And the winner is...

PamK....

Pam if you'll email me at jae@jacquelineroth.com I'll get your address so we can get your prize in the mail. Thanks to everyone who entered. I appreciate your support.


I'd had something else I was going to feature on my blog today, but the following got my attention yesterday so I'm going to hold off on it until tomorrow. So stop by tomorrow if you would like to get information on a new website that gives you the low down on how to write a romance novel.

But for today:

I know it's no one's favorite topic, but it's on my mind. Breast cancer. Yesterday I went in for a mammogram. At my age the doctors recommend the screening once every two years. Yesterday was my turn. This wasn't my first mammogram, my grandmother had breast cancer so my doctor started me with a baseline in my early thirties. It's not the most pleasant of tests, and if you're modest about your body (which I'm not) it could be a bit trying, I'm certain.

So this morning I was looking up information. The National Cancer Institute site says that there will be 182,460 (female)/1,990 (male)new cases of breast cancer in 2008 and 40,480 (female)/ 450 (male) deaths. The National Cancer Institute has an online pamphlet about breast cancer that was has a lot of information. A separate pamphlet is available for male breast cancer.

Risk Factors:
Age: The chance of getting breast cancer goes up as a woman gets older. Most cases of breast cancer occur in women over 60. This disease is not common before menopause.

Personal history of breast cancer: A woman who had breast cancer in one breast has an increased risk of getting cancer in her other breast.

Family history: A woman's risk of breast cancer is higher if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer. The risk is higher if her family member got breast cancer before age 40. Having other relatives with breast cancer (in either her mother's or father's family) may also increase a woman's risk.

Reproductive and menstrual history:

• The older a woman is when she has her first child, the greater her chance of breast cancer.
  Women who had their first menstrual period before age 12 are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Women who went through menopause after age 55 are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Women who never had children are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Women who take menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin after menopause also appear to have an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Large, well-designed studies have shown no link between abortion or miscarriage and breast cancer.

Race: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in white women than Latina, Asian, or African American women.