For most people, October is just another month of the year. The weather starts getting cooler, the leaves start changing colors and Halloween comes and goes. Beyond these things, it's just another 31 days out of the year. I used to see October just like I saw any other month. However, for the past seven years, October, also known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has been a month I've been thankful for.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of cases of breast cancer are reported in the United States. In June of 2009, my mom was one of these cases. They say there are days in your life that you will never forget, and my mom breaking this news to me was one of them. It was early in the day and I had just taken a shower when my parents yelled for me to come downstairs. I remember feeling annoyed because I was already running late and just wanted to finish getting ready. After I reluctantly came downstairs, my parents sat me and my brother down at our kitchen table. On June 12, my mom revealed that she had been diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. In the moments after hearing this, I was in disbelief. My 13-year-old mind saw my parents as invincible creatures who would always be there to take care of me. My thoughts flashed forward to my graduation, wedding, and future children–and for the first time questioning if my mom would be there for all of it.
Fighting through cancer is an uphill battle from the beginning. My mom started her eight rounds of chemotherapy just a couple weeks after being diagnosed. Every other week, she would have to go to receive treatment for hours, then leave feeling exhausted for days to follow. For my family, the effects of my mom's chemotherapy were the hardest part of the entire process. Even though we knew she was sick, it wasn't something we could see. Before, she looked normal and acted normal, so it wasn't that hard to think that she was still her normal self. Once her chemotherapy caused her hair to fall out though, we couldn't pretend like she wasn't sick anymore. After this stage of her treatment, she went through surgeries to take out the remaining cancer and prevent it from coming back. The final leg of her treatment was going to radiation for 35 straight days. Throughout all of this, my mom went about her life as usual. She went to work part time, cheered me and my brother on at all of our activities, and ironically was the rock of my family during this difficult time. Finally in November of 2009, my mom was officially cancer-free. After months of uncertainty, I knew my mom would be around for a long time to come, and would be able to celebrate her next October as a breast cancer survivor.
Because of all of this, I encourage you to see October as more than just another month.
One in eight women and one in 1,000 men will be affected by breast cancer in their lifetime. Whether or not you know someone who has been affected by this disease right now, it's important to remember how valuable the lives of those we care about are. So throughout these 31 days that some might see as just another month, take a second to tell your friend how much you appreciate them, call your parents and tell them you love them even if you feel like you're too busy, and finally respond to that card your grandparents sent you over a week ago. Life can get crazy and we can lose sight of what's important, but at the end of the day it will always be the people we care about the most.
