Health Check
14-Year-Old's Breast Cancer Diagnosis Is a Wake-Up Call for Moms (VIDEO)
Mamas, prepare to grab your daughters and hug them tight. One of the patients in the oncology department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is still in high school. In fact, Ashley Roby was only 14 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
I read that, and my heart just did that swan dive you read about in books. I can't even count how many times I've stood in the shower, one hand over my head, the other doing that same self-exam. I have never once wondered, "Gee, should I be doing this to my daughter too?" Have you?
So what are the chances that our daughters could get cancer? A study done by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine looked at a national registry to find all females aged 19 and younger who were diagnosed with malignant breast tumors between 1973 and 2004. They only found 75. Over 31 years.
Poor Ashley is a statistic, and not a good one.The good news is the 15-year-old is now clear of cancer -- although this poor kid had to go through a bilateral mastectomy (and during the ordeal, her boyfriend, also just a kid, died!). She's preparing for breast reconstruction, and she does normal teenage things these days like playing basketball on her high school team in Tennessee.
And her story should get moms to pay a little more attention to their daughters.
Among the things I learned while researching Ashley's case? A number of doctors actually suggest teaching your young daughter the breast self exam. It's not necessarily to catch cancers but to get girls comfortable with their bodies, what's normal, what isn't. Starting when she gets her period seems to be the consensus, and considering what happened to this poor girl, it certainly can't hurt.
Check out how strong this incredible girl has been through it all:
WKRN, Nashville News, Nashville Weather and Sports
Have you started talking about breast cancer with your daughter? What age did you start?
Image via WKRN
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STRAWBERRYRAIN
my girl is 12 and i have her doing them. after having bc 2x myself and her grandma having it. i want it to be an automatic thing for her. i found mine thru a self exam, i was only 33 no need for mammies yet, boy was i wrong, and lucky because if i wasn't checking noone would be and i might not be here today. 5 years cancer free.
Amy
Jessica Tims- Stegall
Very sad, but I don't know where the author of this article went to school but we DID learn about self breast exams in HIGHSCHOOL. In our Health class.
Rumsita
I'm pretty sure my pediatrician started talking to me about self exams around age 11 or 12. I haven't done one in quite a while since the tissue can be lumpy anyway while pregnant or breastfeeding (of which I've been one or both for more than 3 years), so I think I'm going to need a lesson again from the doc in a few years.
So glad Ashley's was caught early! I wonder though, if she has a higher chance of recurrence since she wasn't necessarily done growing...more natural tissue could still develop. Maybe they don't even have enough data to make an assessment about that right now.
tifferie
zombiemommy916
Caitlin Woodward
I'm 24, almost 25, and I know my school never went over this is our health classes, I didn't really learn until I saw a gynecologist for the first time at 16 years old after I had sex for the first time so I don't think it's fair to assume schools will teach that.
Megankae
Aunt_ning
My pediatrician taught me how to do it around age 12 but I was already a 38 C at that time. I actually dont do my own anymore. My boyfriend does them for me because I can never tell whats normal and panic because my breasts are very fiberous.
Juan Guzman