Breast Cancer Q&A

"I don't know how to start to ask my mum to check her breast. I just feel weird to ask that.

Anyway, for guys do I need to go for medical check up for my breast? I don't think they examine my breast during my last medical check up."

That is a good question. How do you ask someone to get a private part checked especially when you are the opposite sex because it feels weird.

It does feel awkward to do so since you are the son but because of your good intention and your concern towards your mother's well being then you very much have to raise the topic to her. Here is an easy way to hint her about breast cancer and breast examination. First you look up for a newspaper article or a brochure about breast cancer and ask her to read. Then maybe you can casually ask her if she has gone for breast examination anytime of her life before. Most Malaysian women are too shy to go for it. And then you point out to her that she can do it at home on her own. It helps if you can remind her of someone she knows or someone in the family who have or had breast cancer since that is a high risk factor and she doesn't want to be diagnosed late.

Men are also at risk of having breast cancer. Even though it is quite rare but it is important to examine yourself too. The self examination doesn't take long and it is very easy. So you should encourage yourself to do it once in a while.

Thanks for posting some good questions so other readers can benefit from these too. :) Enjoy reading.

Suicide? Think Again!

I'm so beat today. I am now posted in Emergency Department. Today is my 7th day here. It's quite fun to be working here because us in the emergency department is the first line of people taking care of cases that comes in.

Today, it's sad to see a few people who came in with poisoning. They tried to become suicidal by consuming poison and excessive paracetamol (panadol). I hope none of you will ever fall into these category of patients. You see, people who attempted suicide really do not care about their life anymore as to have decided to drink up pesticide or do something stupid, like stab themselves. But us in the hospital try so hard to help them come back to life.

When I saw a girl who came in today unconscious after drinking pesticide, I was so angry. I don't really know why I was angry at her, maybe because of what she did to herself. And we tried so hard to bring her back. We did so much to revive her, but it felt ironic and I felt stupid too. I can't really explain how I felt that time. I do understand that as a doctor I have to try my level best to counter her condition, but I was mad at the same time because she did something really stupid.

If you think that drinking poison and try to kill yourself is an easy job, you are wrong. In fact, it can be the most painful thing to do ever. You won't just get knocked out instantaneously like how you see in movies or TV shows. When you consume poison, depending on the nature of the poison, you can ulcerate your mouth all the way down to your stomach, or you might get the most painful burning sensation and you start throwing up in a very painful way. And because you start throwing up, you might even aspirate (the vomit might enter your lungs) the vomit and poison and then you will start having difficulty in breathing, that you are gasping for air but your lungs are burning and the airways constricting disabling you to breathe. We definitely don't want that do we?

So choose to seek help rather than attempting suicide. There are many ways you can try to let your heart and emotions out. Get someone to talk to. Get anyone, you can even talk to a pet if you want to. As long as you don't decide on doing something stupid. And know this, people do care about you. Somethings in your life may not go the way you want it to be but there are people who want you to continue your life's journey and strive in any challenges you may face.