The doctors and nurses who reviewed this guide suggest you get more information through the resources listed throughout this book and from the health care team who cares for you. You have a right to know as much about this disease as you want to know. No question is stupid. Your health care team wants you to understand as much as you are comfortable knowing about breast cancer. Never hesitate to ask for more information or for information to be explained in a different way from the way you hear it the first time.
Healthy cells grow, divide, and replace themselves in a way that keeps the body in good repair.
You can feel breast lumps with your fingers. You can't feel microcalcifications, but these tiny deposits of calcium can be found with a mammogram. Benign means the lump or deposit is not cancer. Most lumps fall into this category and are found during a mammogram, physician exam or breast self-exam. If you have not been taught how to do a breast exam, ask your doctor or nurse to show you.