This month is childhood cancer awareness month, thyroid cancer awareness month, and I believe at least another cancer awareness month. But beware, October is no longer the month of orange and black for Halloween but Pinktober for breast cancer. We will be bombarded with pinkwashing events and deals. Well, whoop-de-dooh. What does this get us?
NOTHING. Cancer doesn't only happen in a specific month. Cancer happens year round. People are diagnosed daily with all different kinds of cancer. Cancer awareness is a good thing. In some ways I am grateful for it. Cancer awareness has reduced cancer from being the C-word to something that is openly talked about.
President Nixon declared a war on cancer over 40 years ago (which is the longest war in US history)... Betty Ford, and every other person who has openly said over the years that they have cancer, should be lauded for helping raise awareness about cancer.
Its not the flavor of the month. Its life for some of us. I won't be participating in Pinktober any more than I am participating in thyroid cancer awareness this month. I don't participate in any monthly activities because September and October are no different than any other day in my life.
4 comments:
Please vote for Breast Health and Healing in the PUMA Project Pink contest! You won't regret it! This foundation is devoted to finding out the root causes of breast cancer and to creating the breast cancer vaccine. We need to make breast cancer a thing of the past. http://puma.promo.eprize.com/pink/
Yeh, sometimes I think all of the various months of awareness are kind of a waste of time, but then again.... we have to take what we can get. Any additional attention this darn disease can get for the purpose of irradicating it is probably worth it. Glad to find your blog. Check out mine when you get a chance, I'm just getting started on the blogging part. Hopefully it will help me cope with the cancer part.
I hear you, Caroline. I actually find myself bracing up for October now. Last October, my then 7 year old happily announced to the checkout lady at Safeway that, "Sure, we'll donate some money for breast cancer. My mom has breast cancer!" I can't even describe the reaction - but I felt pretty bad for her. She's bathed in the pink light of all the balloons and ribbons hanging off her station and all of a sudden she has to manufacture the appropriate response to a child who has announced his mom is afflicted with the disease of the month.
I just wish I could shake the feeling that companies promote awareness as much to benefit their "brand" as to educate and fund raise.
This illness is very painful because the produced ache is unbearable. To fight the ache I recommend lortab and hydrocodone.
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