Candace's Favorite Things

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Saturday's Soap Box.."WELCOME TO BREAT CANCER AWARNESS MONTH"!!!

ATTENTION PLEASE IT’S "BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH !You know, NBCAM ?

Ring a bell anyone?

YES, it is October 1st and that means it's officially;
NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH! (also known as ‘BCAM’).

When it came to exploring topics for my weekly "Saturday's offering", honestly, nothing else even came to mind. I was ready for this day, but not as ready as many of you have been. You see, I can only stand at a distance and stare in awe at a sea of worthy warriors. Warriors who have fought this battle and won; the soldiers who have lost the battle but fought more gallantly than anyone could ever have imagined; and those who have just been diagnosed!! But those are not the only ones who hold the line. Sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers as well as sons and daughters have also fought in this war. It was estimated that in 2010, 207,000 women were diagnosed with and 39, 840 woman lost the fight. But we are winning.

Over the past 30 years, we have made enough  progress to decrease mortality rates by about 30%. THAT IS HUGE, but again, it’s not nearly enough, not yet. While Pink has become the color we recognize when we think of this disease in terms of a color spectrum, it is important to mention that men are also diagnosed with this disease but those men are MEN ENOUGH not to mind wearing pink!!!! With some help From " WIKIPEDIA" , I thought I'd learn along with some of you - by posting the  History " of how this month became knighted with such a noble name, for such a noble cause.

History:

"NBCAM was founded in 1985 as a partnership between the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries (now part of AstraZeneca, maker of several anti-breast cancer drugs). The aim of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer.[1]

In 1993, Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and established the pink ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first time the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer.[2] In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.[3] In fact, the White House was decorated pink in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2008"!

(Wikipedia, history NBCAM)

It’s often been said, and in this case it’s so very true; we need to remember where we’ve come from, in order to know where and how we should continue to effectively move forward and grow.

For me, that’s just a small part of the history I didn’t know. So then, we must all ask ourselves, "what is it that I do know"? What information do I possess about breast cancer and what (if any), experiences do I have that are important to remember,  remind myself of  and use, in order for me, as even just one individual…(a small part of what  is now, and certainly will continue to grow into, an even greater collective and collaborative effort of thousands), to help the cause continue moving forward with purposeful, meaningful and effective service?

Well, what I do know is my Mother’s sister…my aunt, was diagnosed, fought and with a double mastectomy and treatment, won. What I do know, is the feeling of empowerment that my dear friend and I experienced, as we literally had a champagne toast on a beautiful evening on my back deck…celebrating the fact that we had just "kicked her cancer to the curb", by shaving her head just BEFORE her hair began to fall. What I do know, is the feeling of empowerment that a dear client and I found as we kept her workouts going (tailored to her needs), throughout her entire chemotherapy and radiation treatments. (Especially because she loved to workout and before trying, she’d cried and mourned the loss of it already, by thinking she KNEW she’d have to give that up too, as cancer had its way with her). Well she also won that battle and I still smile as I think of how she’d leave each week with a huge smile and would say, “Thank you. The “Red Juice” didn’t beat me today”! What I also know is how proud, grateful and at the same time...humbled I am, to have know them all and to have been given the gift of service. More than most though, is what I DO KNOW about my very BEST FRIEND, who has never complained once...not a single day,  as she has continued and continues to build her life and career even though she was diagnosed with beast cancer, under went  a mastectomy and an extremely difficult and excruciating reconstruction and 11 years later, was diagnosed again. She had her second mastectomy… and loves life, now more than ever AND her “beautiful reconstruction” as she calls it! So, we stand on the shoulders of so many brave women and men who have gone before us. Therefore, it’s now our responsibility to continue this work. To keep people focused on the massive need that is still before us. So let’s stay on task and continue to work together by joining hearts full of hope and strong hands, HOPEFULLY calloused hands from our many hours of tireless work, to build a indestructible bridge of even greater education, awareness, empowerment and hope. Let's keep working together until we find a cure. That is really the heart of “NBCAM”. To help keep Breast Cancer in the forefront of our minds, as we remind women to take care themselves…perform self beast exams as well as having regular check ups.

What we also know is that we can help our chances by doing all we can to reduce our risk of this disease, my top five self help strategies…



1 Maintain a healthy body weight throughout your life.

2 Minimize your alcohol intake

3 Exercise daily, now and for life

4 Eat a high fiber, Low fat diet

5 Do regular self exams and get regular mammograms

MY TWO EVENTS TO HELP THE CAUSE …for this week’s posting that is…

PILATES FOR PINK

(For those of us in Baltimore…held at),

LifeBridge Health and Fitness.

No experience necessary.

TODAY…Sat. October 1st. at 10:30-11:30 AM

$25 dollar donation


And

THE KOMEN RACE FOR THE CRE

Sunday October 23rd.

(For us in the Baltimore area),

HUNT VALLEY, MD

info@komenmd.org

410-433-RACE



Both of these events are held ALL OVER THE COUNTRY SO CHECK YOUR AREA FOR INFORMATION!

This is my first but certainly not my last post on this subject during this NBCAM!
Until next time…

BE BRAVE and LIVE STRONG,

Candace

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