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For years I heeded the warning: Do monthly breast self-exams. Like most women, I did them on a 'sort of' basis. Every few months I'd sort of do a quick feel, but never as thoroughly as the doctors urged. I didn't want to go looking for trouble. If you look for it, you might find it. Looking for cancer is unsettling. Thank God I looked.

I'm not about my breasts; I'm just about good health, OK. I'm not afraid of doing what I need to do to stay here. I really don't understand women who are in denial, who don't want to go for a mammogram. I think it's stupidity. Sorry. I have no patience for that.

Women who may choose to have silicone breast implants are entitled to independent research to ensure they have complete and comprehensive information. It's especially important since so many women have experienced complications with their implants they never knew were possible.

I started realizing I could be an example for women to not just be aware of breast cancer but to act on it, to make an appointment, to give themselves an exam.

Clearly, products for women are not as well scrutinized as products for men. It appears they never tested the implants in breast tissue and that they received decades of complaints from women. It's the kind of stuff that makes you want to scream!

Breast cancer deaths in America have been declining for more than a decade. Much of that success is due to early detection and better treatments for women. I strongly encourage women to get a mammogram.

With breast cancer, it's all about detection. You have to educate young women and encourage them to do everything they have to do.

If you try to breastfeed and it's not working, then you don't feel particularly good about yourself.

I have never had anything done. I've been asked if I had breast implants. Whether I did or not, it's nobody's business but my own.

Women who have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer can learn a tremendous amount from women who have already been treated.