Elgin Community College student, Rocky Vick was only thirty-four when they were first diagnosed with breast cancer. After noticing a lump on their breast and a trip to the gynecologist they were able to detect it.

“I ended up having two lumps. One on each breast. It was my girlfriend, at the time, who found the lumps and had to go to my gynecologist to explain what she had felt and what I had started to feel,” said Vick.

Vick had a rare case of breast cancer, in which there were no real symptoms, no pain, no discharge, or anything one would normally see in the signs of breast cancer.

“Sometimes giving yourself a breast exam and noticing something can help just by touching them while you are in the shower or anytime. Monthly self-breast exams can help find an abnormality sooner and treat it with better success than finding it too late. Regular exams with your gynecologist can also help recovery in a breast or ovarian abnormalities before they are untreatable.” said Associated Nursing Students (ANS) President Erica Walton.

Vick also agreed that it is important to do a self-examination at least every month.

“You are going to know what your breast tissue feels like better than anyone else, so for you to be able to go to your doctor, and tell your doctor that something is not right, always trust your gut, and always get those tests done, if you are able to because they are pretty expensive,” said Vick

Early detection is also important, according to ECC Nursing Professor Mary Arndt, as it can help better the chances of a full recovery.

“Early detection has great results for women, the earlier it can be detected the better their chances of having a full recovery unfortunately for some of them the cancer is detected too late and it has already spread to other parts of the body that it becomes harder to recover,” said Arndt.

When asked what kind of test is the most important Vick stated it depended on how dense the breast tissue is.

“It really depends on your breast tissue, if it is a really dense breast tissue, you need to have both the ultrasound and the mammogram done, and the doctor is going to tell you which one to have done, they usually do both at least for me because I had dense breast tissue,”said Vick

Vick also mentioned how different mammograms are now compared to how they were back then.

“I had a 3D mammogram done, it’s more accurate, and it doesn’t hurt as much as they used to hurt. Hospitals and facilities have gotten the machines to do these really wonderful things, and they try to be very quick about it. Instead of making you go into these really weird positions, the machine itself now moves so that they can move the machine to get into the correct position, instead of having you try to contort your body, which is really important as well, I know it is scary to think that your breasts would be smashed by this machine so that they can do the imaging, but a mammogram is important as much as an ultrasound is important too,” said Vick.

Women under 40 aren’t often tested with mammograms unless they are a high-risk group, but it is still encouraged to do monthly self-breast exams.

“Those who are in a high risk group under 40, like if its happened with your family, other than that the screening isn’t really necessary according to the research, but for women to do monthly self-breast exams, they should still do that it helps stimulate people to go to the doctor and then they would have a mammogram done,”said Arndt.

There is also genetic testing available, which Vick said has helped them and their sisters out.

“I had that done after I survived my breast cancer, I am very lucky to have no genetic markers for any type of cancer which helps my sisters and my nieces know whether or not they should be worried or whether they should have the testing done, and I have not come up with anything, but to continue to do the regular checks, do it once a month, know what your body feels like and trust your gut,” said Vick.

While health is important money is also a factor, however, there are places you can go to if you want to get help but don’t have the funds.

“There is a clinic in Elgin called the Greater Elgin Family Care Center, that is a place that can help people that are in that situation,” said Arndt.

Vick said that one of the things they regretted the most was not getting a support system.

“I did not utilize my support system, I didn’t tell my friends and family until right before my surgery that I even had cancer, and that was the hardest thing trying to deal with it on my own, instead of understanding and letting myself be vulnerable in front of others so that I could get the support and the help that I really needed,” said Vick.

Arndt said that one of the most important things for women to know that they are not alone, that they have people that care about them.

“Turn to the people in your life who have been there for you all along, and reach out for support t0 those people in your life and also people sometimes can benefit from counseling, because it is alot to go through, it is stressful and having a third party to talk to can be helpful, because the importance of that is that is not the persons brother, sister, or mother and it may be hard to say the hard thing to your family member, so that third person who is a counselor, who is not emotionally but is professionally invested in you, they are a good person person to be able to release those emotions to, and that can help with the stress and coping.”said Arndt.