Women (and men): Take Note!

Being a member of the media has its advantages. Among those advantages is the opportunity to learn about and inform and educate the public about issues of deep importance. And since I frequently have foreknowledge of these issues, I will, from time to time, share them with you, especially if I think they are education items of dire urgency. This is one of those issues.

There is a relatively rare form of breast cancer that doctors are just beginning to learn about and try to find a way to treat. It is called Inflammatory Breast Cancer, and it can be deadly if not treated immediately.

A quote from the above-linked site:

INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER (IBC) is an advanced and accelerated form of breast cancer usually not detected by mammograms or ultrasounds. Inflammatory breast cancer requires immediate aggressive treatment with chemotherapy prior to surgery and is treated differently than more common types of breast cancer.

The symptoms are seemingly odd: red spots that may first appear like bug bites, fast swelling
of the affected breast that can add up to a cup size within a week, spots that look like bruising
that never go away, retracted nipples. . . If it's not recognized and treated aggressively, as stated above, it can be deadly.

I usually don't post about things like this, but I feel that it is of the utmost importance. I've already talked to my boss about writing a series of stories about this for our newscasts, and he wants them done very soon. I have yet to find a local connection to this story, so if you know where I live and know of someone in my area who's dealt with this, ask them to contact me if they would be willing, even anonymously, to talk to me about it in an interview.

Here is a link to a news broadcast that was done by one TV station. Watch it. This is not something you should overlook.