Saturday morning I participated in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5k walk around Ball State since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The turn out for the event was good, although we did get rained on the entire time. At least it wasn’t too heavy. It took us about an hour to walk the whole thing. It was fun!

In honor of this occasion, I thought I would provide some information on how to do a self breast examination.

Breast Self Examination

1. Stand in front of a mirror with your hands by your sides. Examine your breasts closely, checking for lumps, changes in color or shape, rashes and scaling, dimpling or puckering, inverted nipples or nipple discharge.  

2. Raise both arms and place your hands on your hips, pressing your shoulders and elbows forward to flex your chest muscles. Look for any changes as noted above.
 
3. Lie down and raise one arm flat above your head. Using a flat palm and the balls of your three middle fingers on your other hand, feel around the breast and armpit on the side of the raised arm in a circular motion, feeling for any lumps or abnormalities.

4. Repeat the process with the other breast.   If you do feel a lump, don’t panic. Nine out of ten breast abnormalities turn out to be harmless. Visit your local doctor for more advice.

When feeling the breasts:  
Check the breast in two or three positions, such as lying down, standing up and even leaning forward.

Use the palm surface of the fingers, not the tips, to move the breast.

Divide the exam into parts. Examine one part from the outside of the breast into the nipple, and then from the inside to the outer edge.

Realize the breast tail goes into the armpit, so the exam needs to include that area.

Remember the nipple is important too. There is less breast tissue right under the nipple, so any lump there is a concern.

The value of checking for discharge from the nipple is a debate since regular, hard squeezing of the nipple alone can cause a discharge.

The gentle exam done towards your nipple is usually enough to show if there is a discharge. Any blood from the nipple needs to be evaluated by a doctor.

Remember, however, that this self examination is never meant as a substitute for a mammogram or regular examinations by your doctor. Be sure to keep your regular appointments to ensure all your health risks are kept at bay.

In honor of my friend Brian, I will be walking in the Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis Walk. The event is this coming Saturday, June 5th in Indianapolis. Take Steps is CCFA’s national evening walk and celebration and the nation’s largest event dedicated to finding cures for digestive diseases. It is a casual 2-3 mile stroll to raise money for crucial research, bringing us closer to a future free from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Over 1.4 million American adults and children are affected by these digestive diseases. While many suffer in silence, Take Steps brings together this community in a fun and energetic atmosphere, encouraging them to make noise and be heard.

Your donation will help support local patient programs, as well as important research projects. This cause is very important to my friend and I appreciate your help in my helping him as we fight for a cure. In addition to donating, you can join me at the event if you are in the Indianapolis area. There will be food, music and activities. The more money we raise, the closer we will be to making life more manageable for patients who live with these diseases every day.

Click here if you would like to make a donation. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to email me at missash03@gmail.com

Any donations, no matter how small, are greatly appreciated!

I recently decided to register at Social Vibe. I have known about it forever and I’ve checked it out a couple of times, but have never bothered to sign up, until now. If you aren’t familiar, it is a social media tool that connects people with brands, empowering them to engage with sponsors and share branded content with their social graph to benefit a cause of their choice. Individuals make a positive, measurable impact for the charity of their choice just by completing branded activities. In just over a year’s time, over $700,000 for over forty different non-profits has been raised. The SocialVibe community seems to be most popular among celebrities and influential bloggers. It proves to be a great tool that allows people to use their influence to make a positive impact.

If you haven’t already noticed, I have added a badge on my right side column. I will soon be adding badges on my social network pages as well. The charity I chose is Children’s Miracle Network, which is an organization that raises funds and awareness for children’s hospitals and foundations throughout the world.My sponsor is Operation Smile.

The cool thing about the badge is that every time someone views a page I have with the badge on it, whether it be here on my website, my myspace, or anywhere else I post it, I earn points for myself on SocialVibe which can be redeemed for a variety of different perks and money for my charity. So just by visiting my site, my readers are helping me out and helping my charity. Readers can also additionally help out by clicking on my badge and it will take you to a page where you can complete a task that earns me points and money for Children’s Miracle Network. And it’s all completely free. How cool is that?

If this sounds like something you’d like to get into yourself, feel free to sign up and post the link to your profile in the comments and I’ll help you raise money for your cause as well.