13 Friends for Life

Promoting Women's Health, Together

Mercy Health is proud to partner with WZZM 13 to create “13 Friends for Life.” It’s a program designed to help you and a friend protect yourselves from breast cancer. 

1. Choose Your Friend for Life

• It can be your mother, daughter, sister or a friend. Then, on the 13th of each month, call your Friend for Life and remind her to do a breast self-exam. Most breast lumps are discovered by women themselves.

2. Know Your Risk

• Share your personal and family history with your doctor, and know what’s normal for you. If you see any changes in your breast, contact your health care provider right away.

3. Get Regular Breast Screenings

• Mercy Health recommends an annual screening mammography for women beginning at age 40 if you’re at average risk, or 10 years younger than the youngest cancer in the family (for example, start at 35 if mother, grandmother, aunt or sister had breast cancer at 45).
   
• With a MammoPlus Mammogram®, you'll receive a digital mammogram plus an NCI Breast Cancer Risk Assessment. Knowing your risk helps us create a custom breast health care plan for you, including monitoring and treatment should your risk turn into reality.

4. Share This Page With Your Friends

• Help them know what they can do to protect themselves from breast cancer.

Caring for your health is not difficult or expensive. Self-exams take only a few minutes a month and a mammogram takes less than an hour. We urge you to watch WZZM 13 and follow the 13 Friends for Life campaign.