October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness about this disease and helping to raise money for much needed research toward a cure. Awareness month was created in 1985 to focus attention on the disease and they are celebrating more than 30 years of helping fight cancer.
The most recognizable event to help raise funds is the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure, the largest series of 5k runs/fitness walks in the world with over 1 million participants since 2005. The Komen race, in addition to raising funds to find the cure, celebrates those that have stared breast cancer down and survived the battle and recognizes those that have fought the fight but have succumbed to this dreaded disease.
Probably everyone you know has had someone in their lives dealing with cancer and a lot of those are ones that are battling breast cancer. My aunt-in-law is a 20-year survivor and continues to raise awareness through her strength and persistence to not let the disease dictate who she is or how she lives her life.
The mother of my son's best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 50's but she's determined to stay the course as well. They formed their own team of walkers in the Komen walk and my son and several of his friends came home from college to participate in the event. Several years later the event not only acts as a way to raise money and awareness to find a cure for breast cancer, but serves as a reminder to those affected and their families that there is hope for survival and leading a "normal" life after diagnosis.
Statistics dictate that over 250,000 new invasive breast cancer cases will occur this year. One out of every eight women will receive this painful diagnosis from their doctors. That means that out of the 1,000 or so young ladies that make up our the high school girls fall sports athletes, no less than 125 of them could face a period of fear, confusion, anxiety and chemotherapy. Following the same statistics, another similar number of girls in band programs across the county may have to deal with this adversity at some point in their lives.
As a teacher and coach, it pains me to think of the young ladies that come through my classroom having to face this in their lives or the young men who will feel helpless when someone they love breaks down from the news.
Oftentimes we feel helpless in dealing with our loved ones that are facing cancer. Besides being there to support them in their time of need we can do our part to raise awareness either through additional fundraising or just a simple gesture of solidarity with breast cancer victims by wearing pink throughout the month. We can organize teams for the Komen walk or donate hair to Locks of Love.
With all of the negativity going on in this country right now that will continue to divide our country up until Nov. 8, and probably worse beyond that, as a people we tend to come together to fight common causes and support those that are affected the most by it.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could all focus our attention on the ills that are facing our society and not the finger-pointing blame game that has become our political environment in this election season?
I propose that for the remaining weeks of October to celebrate National Breast Cancer Awareness month that teams from across the county and the broad spectrum of sports, whether at the high school level or at the travel or recreation level, show their solidarity for those women currently facing breast cancer or those that may have to face the ordeal in their future by wearing some sort of pink in our uniforms.
Parents and fans should join the cause as well and officials should look the other way if it violates some uniform code.
We've made tremendous strides in the diagnosis and treatment of this terrible disease but there's still work to do before we can all rest easier. This month more than 20,000 women of all ages across our country will get the dreaded diagnosis that they have an invasive form of breast cancer, and another 5,000 will discover they have the non-invasive form.
American author Joseph Campbell wrote, "At such moments, you realize that you and the other are, in fact, one. It's a big realization. Survival is the second law of life. The first is that we are all one."
We can only hope that our solidarity can bring about awareness to make it possible to stop the spread of this disease before statistics work against the girls we so badly want to protect.
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