Mythbusters

I finished the story of other Beverly's battle with breast cancer. This is the paragraph at the end of her entry.


"Beverly looks forward to finishing with tamoxifen in the coming year. She recently completed chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer and has resumed her active lifestyle.  Her tremendous inner strength helps her maintain a positive outlook." Kempner, Ann. B.O.O.B.S.: a bunch of outrageous breast-cancer survivors tell their stories of courage, hope, & healing. Cumberland House Publishing, 2004. Print. (p. 37)


After my recent post about Elizabeth Edwards, I'm sure you can guess what is now running around in my brain.  Elizabeth Edwards started out with breast cancer, it spread.  This other Beverly had breast cancer, then she had colon cancer.  So I'm asking myself, has breast cancer opened up the door and stuck out a welcome sign to other cancers to invade my body?  This may have been something I discussed with my surgeon, but I didn't take any notes on it - and for many of our discussions I was on information overload.  My dear sweet husband, my second pair of ears for all of these conversations, has been called into work on this holiday weekend, so I can't ask him. I will be calling my Breast Care Navigator next week to ask her about it.  But in the meantime, I pulled out my librarian hat and tried to do a little research  myself.  I haven't really found an answer, but I did find several sites that talk about Breast Cancer Myths.

The best way to deal with myths is to be informed. When it comes to your health, the best source of information is your doctor. So while I will share a couple of sites that I consider reliable (I'm a librarian after all and only recommend authoritative sites.) I encourage anyone who has questions to ask their doctor.

Breast Cancer Myths (BreastCancer.org)


16 Common Myths (University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center


There are a few myths that I found particularly interesting.  One in particular reminded me of something I often heard while growing up (when the adults didn't realize I was listening, of course).


#14 from 16 Common Myths states "If cancer is exposed to air during surgery, it will spread."  I've never believed this, but as a child I do remember my grandparents believed this.  I don't know where they got the idea, but they were convinced that surgery often caused things to spread or get worse.


Rather than list all the myths with all the truths here, I'm going to encourage you to check out the two links listed above and/or talk to your doctor. I'm not a doctor, I'm just a librarian.  I'm also going to encourage you to not sit on your questions. Information is power.  Librarians, soldiers and doctors will all agree on that.