October 11, 2007

• PINK
  

  
  

  I love the color pink.  I did not always.  There was a time during high school that wearing anything pink made me physically ill.  I would feel like I was choking.  How weird is that?  I have no idea why.  I’ve been over it for years now and I actually love the color pink (although cobalt blue is my favorite color) especially the color pink in a sweet pea flower.  After you pick them they gradually turn from that delicate pink to a really neat blue.
  

  I have never been one to jump on
  the latest wave of “in things”…never followed the crowd.  In fact I would go the opposite direction if
  pushed.  So when this “fad” of magnetic ribbons
  began showing up I automatically got turned off.  Now I am not saying I am against them or what they stand for…not
  at all.  Bear with me for a moment.  I am just not the jump on the bandwagon
  type…I am a rebel by nature and march to my own beat.  I have learned to rein in that rebellion quite a bit with success
  only by the grace of God.  That must be
  when I began to like pink.   
  

  You would think that I would have
  pink ribbons everywhere because, back when I was 13, my mom was diagnosed with
  breast cancer.  This was in the early
  70’s and she was put through the ringer with those early treatments.  She died a gruesome death wasting away to
  nothing.  She underwent an operation for
  a tumor near her spine that also left her legs paralyzed.  To top it all off she was married to a  not so kind (my
  stepfather) man.  I was sent away to live
  with my aunt and uncle and never did get to see my mother for the last two and
  one half months of her life.  She was 46
  when she died.  I hate cancer…. but I
  also love life and trust the Lord.  Perhaps I have been in denial or rebellion about these pink ribbons everywhere. Maybe it has been fear. 
  

  Last night my son and I stopped in
  at Dick’s Sporting Goods to pick up something he needed.  We stopped to look at the pink chairs (those
  camp/soccer mom chairs) they had for sale…. and talked about that for a
  bit. 
  Then we went over to the grocery store and there were pink cans of
  Campbell’s soup and pink bags of Pepperidge Farm cookies.  I know…I am slow…. this is Breast Cancer
  month isn’t it?   I am so behind the
  times.  To me October will forever be
  Learning Disabilities Awareness month!  I taught special needs children for
  years before my children were born and that is what October always was to me.

  So this morning as I was browsing
  through my subscriptions I came across something alarming to me that I never
  knew.  I should have and maybe did but
  chose to “forget.”  I’ve copied the post below (PLEASE read it) with the original link.  So now
  something “woke up” in me and although I am not going to go out and cover my
  car in pink ribbons, I AM going to be more aware.  I guess what I am saying is…. I prefer to go at things one on
  one…personally.  All those car ribbons
  are massive…. there seems to be one for everything.  But they do cause us to ponder for a moment at a red light or
  when stuck in traffic if one comes into view.

  For empathetic reasons the post I read hit me pretty hard on a
  person-to-person level.  I am not sure
  what I am trying to say…. maybe that the light just went on that I realize I do
  not have to necessarily go out and jump on this bandwagon because me being me,
  I have a driven desire to want to fix everything, solve it all and my wee little
  brain cannot handle all that.  BUT I know one who can and that is where I need to
  present all the pink and yellow and green etc. ribbons.  I need to carefully place them at the foot of the cross.  He is ready, willing and more than able to
  deal with my cries of pain and sorrow on behalf of these dear suffering women
  and men and their families.

  ****************************************************************************

  Inflammatory
  breast cancer

  Monday July 23rd 2007, 3:11 pm
  Filed under: About Us /
  Favorites, breast cancer, media

  We
  hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed
  with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in
  the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast
  cancer?

  I
  didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did
  my monthly
  breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

  Oops.
  It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.
  Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red,
  hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t
  worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the
  inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch
  biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very
  aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

  Inflammatory breast cancer is often
  misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and
  consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with
  this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your
  OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or
  any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent
  itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain,
  soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you
  take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting
  of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange).
  Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that
  you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

  There
  is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out
  there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram.
  It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the
  changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or
  nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

  Inflammatory
  breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one
  of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about
  it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill
  her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

  You
  don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

   

  • 8:37 am
  • 2 Comments