Dear Sister, Make Room for Your Health

Featured image: AI-generated illustration with fictional models, not identified patients or survivors.

You remember the appointments for everyone else. You check on your family, answer the phone when someone needs you, and keep moving even when you are tired. But when was the last time you made room for your own health?

This is a loving reminder to put yourself on the calendar, too.

Breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer can be difficult to talk about. Fear can make us put off an appointment or explain away a change in our bodies. You do not have to have all the answers before asking for help. A concern is enough reason to start a conversation.

Know what is normal for you

Become familiar with how your breasts normally look and feel. Tell your health care provider about a new lump, skin dimpling, a change in shape, or a nipple change. Checking yourself helps you notice changes, but it does not replace a mammogram. Keep your recommended mammogram appointments and ask which schedule fits your age, family history, and personal risk. Mammograms can find breast cancer before a lump can be felt. [1]

Ovarian cancer can cause bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling full unusually quickly, and changes in bathroom habits. These symptoms often have other causes. Still, if they are new for you and continue for two weeks or longer, contact your provider. Seek care sooner for severe or worsening symptoms, and promptly for unusual vaginal bleeding. There is no reliable routine ovarian cancer screening test for women without symptoms. [2,3]

Uterine cancer can cause bleeding or discharge that is unusual for you, or pelvic pain or pressure. Bleeding between periods, unusually heavy bleeding, and any bleeding after menopause—even spotting—should be checked promptly. Please do not wait for your next routine visit to mention it. [4]

Keep up with cervical screening, too

Pap and HPV tests help prevent cervical cancer or find it early. Ask your provider which test you need and when you are due; a Pap test is not necessarily needed every year. Pap tests check the cervix. They do not screen for ovarian or uterine cancer. A normal Pap result does not explain away new symptoms. [3,5,6]

You deserve to be heard

If cost, transportation, work, or caring for family makes an appointment difficult, tell your clinic and ask what assistance is available. If a symptom continues, follow up. Ask what your results mean and what happens next. Bring someone you trust if it helps you feel supported.

And if you are living with cancer, please hear this: you have not failed. A diagnosis is never proof that you did not care enough or try hard enough. You deserve treatment, compassion, and support at every stage.

At Jetta Rock, we want you to know that your concerns matter. Make the appointment you have been putting off. Encourage a friend with kindness. Give yourself the same care you so freely give to others.

With love,
Jetta Rock

General health education; your clinician can help you choose care for your individual needs.

Sources
1. CDC, Breast cancer screening: https://www.cdc.gov/breast-cancer/screening/
2. CDC, Ovarian cancer symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/ovarian-cancer/symptoms/index.html
3. CDC, Ovarian cancer screening: https://www.cdc.gov/ovarian-cancer/screening/index.html
4. CDC, Uterine cancer symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/uterine-cancer/symptoms/
5. CDC, Cervical cancer screening: https://www.cdc.gov/cervical-cancer/screening/index.html
6. CDC, Gynecologic cancer screening facts: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/59392/cdc_59392_DS1.pdf