Thanks to one of the best information efforts in history, we also know that 97 percent of women are alive five years after diagnosis if their breast cancer is discovered and treated before it spreads to their lymph nodes. We all know this. Practicing it is another matter. Some women do not regularly perform a self-exam. Some women put off a doctor's inspection until they find themselves with an appointment for a flu shot or a bad cold.
Some women postpone mammograms indefinitely.
We're talking enlightened, intelligent, savvy, conscientious, alert women, the ones who run households, raise children, work at demanding jobs. I'll try and answer that, for I am one of these women. I know better, but I procrastinate anyway. I make inane excuses. I even lie to those who love me the most.