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Allison Berman
Allison Berman is not only a talented artist and decorating guru, she is also a weekly columnist for the Times Herald Record! Every Tuesday 200,000+ readers follow her trials and tribulations of running a successful business and a happy household.

Read her most recent column below, or click here to catch up on some of her oldies but goodies. If you are looking for a writer for your newspaper, magazine, or blog; or if you just want to say hi, shoot Allison an email directly at ali@withlovealib.com.
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Quit Making Excuses, Make an Appointment

By Allison Berman
October 6, 2009

I eat properly, and I do self breast exams, but these days I am so busy trying to have a career and take care of my kids. There always seems to be something more time-sensitive than a well visit with my OB/GYN or a mammogram. You would think losing my own mother to breast cancer when I was 4½, I would become more health conscious after having children; and yet I became less so.

I have lots of embarrassingly pathetic but, unfortunately, all-too-common excuses as to why until last month I hadn't been to the OB/GYN for a regular check up since my 6-week postnatal visit for my now-2-year-old and why I was nine months late getting my mammogram. A school tea party, navigating Early Intervention, a column to write, a project to paint, grocery shopping do, a lack of clean clothes in the drawers and heaps piled in the laundry room.

I was so busy trying to do all of the "important" things I lost sight that it won't matter if I get my column syndicated if I am not here to write it. It won't matter if Land of Nod accepts my product submissions if I am not here to enjoy the success. And will it really matter that I made it to a Mother's Day Tea if I am not here to be a mother to my daughters?

Getting married, having children, kids' birthday parties, and Mother's Day. These days when we celebrate the joining of two lives, the beginning of new lives, and the woman who gave us life, happy days for most, are some of my saddest because my mother is not here to celebrate with me.

Getting priorities straight

I don't want my children to experience that pain, so I finally prioritized my health on my summer "to do" list.

Spend some quality alone time bonding with my toddler. Check. Focus on her physical therapy. Check. Work with my intern, Chris, to update my marketing strategies for both "With Love, Ali B" and to get my column syndicated. Check. Get the cavity filled my dentist alerted me to about two years ago. Check. Doctor's visit and mammogram. Check, check. I didn't find the time to get my hair cut, but I did discover ponytails can solve that problem pretty effectively while I take care of the appointments that really mattered.

This is Awareness Month

October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, is the perfect opportunity to stop making excuses and finally make an appointment. Only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancer cases are hereditary; 90-95 percent are not. Get your mammogram regardless of your family history. If you do have a family history, ask your doc about getting a baseline mammogram at an age 10 years younger than that at which your family member was diagnosed, and about getting an MRI. At 35-40, get a baseline. At 40-plus, get annual mammograms.

What are you waiting for?

You find the time to take care of everyone and everything else. Take care of yourself. It's just as important, if not more so.

Allison Berman, an artist and mother of two, handpaints custom home accessories for interior designers and private customers. She works out of her home studio in Warwick, NY. See her collection at www.withlovealib.com. She can be reached at ali@withlovealib.com. Her column appears Tuesdays.