‘Get to know your breasts’, says TV presenter Diana Binks
Diana Binks is a television sports presenter and currently presents late night Sport on Five. Ten years ago Diana, found a lump in her left breast. Fortunately for Diana, it wasn’t cancer, but her experience made her much more conscious about her breast health.
In her early thirties at the time, Diana discovered the pea-sized lump by accident: “I thought maybe it was a hormonal thing – I wasn’t overly concerned and I left it for 6-9 months. During that time it grew bigger and other lumps started to appear. Eventually my partner noticed it too and prompted me to get it checked. Fortunately it was benign, just a cyst – a huge relief. It was only after the event that I can look back and realise how lucky I was. If it had been cancerous and I had left it for that long, the outcome would have been a lot more serious.
“I’m much more knowledgeable about my own breast health now and I regularly check my breasts, I know what they should feel like, I know what’s normal and what’s not. I’m a positive thinker but I’m much more alert to the issue. I think one of the reasons I didn’t act more promptly was because of my age, at the time I had no idea that it was the most common form of cancer in women under 35 –now I’m much more informed.
“When I heard about the Digital Infrared BreastScan from BreastHealth UK, I decided to try it for myself. It’s a new technology and it wasn’t available when I had my scare. When I had the mammogram all those years ago, it didn’t hurt but it was quite uncomfortable and cold and impersonal – lots of handling and prodding of my breast tissue. In contrast the Digital Infrared BreastScan was very comfortable, I just sat in a chair for 5-6 minutes with my hands clasped behind my head while cold air was blown onto my breasts. There was no need for my breasts to be touched at all and the whole consultation only took 15 minutes.
“Cancer can affect any woman regardless of whether or not they have a family history so it’s important for all women to be breast aware. My scare has changed my perspective – it’s opened my eyes. My advice to any friend, family member or colleague would be to seek professional advice as soon as possible – don’t leave it.”
Dina concludes: “The key thing for all women, regardless of age, is to get to know their breasts, check them regularly and be aware – don’t ignore anything out of the ordinary, however small.”
An article from BreastHealth UK
http://www.breasthealthuk.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=285