More on breast self-exams
A mammogram missed Hendy's lump.
(HENDY DAYTON)
Elissa's doctors thought she was too young.
(ELISSA THORNER)
Twilah stumbled on hers after a biopsy.
(TWILAH RICHARDSON)
3 Women Who Found Their Own Breast Cancer
Even though there's some doubt that women who do regular monthly breast self-exams (BSE) live longer as a group, some women do find a lump that way.
• Hendy Dayton's malignant lump wasn't picked up by a mammogram, but her fingertips couldn't miss it. "It felt like a Contac cold pill under my breast," recalls the 48-year-old San Franciscan.
• Elissa Thorner, now a 26-year-old research scientist in Baltimore, found a lump in her breast five years ago that turned out to be cancerous—but at first, doctors didn't take her seriously because she was so young.
• Twilah Richardson, 51, of Allentown, Pa., felt a lump in her left breast about a month after her 50th birthday. "I honestly didn't think they would tell me I had breast cancer. I had an earlier biopsy at Christmas and it came back negative," she recalls.
Last Updated: May 12, 2008
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