In Her Honor: What Breast Cancer Awareness Really Means to Me

Last year, during what I thought would be just another routine appointment, my mammogram found something.

Something “suspicious.”

That word sits heavy, doesn’t it? It’s not a confirmation, not a diagnosis but just a whisper of uncertainty. But that whisper was loud enough to rattle me. Loud enough to open up every what-if scenario I’d never allowed myself to imagine. Loud enough to remind me how quickly everything can change.

What followed were weeks of waiting. Diagnostic mammograms. Ultrasounds. A biopsy. And in between each test, more waiting. The kind that makes your heart beat too fast in the quiet hours of the night. The kind that hijacks your thoughts while you’re pouring coffee or folding towels. That terrifying space of not knowing, but feeling like your body might already know.

I was lucky. It was clear. Benign.

But those weeks left their mark.

And here’s the part that really shook me: I hadn’t had a mammogram in four years.

Why? Life. COVID. Excuses. Prioritizing everyone else before myself…something a lot of us midlife women are guilty of. I had been diligent before, but I let it slide. I told myself I’d “get to it.” And it almost cost me.

That experience changed how I think about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s no longer just pink ribbons and slogans. It’s personal. It’s a reminder. It’s a reckoning.

It’s for the women I love. My friends. My aunts. My cousins. My readers. My sisters in this messy, beautiful season of life.

And it’s for me.

Because the truth is: we can’t show up for anyone else if we don’t first show up for ourselves.

💗 If You’ve Been Putting Off Your Mammogram

Please hear me when I say this: Go.
Book the appointment. Do the test. Push past the fear and do it anyway.

You are not too busy. You are not too late. You are not overreacting.
You are worthy of care.

This post isn’t just a story. It’s a love letter.
To you. To me. To all of us who’ve waited too long.
And to the women who didn’t get the all-clear.

📣 CTA: Let’s Talk About It

Have you gone through a scare? Lost someone to breast cancer?
Are you overdue for your own mammogram?

You’re not alone. Share your story, or your "this was the wake-up call" moment; in the comments or message me privately. I read everything. I hold space for it all.

Let’s stop treating our wellness like an afterthought.
Let’s make this month mean something…together.

With love from Mabank,
Brandy