A team of journalists at ABC 7 News has been working together to bring you a first-of-a-kind report on Washington television: “Touch of Life: The Guide to Self-breast Examination.”
In its reporting, the team was amazed to find the majority of women have no idea how to do a breast exam, and when and how often to do it. Self breast-examinations are especially critical for young women, since insurance does not pay for routine mammograms until the age of 40.Breast cancer patient Lauren Albright is a case in point. The 28-year-old was doing her monthly self breast exam when her fingertips discovered something she hoped she’d never find — a lump.
“it was a pea-size lump under my nipple,” Albright recalled. “That’s when I decide
d to go to my primary care physician.”She is facing the fight of her life, and wants to help show other women how to do this critical exam. So she bravely volunteered to go unclothed so a doctor can show both her and you the proper way to detectbreast cancer.
“I know enough to save my own life, and that was very important to me,” she said.
Surgical oncologist Shannon Lehr with the Inova Breast Care Institute helped Albright demonstrate the proper life-saving techniques:
“So the first part of the exam is looking at both your breasts in a mirror, looking for any changes in the appearance of the breasts, and that way you can look at all of the breast contour. And again, what you’re looking for is just changes — anything that looks different month to month.
“And what you want to do is take the pads of three fingers and then just gently, in a circular motion, feel all of the breast tissue. And you have to remember that the breast tissue extends from the collarbone, down to the top of the abdomen, to the breast bone, out to the armpit.
“The other important thing is to remember that you do have a lot of breast tissue behind the nipple so you want to include the nipple, behind the nipple, on all four sides.
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