(BLACK PR WIRE/FAMU-TALLAHASSEE) "" As breast cancer month trails on, we are reminded of both the survivors and those who lost the fight to cancer. Breast cancer affects not only women but also men. As a wife, grandmother and mother of two, Dorothy Glaze never imagined that she would have breast cancer and be a survivor of the disease. Glaze has said that her breast cancer is a testimony of how good God truly is.

"For me it's a testimony "¦mine wasn't that severe. My cancer started as something else and then I found out that it was breast cancer," said Glaze.

After a conversation with one of her walking buddies, Glaze was inspired to get a mammogram. Coincidently, Glaze's walking buddy worked for the Komen Cancer society, when they discussed that she hadn't had a mammogram in ten years. Her walking buddy insisted that if she did not get a mammogram, they couldn't continue walking with each other anymore. Glaze said that "God had sent her to me as an angel. My situation could have been different, if she didn't kept aggravating me so I decided to get the mammogram."

Later Glaze then received a check up from the doctor where they found out that she had cancer. The source of the cancer was undetermined at the time, so the doctor insisted on doing a PET scan. With a PET scan (an X-ray of the entire the body), they couldn't find the cancer anywhere else until the biopsy, where it was determined that her cancer was concentrated in her breast. After all these tests, the doctor came in and spoke to her saying that she had bad and good news. The bad news was that she had breast cancer, but the good news was that it is very small. The cancer was so small that it was on a scale between 0-1.

Glaze later went in and had a lumpectomy but as God would have it, there was no sign of cancer. Luckily, Glaze has been in remission for eight years. She says that every year she goes for a mammogram, and there has been no sign of cancer.

According to the Breast Cancer Society, women are about 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men; however, the survival rates are about the same regardless of the patient's sex. Unfortunately, every woman has a 12 percent chance of developing breast cancer at some point in her life. Statistics show that all women have a 1 in 8 chance of having some form of breast cancer in their lifetime. Many patients have a 98 percent chance of surviving the disease if the cancer is stabilized and has not spread to the lymph node.

For a patient whose cancer has spread to the lymph node, the five-year survival rate is about 84 percent. Cancer that has spread to the distant organs or distant lymph nodes will only have a 24 percent chance of survival. Approximately three percent of women die from breast cancer. Glaze advises that all women and men should get involved with their health. Glaze also said that "I have had uterine cancer and thyroid cancer before. You can feel very healthy in your body and still have cancer." For younger people, she advises them to take control of their health because now is the time to get fit. Walk, start a regular exercise program and go see your doctor every year. Above all those things, trust in God for the good life.


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