VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: THIS TRANSCRIPT WAS GENERATED USING AN AUTOMATED SERVICE SO WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY TYPOS AND SPELLING ERRORS.

Breast self awareness

[00:00:00] So since it's October Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I got to shoot some video right now with two amazing women from the Get In Touch Foundation who came. It was not sponsored. It was just fun because. , they're wonderful. They've started this foundation, Betsy Nylon, whose mom unfortunately was diagnosed, um, found her own tumor, thankfully, and had to advocate for herself. 

And so we decided that we were gonna talk about breast self-awareness because that's what the Daisy Wheel app is all about. And so I thought this is a good opportunity to talk to you about breast exams and what do I say to patients and is there data? And so I'm not gonna talk too much about data cuz I think, you know, I don't love data, data data because I think that when we talk. 

Data and guidelines. It's very valuable and very important, but it's also to important to understand the framework behind data and guidelines. So there are certain task forces, American Cancer Society, different groups that will potentially say that self breast exam S B E is not necessarily impactful at finding [00:01:00] breast cancers early. 

And many of you might think, what? And I kind of think what. There is data and unfortunately, like I said, when data comes out, it has to be put out in a way that is very evidence-based, which is excellent for medicine so that we don't all go awry and decide to use things that we don't have evidence to use that set. 

There are certain ideologies that cannot be born out in data. I think for. Getting to know your body. Why is that valuable? Has data shown that getting to know your body is actually gonna help you diagnose things early? I would argue that even if there are studies that have not shown that in populations who've examined their own breasts versus populations who don't, those women have not found their own cancers earlier. 

I would still argue that getting to know your body is always a good thing. So this is gonna be more of a generalized. Please get to know your body. Humans, whether you are men, women, non-binary, non-gender, identifying, I don't care. We should each know our body. Just like if you look in the mirror every [00:02:00] day. 

Ideal, you're looking in the mirror. Not only to try to improve what you deem to be your own aesthetics without regard for what other people are judging, but also because you should get to know, let me look in the mirror. Do my eyes look different? Is something going on where all of a sudden it could belie, um, me having an eye infection, for example? 

Is there something where I noticed that there is plaque in my teeth than I need to do a better job at cleaning? I mean, there's so many aspects of knowing your body that are good for you and good for your health in a general sense. So when I say to patients, do you check your. And 99% of them are like, uh, well, the usual commentary is something like, I don't check my breasts because I'm too scared that I'll find something. 

I don't know what I'm looking for. Or they always feel lumpy, bumpy. My response is, I understand that you're nervous. I don't want you to be scared. I understand you don't know what you're looking for. And yes, they do feel lumpy, bumpy, and yet these are the reasons I want you to check your own. because if you get to know your breasts, and the vernacular that we [00:03:00] now try to use is breast self-awareness as opposed to self breast exam, to kind of imply the notion that you should generally just be aware of what your breasts look and feel like, so that if there is a change. 

even subtle. You calmly approach your practitioner and say, I've noticed a change. And yes, I do examine my breasts once a month because I'm aware of what they look and feel like. So I know this is different. And your doctor or nurse practitioner, PA will ideally say to you some version of. , it's likely nothing, but we're gonna check it out and here's why I'm not worried because of X, Y, Z, but I'm gonna make sure of that by doing A, B, C, or by instructing you to come back at a certain interval. 

That is really how the script should go. Now how will that work? , well once a month if you are a premenopausal woman, ideally right after your period is finished. And the best way to um, do that is actually make sure that you're tracking your cal your cycle, because we should all know when we have our period.[00:04:00]  

And by the way, if you're on the birth control pill or birth control ring, that gets changed every month and easy trick. Oh, every month when I open my new pill pack or I put in my new birth control ring, if I'm using the monthly ring, I can then decide that day I'm gonna check my breasts because that will coincide with the end of your period and cycle. 

Why do we say at the end? Because your breasts will go through changes every month and at the end of your cycle, they theoretically will be less lumpy, bumpy. And if you pick the same time every month, they should feel the same during that part of your cycle. Now, if you are post-menopausal, your cycle doesn't matter because you are no longer getting your period. 

So you might wanna pick, for example, the first of the month. Every first of the month, I'm gonna check my breasts to me. Checking our breasts merely means, like I said, getting to know how they look and how they feel in a general sense without it being something that you think is some onerous exam where you have to really commit to it. 

Because I think the more we get dumped on as humans where we're told you have to do this and this and this and this, the less we're likely [00:05:00] to buy into any situation. So to me, the best way to get buy-in from all of us as humans is to. Listen, it could be something casual once a month in the shower. A little bit of soap on your hands so that you can really feel things easier, feel inside your armpits and make circles around your breast first, superficially, and then deeper, and making sure you get the entire circumference from your nipple. 

And here. Now why do I say feel inside your armpit? Because you actually ha have. Breast tissue that goes up into your armpit, into your illa, it's called. So feel inside your armpit. Make circles around your breast, superficial, deeper, all the way from the external part to the chest wall, but you really just. 

Getting to know them, that is it. I think that the older version of the card that we used to hang in the shower where women were taught that they had to look in the mirror and do these different exercises and then lay on their back with a towel underneath them is wonderful if you wanna be incredibly compulsive about doing your exam, but I think that 99% of us will not [00:06:00] do it, and rather than do a version of it, if we're told it has to be this way or not. 

We'll abandon it if instead we're told. The purpose of breast self-awareness is to get to know your body, get to know your breasts so that you understand if there are any changes. The likelihood is those changes do not mean cancer, but let's. Ferret it out further and figure out what's going on. I truly believe you will have more buy-in. 

The other part of this is really just that through our breasts, for example, or I say through our ovaries or through knowing our cycle, through knowing any one part of our body, it can lead to us understanding other parts of our body. Our body, as I've said before, is our vehicle. It is our vessel. It is the only thing that we. 

So we really kind of need to get to know it. We are our best owner's manual. That does not mean that you cannot collaborate with your provider so that she can help you get help, but she really needs you to come to her and say, listen, I know that this feels different. I think it's probably nothing. But I really need us to check it out. 

Or I've seen a mole on my arm [00:07:00] and it's changed. I know it's probably nothing but I need to get it checked out. Or all of a sudden something is changing in my mouth, something is changing on my foot. Whatever part of your body it is, the only way you'll know is if you check in and pay attention. So again, this is one more shout out for breast self-awareness because I think it's a good idea to just know your. 

I know that many of you want to say things like, but I've heard the data that it doesn't actually improve outcomes. And while that might be true in evidence-based data, and I only put in quotes because I love evidence-based data, but in this particular case, there are intangible unmeasurable outcomes. 

For example, knowing your body is going to help you feel more connected in general. So please check your breasts and go to the Daisy Wheel app cuz it actually helps you understand what you can do.