Happy Pinktober everyone! The time of year where people slap
pink ribbons on everything in hopes of bringing awareness to breast cancer.
When we get to see cute little NFL cheerleaders with their perfectly perky
boobs wear pink ribbons that perfectly match the socks of the football players.
Breast cancer isn’t cute, though. It isn’t fun. It isn’t little pink trinkets
or pink tutus or pink tiaras. It is a disease. It is breast amputation and
chemotherapy and radiation and reconstruction. It is hair loss, sickness, pain,
and a lifetime of treatment.
Back in October 2015 I experienced Pinktober as a chemotherapy
patient, and I was mad. I hated everything pink. I hated that people were
making money off my disease. And I still hate that aspect of breast cancer
awareness month. But, what if? What if that dumb pink ribbon actually makes a
woman stop to check her boobs? What if someone finally schedules that
mammogram? Then all the pink would be worth it, to save a life.
So, this October, I’m in a different place. I’m no longer
angry with all the pink. I am saddened and absolutely aware that attention
needs to be given to all cancers. I’m frustrated when breast cancer is treated lightly,
and I’m utterly amazed that so many of my friends are not paying attention to
their breast health. This year I’ll wear a little pink every day. And I’ll hope
that it makes a difference.
I know what you mean. In October of 2004 I picked up a pack of toilet paper festooned in pink and thought "Is there nowhere to get away from this?" Now I understand that those pink sponsorships paid for the research that found the treatments that allowed me to raise my daughter. Every year I hear people disparaging the amount of money that is raised, but still 200,000 women a year in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease, 40,000 will die from it, 8 a week in my hometown. I will support Light the Night and finding a cure for childhood cancer. But until there is no threat that my daughter might have to go through what I did, and my friends are no longer dying from this disease, I will continue to dance in the streets in a pink tutu and tiara.
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