Why did it have to happen to MY mother? She tries to put on a brave face in front of us but I know she's really scared. The doctor told her she's got breast cancer. Her own mother died of cancer a few years ago. Is my Mom going to die soon too?

When people hear the word "cancer" a lot of them think there's no hope. That's totally NOT TRUE!! In the last twenty or thirty years, medical science has scored some big victories in the fight against breast cancer. To understand why large numbers of women who get breast cancer are able to keep it from getting worse (remission) or can get rid of the disease completely, (cured) you have to know a little about what cancer is.

The human body is made up of millions of cells. Some of these cells keep dividing throughout a person's life. This dividing gives the body a chance to replace worn out cells and to grow and develop normally. When cells start to divide over and over again (without stopping when they're supposed to) a lump or tumor forms. This solid tumor or lump is called a cancer. If the cancer is not stopped it keeps on growing. It spreads to other parts of the body and forms new tumors or lumps in them. All the organs of the body can be attacked and damaged by this growing cancer.

The National Cancer Institute reports that in a lifetime, one out of every eight women will get breast cancer. A much smaller number of men may also develop breast cancer. When breast cancer is found early it can be treated and often either stopped from growing further or gotten rid of totally. This is why it's important for everyone, even teenagers, to protect themselves in two ways:

1. Have regular breast examinations by a doctor or nurse
2. Learn how to do breast self examinations at home to check for any unusual
lumps you might find.

If cancer of the breast is found, there are three kinds of treatment that may be used:

Radiotherapy: This is a beam of X-ray which is aimed deep into the breast to kill the cancer cells.

Chemotherapy: This is the use of very strong cancer-killing chemicals (drugs) which attack the cancerous cells in the breast and other tumors in the body which might be forming.

Surgery: This means being operated on to remove the tumor in the breast or sometimes the entire breast itself. Often radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used after surgery to make sure all the cancer cells have been destroyed.

If your own Mom, some friend or relative or even you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, be open and honest in discussing it. Encourage whomever it is to talk about the disease and how it makes her feel...angry, sad, helpless etc, and what fears she may have for herself and others in the family. Together try to get as much information as possible in your determination to help the person with breast cancer to conquer the disease. NOBODY SHOULD BE LEFT TO SUFFER IN SILENCE whether it’s breast cancer or any other problem being faced. INFORMATION IS POWER and the known is always less scary than the unknown. Think positively and encourage your Mom or whoever has cancer to do the same. The mind and the body are very closely connected and positive thinking does help. One positive thought you can keep in mind is that hundreds of thousands of other people who had breast cancer are now living full, joyful lives. They have either been cured of the disease or doctors have been able to treat them and stop their tumors from growing.