A few other things completely blow my mind - women who get tested for the BRCA genetic blood test to see if they have mutations (changes) in their DNA which increases the risk for breast cancer. They believe this crap and are further told that about 50 in 100 women who have this mutation will get breast cancer by the time they are 70. NORMAL, HEALTHY WOMEN ARE OPTING FOR BILATERAL MASTECTOMIES WITH NEGATIVE MAMMOGRAMS. Most of these women have or had a close relative who had breast cancer, and feel the need to get tested.

There is also the breed of women who either detect a lump or it's discovered on their yearly mammogram (another asinine diagnostic test that is slammed down every woman's throat on a yearly basis). Regardless of how this "lump" is detected, a biopsy is ordered. That biopsy determines whether this lump is benign or malignant. If it is malignant it is further classified into stages. The higher the stage, the poorer the outcome, so they say. This is the kicker - I have known more than a few women who had a biopsy resulting in a benign diagnosis, meaning no further treatment is indicated...but, they have opted for chemotherapy BECAUSE IT'S OFFERED, to be on the "safe side." Many of these women love wearing a "badge of courage." They go to rallys and fund raisers, dress in pink, bare their bald heads or tie a flowery scarf around it, and feel liberated.

I hope I have not offended anybody by saying these things, and I'm a retired RN, who has seen it all and then some. The only time I have seen chemotherapy put anybody in a decent remission, depending on the overall health of the person prior to diagnosis, were blood dyscrasia cancers, such as the leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myelomas...but, it depends on the stage of the cancer when it's diagnosed.