By Christian Jennings - bio | email
July 25, 2008
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Self breast exams can save your life, and 58 year old Flosie Allen can prove it. She's a mother, a grandmother, an artist, and now, a survivor. Seven years ago Flosie Allen found a lump that would forever change her life. But when she went to the doctor they said she probably had nothing to worry about.
"He said it was probably fatty tissues that's what he told me it was and not to be concerned about it," she says describing her first doctor's visit.
The doctors told her to get a mammogram. Still, no sign of cancer. But Flosie was persistant. Four months later, the lump was still there, so she went back. Sure enough, her biggest nightmare had come true. Flosie was diagnosed with breast cancer. And her friends and family were right by her side.
"You come with a feeling of what now, where do we go from here? Am I strong enough to handle this?" Flosie's friend says.
"During her cancer ordeal, she just accepted it with stride, she did. She was strong," her sister says.
Flosie was not a stranger to cancer. She's lost three co-workers and a best friend to the disease. Her doctors encouraged her to express her emotions through her artwork. She made a sculpture of cancer, representing the rough days and the smooth ones. But when she put it in the chem, it blew up.
"Once you hear the word cancer, this is what happens to you. Like, a big blow up," she says describing her sculpture.
Flosie's advise to women? "They need to be really persistant, they have to really know their bodies. You need to know your body."
It saved her life, it can save your life too. Feedback
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WALB, a Raycom Media Station. 
