The Booby Blog

BY CHRISTINA PARKER, FORCV Blogger

I bet you thought all the breast talk was over now that October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, is long gone.  But sometimes I need a little distance in order to reflect…

On October 2, 2009 at 4:05 pm, Boston.com posted the following on Facebook: “October is breast cancer awareness month. So, like every year, pink is everywhere. What do you think of the pink product craze? Supporting a good cause, or profiting from others' misfortune?”  It referenced an article which I did not read at the time.  But the question stayed with me.

A week later, in an attempt to view the final Waterfire Providence of the season, I stumbled upon a fundraising event to benefit the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation.  It was a sea of pink.  And it caused me to remember…

Most women will agree that an annual gynecological exam is not fun, but necessary.  During one such exam when I was in my early thirties, I tried to make idle chit chat as the physician kneaded my exposed right breast with her cold fingers.  I confess that I did not conduct self-exams and relied on my annual exam to ensure that “the girls” were okay.  But this time, the cold fingers lingered.  I didn’t like the frown on the doctor’s face.  She pointed out a hard lump and I tried to focus on her words as she instructed me to obtain a mammogram.   I thought I was years away from mammograms; that it was something that older ladies, like my mom, had to do.  I was wrong.

So off I went to get my boobies squished.  The technician was female and empathetic, but I still could not get over how flat my breasts were in that massive vice.  Ouch!  But the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the mental and emotional anguish of waiting for the results…

In speaking with other women who have had the same experience, they agree that...
(Read the rest of the blog at http://www.forcv.com/articles/post/2009/11/16/The-...)