Alivia Welch
\nManaging Editor<\/p>\n

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), 1 in 8 women in the United\u00a0States are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. However black women are 41\u00a0percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, despite lower\u00a0incidence of the disease.<\/p>\n

Katherine Bridges of Jackson, Miss. was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008\u00a0after noticing a constant pain in her breast.<\/p>\n

She said after ignoring the mild pain for a year, it was time to seek medical\u00a0attention. Bridges said the following year her doctors confirmed it was indeed\u00a0breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept feeling a sharp pain in my right breast and I kept ignoring it the first year\u00a0because it was mild, but when I went to the doctor the following year, he\u00a0confirmed that it was cancer,\u201d said Bridges.<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cMy mother had five girls, my mother was a carrier and so she\u00a0passed it down to all of her girls. I\u2019m the baby, I\u2019m the last one still living.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are four stages of breast cancer, Stage One, which is the most mild and\u00a0proceeding to Stage Four, the most advanced. Bridges was diagnosed at Stage One.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy doctor informed me that I was in the early stage. I was 45 when I was\u00a0diagnosed and I\u2019m 59 now,\u201d Bridges stated.<\/p>\n

Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCCP) reports that breast cancer affects more\u00a0women than any other cancer and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths\u00a0globally. African-American women have the highest mortality rate of any U.S.\u00a0racial or ethnic group.<\/p>\n

Based on the patient and stage of breast cancer, medical professionals advise\u00a0different treatment options and plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did six rounds of chemo first, then I did surgery and then I did four more rounds\u00a0of chemo,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cI did all of that in a year-long duration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges said due to her diagnosis and family history, it was recommended by her\u00a0doctor to have a double mastectomy. She also said after her procedure she\u00a0received breast implants.<\/p>\n

A mastectomy, according ACS, is breast cancer surgery that removes the entire
\nbreast.\u00a0A mastectomy might be done:
\n\uf0b7 When a woman cannot be treated with\u00a0breast-conserving surgery\u00a0(lumpectomy), which saves most of the breast.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 If a woman chooses mastectomy over breast-conserving surgery for personal\u00a0reasons.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 For women at very high risk of getting a second breast cancer who\u00a0sometimes choose to have a double mastectomy (the removal of both\u00a0breasts).<\/p>\n

Johnkeria Pete, a senior journalism and media studies major from Greenville,\u00a0Miss., shared her family\u2019s experience with breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother was diagnosed in her 50\u2019s with breast cancer in the left breast,\u201d\u00a0said Pete.<\/p>\n

Pete also stated that she knows the importance of self-examinations because of\u00a0her family\u2019s medical history and how it can help detect breast cancer in the earlier\u00a0stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my mother always tells me do a self-breast exam daily, which requires me\u00a0to feel my breast and other parts of my body,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A report by Yale Medicine found that women who are younger than 45 make up\u00a011 percent of the\u00a0women who are diagnosed with breast cancer.\u00a0Dr. Liva Andrejeva-Wright, who practices in breast imaging and breast oncology, said\u00a0she has diagnosed woman in their 20s with breast cancer.\u00a0With Pete\u2019s knowledge of breast cancer, she advises younger women to self\u00a0examine their breasts and know their family\u2019s medical history.<\/p>\n