[Jean]

Suzan,
Yes that is just my point. We must continue to be on line...often we on the board have fresh updated information (thanks Lanie and many others who post) that often the onc's have not read.

Also and most important a mental approach of not giving up and following your gut. We as women must demand better education in our schools for our younger generation. Even though breast cancer in men is rare it happens and most young men do not even know that it can happen to them.

At the very least young women should be educated on what we do know. While there is much yet to be discovered and learned - How about just informing what we do know. That women should be aware to ask that a Her2 test was performed during their biopsy. When I have talked to many women and asked them if they were tested and if they were Her2 positive they did not know anything about it. I can't tell you how many answered with "my dr. told me I have the good kind of breast cancer" ....excuse me! I did not know there was a good kind. That is just awful that any dr. would say that to a woman. It is part of their job to explain the difference of her2 Positive and Her2 negative at the very least. While there may be women who do not want to know those details....the dr. should at least attempt to do this.

My greatest concern is for the innocent young women in their 20's, 30's and 40's who have a false sense of safety due to their age. We are seeing younger women being dx. and not in the early stages because we do not have a breast health care program for them. I think that is a shame. How often I have heard about young women being sent away and told to come back into the office in 6 months and pushed aside ...at the very least why not have an ultra sound to determine if the lump is a cyst or solid tumor?

Too much is assumed....and you know what they say when you assume!

Each day the medical field is learning more and more.
I only say that with the information we now have it must be used to share and educate our younger women so as they age they are on the alert to the possible issues we as women face during the aging process, from young teenager to young woman, to young mother etc. For the women in their 50's and 60's etc. how about explaining how the odds do increase and why....talk about diet and exercise to assist them to stay breast cancer free.

While there are no hard and fast answers in this mystery of breast cancer I still believe we have enough knowledge to offer educated awareness of good breast health care. While there are many other diseases...46,000 women will die of this disease this year. Yet, with knowledge, all women can take actions to improve their chances of catching a tumor early, when it is tiny, and thus increase the odds of beating this disease. A couple of factors: Breast Cancer is the most common cancer of women in the U.S. It is the second cause of death in women after lung cancer.

Breast cancer rates across the country have increased steadily in recent years, with the risk of a woman contracting the disease at some point during her life now at 1-in-8, against 1-in-22 just 50 years ago.

More education is vital.

Jean