When we think of breast cancer, things immediately come to mind that may seem terrible. Hospitals, doctors, chemotherapy, pills. Discouraging images but at the same time so far away, because "how is that going to happen to me", one thinks, "I am still young", "I still drink plenty of water and exercise".
"I am not at risk" or "that can only happen after 50, on top of that I hike, do yoga, reiki, run triathlons, I don't smoke, I eat super healthy, I have about 600 protective quartz that I bought at the craft fair in Pichilemu and there is no history of cancer in my family".
In our busy minds, many of us believe we are invincible and think that breast cancer is something that happens to other people, to older women, to Aunt Laurita's distant cousin, to that neighbor who always has bad luck in everything and walks around in her bathrobe all day, or some weird case in one or another episode of Grey's Anatomy or Dr House, things that don't happen in real life, and of course "not to us".
I wish breast cancer was something as distant as we make ourselves believe, I wish it was just an isolated case, but the truth is that unfortunately it is something that could happen, to any of us, regardless of our age, lifestyle, bra size, religion, political color or favorite Friends character.
And if breast cancer is constantly lurking and we cannot control its appearance then what to do?
This is when before any treatment, chemo, miracle pill or surgery comes into play... the famous self-knowledge.
Happily, gone are the medieval days when writing or saying BREASTS (or any colloquial or formal synonym to refer to our mammary glands) is frowned upon or uncomfortable.
(So I'm going to write it a bunch BREASTS, BREASTS, BREASTS!!!!!)
We all have them, whether they are small, big, watermelon or lemon shaped, we see them every day, they are always with us, stuffing our animal print bikinis in summer or hidden under 3 panty shirts in winter, they are there unconditionally, so why not normalize their existence and take care of them a little bit better ?
The first step to protect ourselves from breast cancer is to understand what could happen to us and to be attentive, self-examine ourselves, since early detection will always be our best weapon.
Self-examination is easy, fast, you can do it at home whenever you want, it can become part of your routine, you just need to be aware and take care of yourself a little more every day.
To know yourself and take care of yourself is to love yourself, Palpa invites you to make self-examination your best ally.