The thought of breast cancer is ever present for the women in my husband’s family. His grandmother, auntie and great auntie have all fought the disease, one beat it and sadly two did not. So his mum, sisters and female cousins have lived their lives being all too aware of the chance they have in joining the 11,000 Australian women who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. It is a sobering statistic.
I asked my mother in law what it was like living with the knowledge that she has an increased genetic risk, whether it was a gift or a curse. She replied that, while she’s been told she has a 1 in 3 chance of developing the disease, she will not let the fear of it affect her life. She is proactive about self-examination and yearly mammograms and is thankful that developments in research mean a diagnosis no longer carries with it the certainty it once did. And she is thankful that, unlike 45 years ago when her mother was diagnosed, the disease is no longer kept in the dark and only spoken of in hushed tones.
In fact, it’s the very opposite. Thanks to organisations such as the Cancer Council and the now synonymous Pink Ribbon the disease is firmly in the spotlight. Particularly in October, which is recognised as Breast Cancer Awareness month. If you’re not seeing pink everywhere at the moment you’re just not looking hard enough! From breakfasts, shopping days, fashion parades, fun runs, concerts, parties, races, art shows, sporting games and pink ribbon products, it is an explosion of pink.
One of my favourite promotions is the new Pink Ribbon Studio, where you can customise your own pink ribbon and upload a photo of yourself wearing it on your social network profile. It takes only a few minutes and is a fun way of donating and proudly displaying your support. And supporting Pink Ribbon Day is so important, because it not only raises much needed funds for research it raises awareness on the disease. And increased awareness can save lives.
Women of our generation are now completely aware of the importance of self-examination and regular mammograms. In contrast both my husbands Grandmother and great Auntie had lumps in their breast for many months before they did anything about it. One had a lump the size of an orange before she sought treatment and, sadly, died three months later. That kind of ignorance seems unimaginable to us now and thanks to this fact the rates of beating the disease are ever increasing. And, thanks to the continued research, hopefully the prevention and cure are just around the corner.
So on Pink Ribbon Day let’s all do our bit to shine a light on breast cancer. Whether it’s hosting or attending an event, buying pink ribbon merchandise, volunteering, donating or proudly wearing a ribbon we can all play a part. So that for our daughters' generation breast cancer prevention will be as routine as brushing their teeth and the idea of dying from it will only be something that happened in the olden days. Now let’s all toast a pink champagne to that!
Amity Dry is a musician and blogs regularly on parenting at Essential Baby.
Find out more about Pink Ribbon Day and the Pink Ribbon Studio here.
