Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Maryam Gets A Mammogram
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. ALL MONTH LONG, I’M GOING TO FEATURE BREAST HEALTH TIPS. PLEASE CHECK YOUR BREASTS TODAY! AWARENESS IS A BREAST’S BEST FRIEND
Hi Folks,
I’ve met a lot of women in the last few months who are terrified of getting mammograms, even though breast disease is in their families. My mother, grandmother and aunt had breast cancer. My mom died of it as did my husband’s mother. Breast disease is not going to be my experience. I am proactive in maintenance of breast health: I do the breast health tapping routine from page 28 of The ETHOS Method manual every single day, monthly breast checks and I get regular mammograms and thermograms (another form of diagnostic that looks at heat patterns in the breast).
At right is a mammogram of a normal breast. Isn’t it beautiful? The wireframe of nurture, revealed.
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 1st, 1990 and that’s when I always go in, to honor her. Coincidentally, this is the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I’m kicking off my own personal awareness campaign by telling you about my mammogram and bust some myths about the procedure in the process.
I got my mammogram today, and while I wasn’t allowed today to video my thoughts through the procedure, did a lot of video around that and breast health in general that you’ll see here soon. I am also working with hospital administrators to videotape real mammography in the future to help women lose their fear about getting mammograms, which is very exciting. Stay tuned for that.
Bustin’ Mammo Myths
It’s real important as we all travel this journey of life, that we not be afraid of things. Fear is an old patterned response that taps into that limbic system in the brain I talk about in the ETHOS manual. It can save our lives when we’re in actual physical danger, but most of the time today, fear is mis-triggered and mis-fires on a consistent basis, running our lives instead of letting us flow easily through events. If you are thinking about something in the future and getting a fear response - that’s a mis-trigger that you might want to eliminate. There’s an old acronym floating around about that too: Fear really means "Future Expectations Appearing Real". Fear of the future is kind of silly when you look at it because you’re upset about something that hasn’t even happened yet. Waste of energy!
ETHOS is one of many methods that can help you deal with fear, and come through the doorway fear is, to the Unlimited Self. BTW, Unlimited Selves don’t have breast disease or any other kind of dis-ease. Unlimited Self is the personification OF "ease" in every sense. Ease and joy and beauty in all ways. Let’s bust some of the myths about mammograms and learn a little bit about what goes on:
1) "I DON’T stink, and don’t want people to think I do"
I want to tell women who may be afraid of this procedure - don’t be. The worst thing that happened was that I had to not wear deodorant or powder under my armpits for two days. This can put a lot of women off, as they don’t want to stink. I am sensitive to scent and didn’t want to offend others, so I kept alcohol wipes (in America, one brand is HandiWipes) in my purse and dabbed my armpits through the day for two days prior to my mammogram. Problem solved and the alcohol both kills scent-producing bacteria, then evaporates so no residue is left. If you can’t find such wipes wherever you live, simply fill a plastic bag with cotton balls, pour a little rubbing alcohol in the bag and dab armpits with cotton balls. Works just as well.
Caveat: Don’t use perfume or cologne as the oils in these kinds of scent can irritate the delicate underam skin.
So me and my deodorant-free armpits went to the hospital xray department, filled out a short form and sat maybe five mintes waiting to be sent to the dressing room to put my hospital gown on. Everyone was so nice - they know women can be a little nervous and do their very best to put you at ease. Some women even brought a girlfriend, sister, daughter or mom with them for moral support. This is not only permitted, but encouraged. If you’re feeling a little shaky, bring a buddy, by all means.
2) "Don’t Pressure Me"
The second thing I hear women saying they don’t want to experience is the pinching they’ve heard happens when the breast is put between the two plastic plates of the mammogram machine. The breast needs to be compressed as thinly as possible so as to produce the highest contrast to show up any abnormalities, so a machine gently squeezes the breast tissue between these plates. Ladies, my girls are "D" cup sized (for the gents reading this: a handful and a half) and while I felt this pressure, it was only very slightly intense and didn’t hurt a bit.
