By Patti Gallagher Newberry
Enquirer contributor

The placard has hung in my shower for a couple years, reminding me to check for lumps each month.

But despite the card, despite the yearly mammogram, despite the fact that I'm the daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I rarely remember the need to be my own first screener for a disease that takes some 40,000 lives a year.

Then I heard Bonnie Rabin's story.

Rabin, now 44 and living in Symmes Township, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, when she was eight weeks pregnant with her third child. Instead of aborting or postponing treatment - the choices most women in that situation then made - she elected to continue her pregnancy and undergo full-blown chemotherapy. First came a mastectomy, then the chemo. Then came Jessica, the daughter Rabin calls her miracle.

At every turn, Rabin's story amazes: She delivered a healthy baby who remains a healthy 8-year-old. She went on to conceive and deliver a fourth child. Her cancer has never returned.

While awed by her good fortune and great faith in its inevitability, each time I think of Rabin I come back to this: She discovered her own cancer.

Rabin was in the shower, running behind schedule for a Valentine's Day date with her husband. In a rush, she shampooed her hair with one hand while checking her breast with the other. By raising her arm, she revealed a growth that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

With her discovery, Rabin and her husband, Steve, quickly found what little research existed about similar cases and quickly reached decisions about their options. Just days later, Rabin was recovering from surgery and preparing for chemotherapy, while continuing her pregnancy.

Second takeaway point: You have to be your own best advocate when it comes to your health. At many turns through their ordeal, the Rabins brought information to their doctors instead of the other way around.

In some arenas, I've been applying the lessons from Bonnie Rabin's life all along: I no longer ignore recurring bronchitis. I'm proactive when an inflammation condition flares up. I see the dentist. I eat better. And yes, since turning 40, I've made and kept my yearly mammogram.

So why haven't I added breast self-exams to my regimen? Fear? I don't think so. More likely, ignorance.

The day after I heard Rabin speak, I finally paid attention to that card in my shower. In the weeks since, I've begun to establish what feels "normal" so I'll be able to recognize abnormal should I ever find it.

That new awareness brought a reminder, too, that it'd been a while since I'd seen my gynecologist. I have an appointment next week, five months overdue for an annual exam.

Bonnie Rabin - along with her third and fourth children - is living proof that self-exams and quick, informed reaction can save lives when it comes to breast cancer.

For me, she is also proof that one woman, with one harrowing tale, can motivate another to take up a task too long neglected.

E-mail patti@marriedwchildren .com.