Save the Ta-Tas (and other Breast Cancer slogans)

Given that this blog is about trying to live a healthier lifestyle (and not just about forcing plants down my unwilling throat), I feel that I would be remiss if I, as a nursing student and medical assistant in a gynecological office, did not mention or address the guidelines recently posted out by some silly task force. The new guidelines (which are not supported by the American Cancer Society--they will not be the sponsor of YOUR birthday if you choose not to follow their attempts to make you healthy) state that women do not need mammograms until they are 50 (not 40), and that self-breast exams are useless wastes of time. Furthermore, pap smears (samplings and testings of the vaginal and cervical cells to check for abnormalities that are pre-cancerous or indicative of HPV), should only be done every three years. Doctors (and the American Cancer Society) have publicly and professionally renounced these new guidelines as being rediculous and untrue--which is something I can also attest to. It makes part of me feel broken that women are being told that taking care of themselves and developing a knowledge of their own bodies is a bad or useless thing. So, if you have been living under a rock and have not heard of this debate, and if this blog is your only connection to the wellness world (you poor, poor soul), hear me now:

GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS (WHEN YOU ARE 40, EVERY YEAR). DO SELF BREAST EXAMS. GO TO YOUR OB-GYN EVERY YEAR FOR A PAP SMEAR AND EXAM.

I love you, I really do. I want you to be healthy. Take care of yourself.

Today I ate carrots. I will eat Rabbit Food.