Breast Cancer Awareness Month & MINUTES FOR A LIFETIME Campaign

I remember blogging about Breast Cancer Awareness Month last year here which focus on Breastfeeding Cuts Breast Cancer Risk.

This year, Breast Cancer Awareness Month carries a heavier note for me as one of my friend's wife who was diagnosed with breast cancer early of the year 2009 have just passed away last month.

This is how human tend to be rite....only have a bigger IMPACT/KNOCK when it happened to someone close to us?

Last week when I brought my son for checkup at the government clinic, the nurse asked if I had done paps smear test which I told her I did. And she asked, "Where? " And I replied,"At Private"....then she told me that government has paps smear test FOC why go private..." .

So, now if cost is a concern for us to do paps smear and mammogram, you might like to be informed that NOW WE CAN TAKE THE TEST FOC at government clinic(for paps smear)...as for Clinical Breast Examination or Mammography, I am not sure where there's such free test(let me know if you know where and how :D ) but then we can still perform our regular self-checking like the picture below:

This is a image from the Wikimedia Commons.

An pictorial example of breast self-examination in six steps.

Steps 1-3 involve inspection of the breast with the arms hanging next to the body, behind the head and in the side.

Step 4 is palpation of the breast.

Step 5 is palpation of the nipple.

Step 6 is palpation of the breast while lying down.

This year, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Wijaya International Medical centre introduces the “Minutes for A Lifetime” Breast Cancer Awareness Program.

Their theme this year is dedicated towards spending a few minutes each year for that necessary Clinical Breast Examination or Mammography to make a difference in our life and those that are touched by the disease.

Here are some events lined up throughout the Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

EVENTS

3rd October

Self Awareness by Wong Keng Ling

Financial Issues by Carol Yip Kai Rong

10th October

Breast Cancer Screening: How does it save your life and what does it entail? by Dr NurHafidzah

24th October

Healthy Cooking with Mohana Gil and PRIDE.

For more details on their events and campaign, you can check at their site here.

They also organised some meaningful competition like MINUTES FOR A LIFETIME AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION which I personally find it rather meaningful as it served to collect images which capture that Life Changing Moment and selected images will be printed into a booklet distributed to Breast Cancer Patients and Survivors.

Check out more details about the competition here.

May more survivors and less women(or even men!!!) suffer from Breast Cancer! Let's do the test diligently! It only takes us a minute of our lifetime!

Cheers!

(Note: Notice that I have updated a blog banner to commemorate this special month...and I'll be painting my blog pink for this whole month to show my support for Breast Cancer Awareness...would you like to join me? ;) )