Awareness or Action?
Today I am grateful for a nice weather weekend and I am grateful for what I have learned as a breast cancer patient and budding advocate.
October has been National Breast Cancer Awareness Month since 1985. Until breast cancer hit close to home, with my sister Zita's diagnosis in 2004, I hadn't paid all that much attention to it. Then my sister Mary Jo was diagnosed in 2006, and I was diagnosed in 2008. I had become more aware of breast cancer than I cared to.
It is with deep gratitude that I can report my sisters and I are all plugging along well (and Mary Jo is five years out from a primary lung cancer diagnosis as well). So are my dear friends Sheila, Jenny, and many others who I only got to know because of our shared BC journeys.
My sisters' diagnoses certainly impacted me, but only after my own diagnosis and experiences did I really start to take a different look at pink ribbons and such. I have done a lot of reading and writing on the subject of breast cancer awareness campaigns on how effective or ineffective they can be.
Does all the pink really matter and really raise awareness? And what good is awareness if it isn't followed up with actions?
Here are some of my previous posts that include some of my writing, and also some ways to get actively involved in efforts to prevent and cure breast cancer:
BC Advocacy: What Lit My Fire This post includes a link to my guest blog post titled "What Lies Beneath" that Dr. Gayle Sulk graciously posted on her blog "Pink Ribbon Blues." Here is an excerpt from "What Lies Beneath."
What is lacking “out-front” physically is made up for by what lies beneath. What is that you ask? What lies beneath is a beating, loving heart. It was always there. But it is more prominent now, after facing my own mortality, after seeing and hearing the messages of our culture from a new perspective—that of a woman without breasts. I will concede that breasts do matter, but they don’t stack up to the importance of heart. Heart is what makes me a nurturing mother, spouse, and friend. Heart is what makes me empathetic, accepting, able to listen. I miss my breasts and grieve them still. But I would miss my heart so much more.
Awareness? I'll Take Advocacy and Action. This post includes links to the Health of Women Study and the Army of Women. I encourage all women to participate in both. Women who have had BC are needed, but so are women who have not. Consider signing up and getting started as an active advocate.
The Words of Lisa Bonchek Adams One of the 40,000 who have died of MBC (metastatic breast cancer) in the last year.
Make the most of today. It is all we have. It starts with awareness, but only grows with action.
October has been National Breast Cancer Awareness Month since 1985. Until breast cancer hit close to home, with my sister Zita's diagnosis in 2004, I hadn't paid all that much attention to it. Then my sister Mary Jo was diagnosed in 2006, and I was diagnosed in 2008. I had become more aware of breast cancer than I cared to.
It is with deep gratitude that I can report my sisters and I are all plugging along well (and Mary Jo is five years out from a primary lung cancer diagnosis as well). So are my dear friends Sheila, Jenny, and many others who I only got to know because of our shared BC journeys.
My sisters' diagnoses certainly impacted me, but only after my own diagnosis and experiences did I really start to take a different look at pink ribbons and such. I have done a lot of reading and writing on the subject of breast cancer awareness campaigns on how effective or ineffective they can be.
Does all the pink really matter and really raise awareness? And what good is awareness if it isn't followed up with actions?
Here are some of my previous posts that include some of my writing, and also some ways to get actively involved in efforts to prevent and cure breast cancer:
BC Advocacy: What Lit My Fire This post includes a link to my guest blog post titled "What Lies Beneath" that Dr. Gayle Sulk graciously posted on her blog "Pink Ribbon Blues." Here is an excerpt from "What Lies Beneath."
What is lacking “out-front” physically is made up for by what lies beneath. What is that you ask? What lies beneath is a beating, loving heart. It was always there. But it is more prominent now, after facing my own mortality, after seeing and hearing the messages of our culture from a new perspective—that of a woman without breasts. I will concede that breasts do matter, but they don’t stack up to the importance of heart. Heart is what makes me a nurturing mother, spouse, and friend. Heart is what makes me empathetic, accepting, able to listen. I miss my breasts and grieve them still. But I would miss my heart so much more.
Awareness? I'll Take Advocacy and Action. This post includes links to the Health of Women Study and the Army of Women. I encourage all women to participate in both. Women who have had BC are needed, but so are women who have not. Consider signing up and getting started as an active advocate.
The Words of Lisa Bonchek Adams One of the 40,000 who have died of MBC (metastatic breast cancer) in the last year.
Make the most of today. It is all we have. It starts with awareness, but only grows with action.
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