Breast Exam. Have a partner? Have them help. It's well-known fact that husbands often find the first tumors.

And here's the biggie. Don't be afraid to look. Yes, you might find something... But whether you look or not, if it's there, it's there. Knowing it's there EMPOWERS you to do something about it... and fight it.