Breast Cancer awareness month is still in full force.  There are pink lids on Yoplait yogurt, pink vacuums at Target and reminders all around us that breast cancer is a serious issue.  I remember this month so well prior to having breast cancer.  I looked at it as an outsider and felt sad for those touched by the disease.  But I never thought I would be one of them.  It never occurred to me that I should be really serious about breast self-exams.  So, frankly, I never really did them.  And many of my blog readers know how my story goes.  I seriously hope that those of you who know me and have my been reading my blog no longer take breast self-exams lightly.  Even if you do not have a family history, you can get breast cancer.  You do not need to be overweight to get breast cancer.  You do not need to smoke to get breast cancer.  Yes.  Those things increase your risk.  In my case, I did have a family history.  And while it felt distant, it really wasn’t.  My inherited genetic mutation caused my breast cancer.  But the key is I did not know it existed.  So my message to all of you women is do breast self-exams monthly.  Be diligent about your health screenings.  Be your own health advocate!  1 in 8 of us will get breast cancer.  Let’s make sure to catch it at the earliest possible stage.  And let’s keep working so that our children and our children’s children will not have to think about a 1 in 8 statistic.