Pink ribbons, pink caps, pink tee-shirts, pink bumper stickers, pink football gloves?
You bet.
October is breast cancer awareness month and it’s all about breast cancer research, prevention, and treatment.
Cancer … if that word were directed at me, how would I respond?
Disbelief?
Denial?
There must be some mistake – not me.
Reactions to cancer are as varied as the people who have the disease.
It was about a year ago this month that a female family member first noticed a seemingly insignificant lump at the base of her neck.
Just a blemish … we were certain.
An allergic reaction … we thought.
A swollen gland … we hoped.
We were all avoiding the “C” word.
We gladly volunteered any number of other explanations for the lump – we could shrug it off, knowing…hoping it would just go away.
It didn’t.
And it became larger.
There were doctor visits.
There were tests.
There were biopsies.
More doctor visits.
And more biopsies.
And there was the diagnosis.
That word we had hoped, and prayed, and wished away, was now very real.
It was cancer.
What kind of cancer we asked, not knowing if the answer would bring tears…of panic or relief.
Looking back, the answer was irrelevant, because as I soon discovered, my knowledge of cancer was woefully lacking.
I did know that cancer was not good. Some people lived. And some died.
Among the health professionals who worked with her was a group of dedicated and caring individuals. They conducted medical treatments, offered words of hope, of comfort, ways to ease the pain, and deal with what was to come; but they offered more. They worked with patients day in and day out who were fighting for their lives, and they understood the effects of cancer were not solely medical, but psychological, social, and economic as well.
Life was put on hold as she sought second opinions, spoke with others who had suffered or were still suffering from the type of cancer that had invaded her young body.
Having cancer is difficult, but being under 30 with two young children, and being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness is unthinkable.
But it happens.
It did.
Biopsies, followed by surgery, followed by radiation therapy, followed by chemotherapy, followed by more chemotherapy.
Visits to doctors, to clinics, to therapists, the list goes on…
The pain, the nausea, the weakness, the complete exhaustion, the inevitable loss of hair.
The complete enveloping suffocation of all else, except the fight to survive.
Two years into a teaching degree, and all thoughts of studies were put on hold.
The days, weeks, and months passed.
I don’t know if she realized her strength before she was diagnosed.
She must surely recognize it now.
And when she reads this, she’ll know that we all do, too.
How would we have reacted had we been in her shoes?
We don’t know.
We hope we never do.
But chances are, one of us will.
The American Cancer Society reports the odds of developing an invasive cancer are 1 in 2 for men and 1 in 3 for women.
That’s why observations such as Breast Cancer Awareness Month are so important.
Not just to those receiving treatment now, but for those who will be diagnosed in the future.
Or for those who will not, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice by so many to bring about medical innovations that will hopefully one day end this devastating disease.
We don’t know when.
But what we do know is that without our help it will take longer.
As for my loved one, a year later, we can say she has it beat – “it” being cancer, the “C” word.
She recently had a checkup and her results came back clean.
She’s already back taking classes; life is resuming.
She’ll have tests for the rest of her life.
And we’ll all hope, and we’ll all pray that her news will always be good.
No one knows what the future holds for anyone, but what we do know is that she is a fighter and a survivor.
We also know that people together and individually can make a difference.
To find out more about cancer, or how you can help, visit
http://www.cancer.org
