What Protects One, Can Promote Another

I received a comment on my previous post Lets Talk Breast Cancer from Elizabeth at Confessions From a Working Mom. Because my post was tailored exactly to what  we learned regarding my mother's case, I didn't write much further into how your body could be susceptible to other forms of reproductive cancer... frankly we didn't learn much of that from our oncologist because my mother had a hysterectomy a few years back and so the information was a moot point for us. That being said, I most certainly do not want to minimize the point that Elizabeth brought up, I wanted to share it with you.

"I really found all your information about breast cancer interesting; but something I learned earlier this year, when my daughter's Godmother was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, is that cancers of the reproductive track particularly uterine and ovarian, work much the opposite of breast cancer; the more children a woman has (ie, the fewer monthly cycles in her lifetime), the more likely she is to get those kinds of cancers. It seems like am awful cruel twist of fate that what might "protect" you from one could put you at risk of the other."

What a cruel twist indeed! Thank you Elizabeth for sharing that with me. I do recall hearing from the oncologist when we spoke about the medication Mom is to take for 5 years, Taxmoxifen - is that there is a chance that this medicine could have an adverse affect on the uterus (again, not an issue in our case - so I didn't even write it down) - but a possible concern for a woman of child bearing years.