Some women do feel discomfort. This may be because the breasts are congested. If you do the "Triple Thump Plus" tapping routine outlined in the AM Energizers on page 28 of the ETHOS manual, the energy and fluids pervading your breasts will flow easily releasing congestion. This is one I do EVERY DAY, and it’s my thought that this will lessen any potential for an uncomfortable experience. Here’s that routine again from The ETHOS Method manual:
The Triple Thump PLUS - For general health, wellness and to put on "immune system defense" armor, vigorously tap your Kidney-27 Collarbone points 7 - 10 times, your Thymus 7 - 10 times and your Liver-14 Under Breast points 7 - 10 times. This is the “traditional” Triple Thump from Touch For Health and Educational Kinesiology. I add to this thumping on the Underarm Spleen-21 Points and gentle circular rubbing on the “Sore Spot” – the upper chest neurolymphatic drainage point. This routine circles the breasts and helps to keep them healthy in addition to conditioning and fine-tuning your energy to do what you need it to. Do this sequence three times in all.
3) "I’m afraid to go in because I just don’t know what’s going to happen"
So here’s what happens and thanks to the folks at the National Institute for Mental Health (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17085.htm) for the picture of "Bucky", the mammogram machine. This will help you better understand what I’m describing below.
I waited in a waiting area probably five minutes after disrobing from the waist up and putting on a hospital gown. Then I was invited into the mammography room and untied the top of the hospital gown. The female technician lifted the tissue of my right breast, pulled it out slightly from my body, and placed it on the horizontal lower plate holding the xray film. An upper plastic plate called a "paddle" then automatically descended and judging the right amount of pressure, pressed the tissue as thin as it would comfortably go, then locked the breast into place. As I mentioned, this felt odd, but did not hurt. Then as soon as it was locked, the technician popped behind the little booth, pressed a button, I heard a "ZZzzzt" of the picture being taken and the upper plastic paddle immediately released my breast. Then we did the same procedure to the other side.
That full set of pictures in the upright position took less than three minutes. Then a second set of pictures was done, with the machine rotated at a 50 degree angle to radiograph the side of the breast. I wondered how the heck my breast was going to fit between the two plates with the thing at an angle like this.
The technician told me to drape my inside arm over the top of the machine which pulled all the breast tissue upward. Then she held the breast against the plate while the top plastic paddle came down to compress the tissue. Once the paddle was touching the top of the breast tissue, she let go as it began to gently compress the breast, telling me to keep my shoulders back. Then she popped ’round the control booth again, "ZZzzzt" went the machine and bingo-bango, the right side was done. The same process was done with the left breast.
This set of films took about five minutes for both breasts. So all in all, I was in the mammography room for less than ten minutes.
4) "There’s so much radiation in an xray, I’ve heard you can GET breast cancer from a mammogram. It’s probably not good for me."
This is an belief I hear when women know someone who has had regular mammograms for years, then have a mammogram which finds a tumor. The logic in this conclusion is faulty and fear-driven. As I said above, please work on your fear using ETHOS or any other method you like. Mammograms find tumors, that’s their job. But these tumors are only visible on mammograms after several years of growth. Monthly self-checks are the best way to know your breasts and track their changes. If you have a mammogram, there’s a chance it will, yes, find a tumor. But would you rather know, or not know?
One school of thought in the alternative health community is thermograms, then sonograms, then and only if suspicious areas are found, mammograms to pinpoint the area of a tumor or cyst. I asked my body and it told me to get a mammogram. Personally I don’t do this every year a mammo is due, as my body seems to prefer thermograms. This year it was relevant. Ask your body and learn to interpret its language so you can do what’s best for you.
And the jury may still be out in the alternative health community, but the radiation in a mammogram comes at such a low dose, they don’t make you wear a lead apron, as it doesn’t penetrate further than the plate below the breast holding the xray film. The techician clued me that people sometimes think digital xrays are lower in dose, which actually isn’t correct. She told me that people tend to think this as digital xrays, not using traditional film, tend to have a lower rate of the need to repeat an xray due to faulty breast positioning, but the dose of radiation is very slightly higher than a traditional film xray.
If you’re worried about the dose of radiation in a mammogram, it is very, very low. And there are many proactive things you can do to help your body detox the radiation as well. I’m a great veggie eater, but for a week prior to my mammo, I greatly increased my intake of ground flax seeds, sea greens, sprouts of all kinds and deep green leafy vegetables. I also took mild colon tonifying herbs to make sure I was processing bodily waste out of the body extremely regularly. Today I’ll increase that dose very slightly so I am having several bowel movements a day, and keep that up for a total of three days before going off the colon tonic herbs.
