Pink Out!

Wednesday kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For me, it’s a very important month.  My mother, her sister Jane, their Aunt Did, and their cousin have all breast cancer survivors.. This summer my mother-in-law joined their ranks as a survivor. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

I work  for  Susan G. Komen so that we can find a cure for breast cancer and so that hopefully my cousins and their children won’t have to experience the fight that my family members have had to experience. When I started at Komen over fifteen years ago I was fighting for my mother and my aunts.  Now that I’m older I’m seeing that it’s my friends that are now battling this disease.  A year ago my sweet friend Joy was diagnosed and I walked through her fight with her.  I’m so happy to say that she came out of the fight just as fierce as she went into it. 

By working for Komen I’ve had the honor of working alongside some of our fabulous volunteers and staff members.To me they became more than volunteers and staff they became friends. My list of survivor friends has become far too long to list (which is a fabulous thing)  But, where the fight has become all too real because it’s here that I’ve lost some friends to breast cancer. The fiends I have lost have all been close to my age and that makes the fight take on an entire different meaning for me.  I long for the day when I no longer have to see the faces of the children, husbands, partners and friends and think about the fact that we didn’t win the fight soon enough to save their loved ones.

We are winning the battles though.  Since I first started at Komen I’ve seen advances in drugs and treatments that are now helping women to win their fight. Drugs like Herceptin and Tamoxifen weren’t around fifteen years ago and thanks to fundraising and research they are now available. Targeted treatments through radiation and chemotherapy are advancing each day. We are winning the battle because if caught early and confined to the breast, there is now a 99% survival rate. 

By being the wife of a coach I love that my two worlds of work and home can collide in October. I’m thrilled to see football teams have pink out games. I’m humbled when our players ask me for pink ribbons or pink bracelets and wear pink tape. They ask me if they could wear them to honor me and my family and the other families that have been affected by breast cancer. I’m ecstatic when I walk into the gym on a Tuesday night and see our volleyball team participating in Dig for the Cure. I’m in awe each year when the girls tell me how much money they have raised for the fight against breast cancer.  I love that these teenagers are engaging in the fight at such an early age and that they are aware of this disease and how it can destroy families.  They too want to end this thing forever.  I go to work every day to fight for them.

Raising money is important and we can’t win the fight without it but another important thing that you can do is to take charge of your own health.  Talk to your doctor about when you should start clinical breast exams and mammograms.  Become aware of your breast health and know what’s normal for you. The minute something isn’t normal for you, run don’t walk to your doctor and get an opinion from your doctor. If you don’t like what you hear or still feel unsettled – get a second opinion.  It’s your health.  TAKE CHARGE!

Whether you love all the pink that you see in October or not; whether you love Susan G. Komen or not, I encourage you to take charge of your breast health and remember that fighting breast cancer is one thing that you can control for your life.  Do it for you. Do it for your family. Do it for your friends.  Schedule your appointment with your doctor and if you’re over 40 schedule your mammogram today.

Until we win this fight. I promise to keep fighting for you and for my family.  Let’s end breast cancer!

Cheering you on (all the way to get your mammogram)

Laurel