67. Breast Health (1) Jasmine

Jasmine and I were colleagues at the same elementary school.  A royal 10 to 15 years my junior, she was everything a person would want to be at that age: young, pretty, smart, sociable, you name it.  On the last day of the school year, as I was loading up my car with numerous gifts from generous parents, I decided to stop in at the principal's office and offer her a big bouquet of freshly cut flowers, because we were heading out camping the next day and I did not know what I should do with them.  Jasmine and the principal were in the midst of having a conversation.  When offering the bouquet, Jasmine quickly jumped up exclaiming it was gorgeous and asked if she could have it.  I am glad she ended up with the gift.  Later that summer we ran into her in the beer gardens of an outdoor country music festival.  She was living it up and having a really good time.

She did not start the next school year in fall.  There were rumors that she was not feeling well, but no explanation was offered.  By mid April the following year, she was gone.  Just like that.  She died of breast cancer at the age of 45.  She was not yet eligible for participation in the provincial breast screening program.  

Her tragic story unfortunately is not unique.  I have heard similar stories, as I'm sure you have.  And I have met young women at the cancer clinic with advanced breast cancer who were "not yet eligible."

A spokesperson for the breast screening program tells me that if you are less than 50 years of age and you find a lump or you have discharge from your breast, you should go see your physician immediately and get a referral to be screened through the program.  You need to insist if your doctor refuses! 

Might be of interest:  There is a drug called Myocet liposomal that has been approved in Europe and in Canada for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in combination with cyclophosphamide, another cancer medicine.  In the USA, the FDA has granted "Fast Track" status to Myocet as first-line therapy for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.