It's Not Always About Me: Happy Boobie Month!

Welcome to October Everyone! I hope every one's gearing up for Halloween, and Thanksgiving as well! (I've always found it sad that before Halloween or Thanksgiving have come to pass, some stores have their Christmas junk out already!) As we begin to gear up for the cold weather and holidays, October is Breast Cancer Month. Not everyone has been affected specifically by Breast Cancer, I bet a good percentage of people have had one form of Cancer affect their lives. And this post is dedicated to Cancer survivors, those battling the disease, those we've lost to it, and the families affected.

On the way into work this morning, I picked up a copy of a free daily paper called the Metro. (http://www.metronews.ca/) The entire issue of this thin mag is pink. The pages are all pink, the ads throughout are varying hues of pink, - needless to say, most of those ads are for Breast Cancer walks & runs as fundraisers - there are stories of hope and inspiration of survivors & families and more. While I attended Grant MacEwan College (now a University), in honor of Breast Cancer Month, the school sold T-shirts at $10 a pop to fund raise for a cure. So I bought two. (One was for my Mummy, her birthday is at the end of October, so it was fitting...) The shirt had a bunch of Canadian Colleges & Universities listed on the back, all band concert style. On the front left, there was the breast cancer pink ribbon. A T-shirt for a good cause, for $10, I would've been crazy not to! The Cancer Society was on site also to shave people's heads for Locks for Love. {I admired those people, I wanted to shed the mop for a good cause.... Alas, I had dyed my hair too recently and they wouldn't accept my hair. =0( Bummed me out, I psyched myself up for it and everything.} I've got pins, key chains, T-shirts, bandannas, magnets, bracelets, teddy bears (I'm still a kid at <3, I've got stuffies everywhere) and other merchandise from over the years with proceeds going to Cancer Research. Get out and do what you can for a cure, whether it be buying the pink things or going on the CIBC Breast Cancer walk. Every bit counts, and it could be your Mum, Sister, Wife, Aunt, Daughter, Cousin, Friend that you are helping out in a time of struggle.

There is potential for any one to get Breast Cancer - yeah guys, even you! (Though less likely for a man, there is still the potential, especially if the guy's overweight. I'm no expert, but I know it's happened.) There are treatments and options out there for a Breast Cancer fighter, if detected in time. Please, please, please, take the necessary precautions to keep yourself safe. Do self exams, go get a mammogram done, have your significant other give you a grope. (I know this is no laughing matter, just trying to lighten the mood.) Do what you need to do to detect this early enough to give yourself the best possible out come. I know of people who say they'd rather not know they've got anything wrong with them, because if they knew, they think they'd be a statistic quicker than if they didn't. To me, that just seems silly.

Cancer seems to run rampant through my family. An Aunt, in the Land Down Under, who has fought this disease. Her older sister was lost to the disease because it wasn't detected early enough. All four of my grandparents have had different kinds of Cancer, three of which have proven to be lethal. (None of them were Breast Cancer - My Grandma is the only one still kickin', and it was her sisters that had Breast Cancer.) The first time I heard that Cancer had struck close to home, I was devastated and didn't know how to react. It was hard to watch each of them battle it out, just to lose. Seriously broke and still breaks my heart. I worry about my parents with stats like that so close to home. I worry about my future as well, as chances are I'll have to deal with the disease myself.