Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Losing an aunt to breast cancer last year made us (the ladies especially) keenly aware of the killer disease. It was a tragic experience to all of us (whose isn’t?), all the more shocking because it was pretty quick. In a matter of weeks, we lost her. All the while we were told she was suffering from osteoporosis. It was only during her final 3 weeks that we learned it was breast cancer and that it was already in it’s 4th stage. It was very difficult to accept. There weren’t any signs and even the doctors who treated her didn’t see the cancer until it was so late. It made us wonder why the test results didn’t detect the cancer early on. It took us a while to recover from that tragic experience. My aunt was like a second mom to my husband.

Next month is breast cancer awareness month and although I don’t wear a pink ribbon, I support those fundraising products for businesses. I believe that their cause would help a lot of women (even men) suffering from the dreaded disease. I even encourage family and friends to buy Breast Cancer Awareness merchandise. It’s great to know that in my own little way, I am able to help. In the article Pink Ribbons and Breast Cancer Awareness: A Useless Marketing Gimmick, there is a discussion about the improvements that have been realized in the last several years in survival rates and early detection programs, which has been a major contributor to saving lives. But it also raises the idea that some people see it as a gimmick, nothing more. I think whatever we can do to fight this disease is good, and so the pink ribbons have had a positive effect, but I also wonder about what we can do to prevent the disease in the first place?