October is a month to honor and support those who have been diagnosed with or recovering from breast cancer. Read on to learn about the disease and how you can support someone else in their journey to recovery.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
When October comes around every year, you’ll see pumpkins, pumpkin spiced foods and drinks, even cooler air signaling the true start of the Autumn season. However, when you see the color pink, you’ll automatically associate it with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It started back in 1985 as a week-long awareness campaign by the American Cancer Society, and it eventually grew into a month-long event. The goal for the entire month is to educate people about breast cancer risks, support those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, encourage regular cancer screenings, and to raise funds for research.
WHY IS THIS MONTH SO IMPORTANT?
Breast Cancer Awareness Month aims to promote screening and prevention of the disease, which affects 2.3 million women worldwide. To break this number down even further, about 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women this year and about 42,250 women will die from breast cancer. Women aren’t the only ones affected by breast cancer; men can be diagnosed too. In 2024, about 2,790 new cases of invasive breast cancer in men will be diagnosed and about 530 men will die from the disease. Although thousands of people may die from breast cancer, there is something to celebrate. More than 4 million people diagnosed with the disease have survived. This comes with early detection, understanding the diagnosis, and working with your doctor on the best course of treatment.
IMPORTANCE OF TREATMENT
Speaking of treatment, there isn’t one way to treat breast cancer, and one treatment may not work for another person. Recently, former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis announced she has stage IV breast cancer, and she decided on an unconventional way to treat her cancer: by keeping her tumor. She has a deep family history of breast cancer; her mother, sister, and even a cousin had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She saw them doing everything right: getting regular mammograms, surgery, the whole nine. But she didn’t feel the conventional way was the right way for her. She found a lump doing a self-exam, three years after she stopped breastfeeding. She said she put off getting mammograms even though she knew she had a family history of the disease. Her initial thought was to get the excessive toxins out of her body and change her diet. Doctors recommended a double mastectomy for her stage 3 cancer, but she declined. With her alternative way of dealing with the cancer, which included an integrated approach with chemotherapy, the tumors shrunk, and the cancer downgraded to a stage 2. She was also getting monthly ultrasounds to monitor her cancer’s growth. She thought she was doing good, that is until COVID hit. The world shut down and she wasn’t able to monitor her cancer the way she used to, and because of that, the cancer spread throughout her body. She then started to get more chemotherapy, but by this time, her cancer upgraded to a stage 4, also called metastatic breast cancer. She was no longer a candidate for surgery. She regrets not getting regular mammograms from the beginning and urges that early detection is important.
Ananda wanted to take an alternative approach to treating her breast cancer, and although she feels that it helped her, it wasn’t enough to remove the cancer. There is other treatment options that are availablefor those diagnosed with the disease: surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies.
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT?
October is not just a month where you wear pink or buy pink items. There is so much more you can do to support those who are fighting for their lives. Start with the obvious, which is taking care of yourself. If you feel a lump in your breast, contact your doctor immediately. Schedule your yearly mammograms and encourage your friends and family to do the same. You can even go as a group to make it less scary. If you know someone who is living with the disease or who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, check in with them. Ask them how they are doing and if they need anything. Maybe even accompany them to an appointment for moral support. For more information about breast cancer, click on this link.
By: Texsena Scott