Jessica Karnowski, a 28-year-old dental hygienist from Milwaukee, never thought her life could be affected by breast cancer - until she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma in July.
At first, Karnowski said she and her doctor thought the lump she found while showering was a clogged milk duct, because she was breast-feeding her second daughter. Two weeks later, after the lump got bigger, her doctor ordered a biopsy, and in August Karnowski had to have her breast removed.
Pregnancy and nursing are supposed to reduce your risks
so never in a million years did I think I would be diagnosed she said. I smoked in college and I thought that I would get lung cancer before I got breast cancer.
Of about 200,000 women who will find out they have breast cancer this year, 10,000 will be under the age of 40. One thousand will be between 20 and 30 years of age, according to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
The cause of breast cancer is uncertain, but risk factors are associated with the disease. According to OncoLink, www.oncolink.org, risk factors include being a woman, aging, being Caucasian and family history - a mother, sister or daughter with the disease doubles the risk.
Karnowski warns other young women against having the it-won't-happen-to-me attitude. Women should do everything to keep themselves healthy and should learn to perform monthly exams correctly because the cancer can be cured if it is found in the early stages, she said.
Monthly self-breast exams are the most important step a young woman can take to protect herself from breast cancer said Janice Smith, program coordinator for Ohio University's College of Osteopathic Medicine's Healthy Adult Project.
Monthly self-exams allow women to become more familiar with their breasts and the earlier cancer is found and treated the better chance the woman has of survival, Smith said.
The Web site www.breastcancer.org suggests performing the exam a few days after a woman's last period, when her breasts are least likely to be swollen. Things to look for are changes in color, size, dimpling or irritation of the skin, inward pulling of the nipple or a consistent pain in one spot of the breast.
It is a good idea for a woman to perform a monthly exam every time she pays her rent or another monthly activity, said Jan Rupert, program manager and a surgical oncology nurse at the Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute at the Ohio State University.
In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this month, many celebrities, national corporations and organizations, such as Lee Jeans and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are sponsoring events to raise awareness of the disease.
An educational display will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Wal-Mart and 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at Athens County Fairgrounds.
Women who need support in dealing with cancer can visit the Young Survival Coalition's Web site, www.youngsurvival.org.
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Katie Kuehn
