Looking Beyond the Pink Ribbons
October. What do you think of when you hear the word October?
Football, soccer, volleyball, pumpkins, harvest, costumes, candy, chili, bonfires, leaves, ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses, black, yellow, brown, orange, gold...
These are the things that I generally thought of when I heard the word October..until two years ago. October and everything in it turned pink. Not kidding, even some of the pumpkins turned pink!
Suddenly there was pink support for breast cancer everywhere I looked. The thing is, I think it was always there before...I just never really paid that much attention to it, nor did I think much about what it meant.
So as you are surrounded by pink ribbons this month, don't lose sight of who and what those ribbons stand for. The importance of awareness, learning your risk, and learning the benefits of early detection...but also all of the women and men who are being diagnosed with it, those who are living with it, and those who it has taken from us.
Let the pink ribbons remind you that breast cancer is real. It isn't so pretty in pink. So please don't try to hide from it, or think that it surely couldn't happen to you. Educate yourself, do self-exams, and schedule your mammograms. Breast cancer will happen to 1 in 8 us, and then 20-30% of our breast cancer cases will become metastatic. It cannot be prevented and it cannot be cured. Breast cancer is not one disease on its own. There is a range of types and treatments meaning that not everyone has the same future. Survivorship does not universally apply. Research is so important to the future of so many women including myself! If you can...please support breast cancer research too!! If you are unsure of who to support, check out the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. They directly support research being done by my oncologist, Dr. Kathy Miller.
So am I sick of pink? No...I could never be sick of all of the pink events and sports teams that remind me of all the amazing support in our community. I could never be tired of something that is helping to spread the awareness. It makes me feel so blessed to be a part of it all!
Thank you to all of you, especially our youth, who have shown your support by going pink this October. Just remember what it stands for.
Reminder..don't let all the pink overpower the many other awareness issues of October including Domestic Violence Awareness, Dyslexia Awareness, and Downs Syndrome Awareness.
Football, soccer, volleyball, pumpkins, harvest, costumes, candy, chili, bonfires, leaves, ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses, black, yellow, brown, orange, gold...
These are the things that I generally thought of when I heard the word October..until two years ago. October and everything in it turned pink. Not kidding, even some of the pumpkins turned pink! Suddenly there was pink support for breast cancer everywhere I looked. The thing is, I think it was always there before...I just never really paid that much attention to it, nor did I think much about what it meant.
So as you are surrounded by pink ribbons this month, don't lose sight of who and what those ribbons stand for. The importance of awareness, learning your risk, and learning the benefits of early detection...but also all of the women and men who are being diagnosed with it, those who are living with it, and those who it has taken from us.
Let the pink ribbons remind you that breast cancer is real. It isn't so pretty in pink. So please don't try to hide from it, or think that it surely couldn't happen to you. Educate yourself, do self-exams, and schedule your mammograms. Breast cancer will happen to 1 in 8 us, and then 20-30% of our breast cancer cases will become metastatic. It cannot be prevented and it cannot be cured. Breast cancer is not one disease on its own. There is a range of types and treatments meaning that not everyone has the same future. Survivorship does not universally apply. Research is so important to the future of so many women including myself! If you can...please support breast cancer research too!! If you are unsure of who to support, check out the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. They directly support research being done by my oncologist, Dr. Kathy Miller.
So am I sick of pink? No...I could never be sick of all of the pink events and sports teams that remind me of all the amazing support in our community. I could never be tired of something that is helping to spread the awareness. It makes me feel so blessed to be a part of it all! Thank you to all of you, especially our youth, who have shown your support by going pink this October. Just remember what it stands for.
Reminder..don't let all the pink overpower the many other awareness issues of October including Domestic Violence Awareness, Dyslexia Awareness, and Downs Syndrome Awareness.
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