What is the color of October? If you answered the obvious, glorious orange and red foliage, and crystal blue skies, of course you're right. But the real color of October is Pink. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Thanks to the work of such organizations as the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a lot more is generally known about breast cancer than in the past - and a lot more strides are being made to cure this disease. During my last visit to Providence Place Mall, I saw pink ribbons and pink merchandise everywhere: Borders, Lady Foot Locker, Sephora, you name it. Even the Rhode Island State House dome was lighted in pink. There was no escaping it. Pink can be a frivolous color, but the message underlying it is serious. Breast cancer is deadly, but if caught in time is curable. Prevention is the best defense. We all need to be aware of that.
I lost my beloved mother to breast cancer some years back. She was scornful of cancer fundraising efforts, saying that organizations had been raising money for years and there still was no cure. Yet she herself benefited greatly by the research such funding allowed. Things changed a lot between the time she had her mastectomy at age 46, and when her cancer recurred at age 81. When she got sick again there were so many more treatment options available for her. More than once, new medications saved her life. There was even a treatment available for her specific type of cancer, if she'd been strong enough to handle it. She had 35 good years of life after her mastectomy. She spent a lot of time with her grandchildren, living long enough to see them marry and have children of their own. She traveled a lot, including to China with me, when I adopted my daughter. When her illness returned, she handled it with grace and courage. I am in awe of her. 6 years on, I still miss her terribly.
I donate to the American Cancer Society and the Breast Cancer Society. I buy pink ribbon merchandise and I eat pink M & M's. The most important thing I do, though, is to have a mammogram annually. I urge all the women reading this to do so, too. Don't wait until age 50 for the first one, as the government now recommends. Breast cancer strikes 1 in every 8 women. You don't want to be that one person. Learn all you can about this illness, for you and for the ones you love.
You can also help raise awareness and funds just by sitting at your computer. Click on the Breast Cancer Site to help fund mammograms for poor women. Visit the Susan G. Komen Foundation for news, information and support. Sign up at Avon to walk for a cure. The Pink Ribbon Shop has all sorts of merchandise available, with part of the proceeds going to research, as does Choose Hope , which promotes awareness of all cancers. Every penny raised counts.
When October goes, so will the bright leaves and the sunny days and pink lights on state house domes. But the fight against breast cancer will continue. Please help.
Besides yearly mammograms, one should do their own breast self check, I found a little lump on my own, just a few months before my yearly mammogram. Since it was small, but malignant, I have a better diagnosis. My oncologist told me that if this lump was found just 10 years ago, I would have had to have a the breast removed. Now all they had to do was removed the lump.
ReplyDeleteI still have to have chemo, but I do not have to deal with the idea of losing a breast. Continued research is ongoing. Thank goodness!
Gloria