I am an idiot.
No, it’s not because I confessed to masturbating with a hairbrush at 18, suing a TV network at 38, or taking up electric guitar at 48.
I’ve been dangerously complacent about my health.
Despite being in a high-risk category for cancer, I haven’t had a mammogram for almost eight years.
Examining my breasts is done irregularly and improperly (and I don’t mean while wearing nipple tassels…)
And, apparently, I’m not the only one.
While most of us know someone who’s been diagnosed with breast cancer, a mere 23 per cent of Australian women, “undertake adequate detection steps”, according to a landmark national survey released today.
Among those at high-risk, only one-third examine themselves monthly, with 20 per cent “rarely or never” doing so.
In recent years, two dear friends have been diagnosed: both found lumps, in each case, early.
Watching these women grapple with the effects of treatment, while raising young children, is heartbreaking, which is why I agreed to film a ‘bare all’ documentary about a disease which, I believe, needs to be re-framed.
Watch the documentary below. Post continues after video.
Despite the millions of dollars raised each year in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, most women still think it won’t happen to them.
There are many reasons, from visceral to sacrificial. I gather my dearly beloved for a round table talk about our tits, and this is what I discover: As every woman is different, so is every cancer.
“I’m frightened about what might be found in there,” one friend confides.
The machine that can detect the extent of breast cancer in just 30 minutes.
“Look, I’m just too busy, with the kids, and work, I don’t have the time,” sighs another.
“Gah, pancake boobs! Don’t mammograms hurt like hell? No way,” a third laughs.
Annette Odgers, 49, found a lump in her breast at the age of 28, while 10-weeks pregnant.
“I was told it was either me or the baby,” she remembers. Annette lost her baby.
Despite undergoing a lumpectomy, she was diagnosed with a second cancer in the same breast: this was initially missed on a 2D mammogram.
Testing showed she carried the BRCA 1 gene.
“If I had that gene in my family, I’d chop my tits off tomorrow,” my friend Lisa says over dinner, with characteristic candour.
Half of my family has been killed by cancer, with Mum and Granddad suffering from pancreatic: this too is linked with BRCA1.
Like many women in their 40s, I have dense breasts; in traditional 2D mammography, cancers can be missed because of overlapping tissue.
Breast cancer apps that every woman needs.
So, my doctor writes a referral for Genius 3D mammography, which detects 41 per cent more invasive breast cancers.
It examines the tissue layer by layer, in 1mm ‘slices’, like turning the pages of a book.
I agree for it to be filmed; it doesn’t hurt a bit; and the images are extraordinary.
“Like a huge boob planet with a nipple on the side!” our son, Taj, marvels, upon seeing the x-rays.
Fortunately, I’m clear. But breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women, and the second highest cause of cancer-related death.
Click through the gallery below for famous faces who have battled cancer. Post continues after gallery.
Celebs who have battled cancer.
Cynthia Nixon.
Nixon, who played Miranda Hobbes in Sex and the City, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 at the age of 40. She has since become an activist for awareness of the illness. (Image: HBO).
Christina Applegate.
The actress had a double mastectomy in 2008 after being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36.
Delta Goodrem.
The Australian singer was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2003, when she was just 18. (Image: Instagram)
Fran Drescher.
The Nanny star was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2000 - after two years of misdiagnoses by eight doctors - and underwent a hysterectomy. (Image: CBS)
Giuliana Rancic.
While undergoing IVF in 2011, the E! anchor's doctor recommended she have a mammogram, which revealed she had breast cancer. Rancic had a double mastectomy. (Image: Instagram)
Kylie Minogue.
(Image: Instagram).
Olivia Newton-John
Tragically, Newtown-John learned she had breast cancer on the same weekend her father died of liver cancer. Following her 1992 diagnosis, the Australian singer had a partial mastectomy and breast reconstruction. (Image: Twitter)
Sheryl Crowe.
The American singer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, and underwent a lumpectomy. (Image: Instagram)
DEBRIEF DAILY