Breast cancer. Hearing those two words together just gives me a nauseating feeling in my stomach. I was 9 years old when I lost my nana to the horrendous disease. I was with her and my mom the night before she lost her 10 year battle. We sat and ate fruit loops and she passed on some words of wisdom and it's one of those moments that I will never forget.
Before we left that night, my nana asked for some help to change the bandages she had wrapped around her chest. Because I was younger at the time, I didn't realize exactly what was going on with her body until then. My mom removed her bandages and all you could see was one big scab where her chest should have been. The cancer was eating away at her body. I had never felt so helpless.
I have a personal vendetta agains breast cancer. It took away the most selfless, kind, and loving woman I have ever met. It's been almost 12 years since her passing and I know there are so many other people who have lost their loved ones to this same, awful disease.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation estimated that there will be 40,290 deaths in 2015 and 231,840 new cases diagnosed in the U.S. alone. They also stated that breast cancer is the leading cause of death among all the other types of cancer in women aged 20-59.
While we don't realize it, breast cancer can also be found in men. It is very rare and makes up about one percent of all cases, but is still possible. This needs to be known.
We need to educate ourselves on how to look for the early warning signs. We need to educate ourselves on how to help each other cope. There may be many scary statistics, but we need to strive to not only find a cure, but to help those who have lost all hope.
There have been many, many deaths due to breast cancer, but we need to remember there are also six million breast cancer survivors all around the world. They never stopped fighting. And we, as a society, shouldn't just sit back and do nothing.
Below are some resources you can use to help make a difference. Instead of thinking about orange and black for October, think pink, and make a difference.
http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month
https://www.facebook.com/CentralMichiganUniversityCollegesAgainstCancer?fref=ts
