I think we also have to be very careful making promises about protection
from breast cancer.  While it seems safe to say that on a population-wide
basis, there is a statistical risk reduction associated with long duration
breastfeeding, this is not a guarantee on the individual level.  There is a
lovely mom pictured in The Breastfeeding Atlas nursing her newborn daughter
on one breast after mastectomy of the other breast due to cancer.  She had
nursed two children prior to that baby, and developed a lump in her breast
while bfg her 2nd son (who was two years old at the time.)  She was a deaf
woman, and her husband called me to ask about the lump (I'd helped them
nurse baby #1.)  I urged him to have the lump evaluated by a breast
specialist because even though she was only 28, persistant lumps must be
assessed.  We were all heartsick when the dx was cancer, and worried when
she accidently got pregnant with her daughter during radiation therapy.  She
refused abortion and delivered (at home) safely;  the baby was healthy.  Her
husband phoned me on Day 18 to come over to help with a sore nipple issue,
and told me that my client asked me to bring my camera.  "I want women to
see that there is life after cancer," she said.  Sadly, I woke up this
morning to read her obituary.  She fought the cancer for 6 years.

This also brings home the vital importance of LCs being up to speed on the
symptoms of breast cancer.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
LactNews Press
www.lactnews.com
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