By the way, two bowel movements or more a day is normal - many people do not know this. My acupuncturist, chiropracter and doctor are all in favor of having three or more. If you’re trying to detoxify the body, increase your bowel movements by eating leafy green roughage, fruits (dried fruits are great for this), sauerkraut, or other vegetables, and drink lots and lots of water. Your local health food store will have information on herbs that tonify the bowels. Consult a reliable herbal such as Michael Tierra’s The Way of Herbs or John Lust’s venerable The Herb Book for instructions, and always do so in consultation with your healing practitioner.
When I need to have an xray, I continue this bowel stimulating regimen for a week following the radiation, just to make sure I’m supporting my body through its detox process. If this doesn’t appeal to you, simply eat a lot of salads and raw veggies, and drink lots and lots of water. Going to the toilet is a sacred thing, don’t be afraid of it. Better to go, and get the poisons out of the building.
5) "Do they just leave you in the hall after the mammogram? What happens when the picture-taking is all over?"
After your mammogram, you’ll be told to stay in your hospital gown in a waiting area until a technician can look at the films. Please understand they are not READING the films for abnormalities, and you WON’T get a diagnosis then, on the spot. They’re looking for mistakes in the way the breast was positioned, to know if they need to go back in and take another film or not. This usually takes less than five minutes, and you’ll then be told you can put your clothes on and go home, or to come back for one more picture.
If you ask real nice (I did) they’ll let you look at your films but do NOT ask them to interpret the mammogram for you - a radiological technician cannot do this by law, even if they see something their experience tells them may look suspicious. They can’t tell you, so please don’t badger them. DO take the chance if you can, to look at the films of your breasts. This is greatly instructional and also very validating and life-affirming. I found myself fascinated looking at the intricacy of little hairline veins and tissue criss-crossing the breast - it was a beautiful network of nurture personified, and reaffirmed my womanliness to me. This journey of the mammogram can be greatly reinforcing of your femininity. Celebrate your breasts!!
6) "I’m so nervous! I’ve been waiting for over a week after my mammogram and haven’t heard from my doctor. Is this a bad thing?" Your doctor will be sent the films along with a qualified radiologist’s interpretation within a week - more if the lab is backed up with more films to process than staff to process them. While you’re at the mammography office, ask what the general processing time is if you want to know. You will be given your results and diagnosis if any from your doctor’s office, within a few weeks. I was told if there is something really wrong, they flag your films and you’re notified even sooner. So no news is probably good news if you’re waiting for that call or in my case, the card in the mail telling you what’s what. I was also told by a hospital representative, that this particular hospital made a point of personal phone calls to women whose breasts showed suspicious spots, so the doctors and technicians are making sure you are notified as soon as possible.
My trip in and out of the mammogram took less than 45 minutes. I was on the street an hour later and having lunch with a girlfriend. We celebrated our breast health together by doing a public demonstration and teaching of the Triple Thump Plus to six ladies who were in the same restaurant. We’d all waited in line together and fell to discussing mammograms.
My friend is an energy healer so we were comparing our two breast health routines. These six ladies heard and wanted in on the action. Then three more joined us, plus a couple of the waitresses and one of the cooks who came out from the back to see what the commotion was. Nearly all of these women had a mother, sister, aunt, grandmother or friend stricken by breast disease and all were desperate to know how to prevent it. In all we taught twelve women how to care for their breasts, so my promise to my Mom, to help other women to breast health was more than fulfilled on "Mammogram Day".
Please teach ETHOS and the Triple Thump Plus to everyone you know. Even men can get breast cancer, so everyone needs to be doing this routine. See above for the method which surrounds the breast with tender loving care, and drains toxins away from the breast tissue. I hope this has been instructional and helpful to you. Please feel free to pass this post in its entirety to anyone you know of that has any fear of going in for a breast check up or mammogram. It’s something as women that I feel we owe ourselves, and one form of love we can give our bodies.
Warm Blessings,
Maryam
More info on The ETHOS Method: http://community.ethosmethod.com
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