Breast cancer awareness month really hits home for me because breast cancer seems to run in my mom’s side of the family. My great-grandma passed away from breast cancer before I was born. My grandma had breast cancer just before I was born, but won the battle. In the last few years, two of aunts (my moms sisters) have also had breast cancer. One won the battle and the other is still fighting.
Having so many women in my family with breast cancer is concerning for me, and has made me pay more attention to breast cancer signs and symptoms than I would have if I didn’t feel like my risk was particularly high. I worry not only about myself but about my siblings and my cousins – there are a lot of us and most are female. However, the risk for all women is pretty significant – one in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. It’s important for all women to be concerned about breast health, even if it doesn’t appear to run in their family. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer for women (only behind skin cancer). I had no idea that the statistic was 1 in 8, but that’s high enough that all women should be concerned about their own risk and be educated about breast cancer.
Approximately 231,340 new cases of breast cancer are detected each year in the US. On average, breast cancer patients with employer-sponsored health insurance spend $6,553 out-of-pocket.
Early detection is key. The goal of screening exams for breast cancer is to detect breast cancer before they start to cause symptoms such as a lump that can be felt. When detected early, the survival rate for breast cancer can be as high as 99 percent. When breast cancer is found after symptoms (such as a lump) have appeared the cancer is usually larger and has a higher chance of having already spread beyond the breast, making it harder to treat. It’s important to get breast screenings even without symptoms for the best chance at early detection of breast cancer.
Women age 40 and older should have a mammogram every year. Women in their 20’s and 30’s should have a clinical breast exam as part of a regular health exam by a physician approximately every 3 years. Beginning in their 20’s, women should perform breast self-exams at home. I often see mammograms stressed for women 40+, but it’s important for younger women to get their screenings as well. The risk for developing breast cancer is less for younger women, but you shouldn’t wait until age 40 to get screened.
Having health insurance that covers breast cancer needs is important for women. For most US companies, fall is open enrollment for insurance. During open enrollment employees have the ability to review their employer-sponsored benefits, look over your options and choose the health care benefits that best fit your financial and health care needs.
Even when breast cancer is caught early, it can result in an expensive treatment plan. Aflac offers cash benefits that can be paid out to policyholders in the event of a cancer diagnosis to help handle the costly out-of-pocket expenses associated with a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment plan.
Aflac cancer insurance plans can help cover expenses that aren’t covered by health insurance, and they can even help with other needs such as transportation to and from appointments, or extra child care expenses.
Aflac is helping with breast cancer awareness month by partnering with the American Association for Cancer through their This Duck Wears Pink campaign. The campaign offers unique merchandise like a plush Aflac duck and breast cancer awareness pins, with net proceeds going to the AACR which is the world largest cancer research organization.
Plus, Aflac recently came out with their One Day PaySM initiative which lets Aflac process, approve and pay claims in a single day, meaning you can have cash in hand sooner than was previously possible.
In my view, breast cancer month should be celebrated in two ways. We need to raise awareness of how significant the impact of breast cancer is (1 in 8!) while also supporting the cause through donations to help those affected and further research.
Are you participating in breast cancer awareness month? Are you donating, spreading awareness, educating or making sure the women in your family have been screened?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
Keeping our breasts healthy is so important. Not only do they have a physically defining characteristic, but they can also kill us! Breast cancer that goes undetected can spread, and that’s the beginning of the end in a lot of cases.
I think breast cancer awareness is such a great cause. It’s as important in my opinion as finding a cure. With early detection saving lives and making treatment more manageable I think it’s great that there is an entire month for raising awareness!
You need to check yourself regularly I think that without that knowledge more people would have died from this terrible disease! Posts like this are a great reminder to do it.
Breast cancer is an awful disease that affects so many!! It is so good to know that there is a company out there that takes this disease serious and helps to cover the costs associated with it!
Breast cancer affects so many people these days. It is so important to get screened and to check yourself every year. I have a few friends that are survivors.
That is a scary number to realize breast cancer effects that many woman scares me! I try to buy breast cancer awareness products whenever I can. I also make sure to donate when I am able 🙂
Aflac is a wonderful insurance company to have on your side regardless the reason. This is such a touching post, and I’m glad to see you’re making a stand to inform other woman to be prepared for this. Thank you for sharing your story with us.l
One in eight women is a high number. I agree, most women do not consider themselves at risk unless they know someone who has or has had breast cancer. What Aflac is doing is great, thank you for sharing this post.
I’ve always worked in healthcare and spread the word during Breast Cancer Awareness month for many years. My grandmother was a breast cancer survivor and passed of old age in her 90s. The nursing organizations used to send us so many marketing things over the years but a tight economy has slowed it down (but I’ve saved them and wear them all the time!) One of my fave promoters is Ford Warriors in Pink and I should have one of their scarves to send to my mom hopefully by next week. I love the Aflac duck and this promo too!
We don’t have in the family who battled with breast cancer but we lost loved ones in other form of cancer . Having said that, it’s great to bring awareness to any type of cancer.
Although I don’t know anyone who has battled breast cancer, I still think it’s extremely important. One in eight is actually really high. It’s really scary to think of it affecting so many.
I didn’t know that cancer insurance plans are now available. It makes sense because you will literally spend a lot of money from meds and treatments if someone in your family has cancer.
My godmother died of breast cancer and although there’s no history of breast cancer in our family, I still make sure to do breast self exam regularly. It’s important.
Tests for Cancer should always be covered under insurance. I am lucky to live in Canada and all those are covered under our healthcare. Early detection is so important.
This is so important, all women need to know about all of this. It helps save lives and really is SO important and I’m glad to see so many sharing and educating!
I can’t stress how important this is for our family, as all my aunts and grandmas have had it. I think Breast Cancer awareness needs to be all year round.
Great post about an important topic. My aunt passed away from breast cancer, my mother battled breast cancer, and so did my mother-in-law. I like that the Duck is wearing pink!
There’s breast cancer in my family too and it scares me sometimes. I don’t really know how to check myself, although I try, and my family doctor has never checked me either. I should ask him next time.
I have two (2) friends whose moms survived breast cancer. I wish they’ll never have any kind of cancer again. I don’t have any idea how much pain they’ve been through but they did it! And it’s a relief. I am so happy for my two closest friends. Btw, do they ever come back?
I’m truly sorry that this disease has affected to many of your family members. My Mother passed from it 20 years ago and my Grandmother was a survivor. Obviously, I’ve had yearly exams since the age of 35. I am hopeful for women everywhere though because, through campaigns like this one that Aflac is participating in, the science of treating it has gotten significantly better than 20 years ago while my Mother was fighting it. 🙂
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Breast Cancer awareness is really important to me too. My Nana is a survivor and I would love to see this horrible disease and once and for all.