No Pink for Me

I began writing this last year, but never managed to finish it.  It seems appropriate, still.

-2015-

It seems October has competing colors – orange and black for Halloween and pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month.  To tell you the truth, I’d much rather see the former rather than the latter.

This morning I went for my annual mammogram.  It’s not the most pleasant experience but not the most horrible either.  But, as a woman, it’s just one of those things you put on your to-do list and check it off, hoping that “no news is good news” afterwards.  Last year the initial results were questionable and the events following were trying, to say the least, but in the end all was well.

The technician that performed the  exam was kind and accommodating.  She had seen from my records last year’s results and asked if a marker had been placed at the biopsy site.  Yes, it’s a titanium top hat.  She looked at me oddly.  Well, that what they told me after the procedure. 

I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before the test and was hungry.  I stopped at Panera’s on the way to work.    As I walked through the door I was greeted with bouquets of pink balloons and pictures of ribbon shaped bagels.  I almost walked out. 

-2016-

This year, the amount of "pink" seems to have grown exponentially.  NFL players are wearing pink shoes, sweatbands and towels.  News websites are basking in a new rosy glow.  A local radio station is selling pink rubber ducks.  All sorts of products in the grocery store sport pink labels and pink ribbons. 

 

How many people and corporations are making money off a disease that effects so many people, women and men?  Awareness of this cancer is great, but it has become almost cultish.  It's the politically correct disease to get behind and eradicate. 

I have seen no attention given to risk factors such as abortion and diet.  Mention those and you are treated like a heretic, particularly by the businesses that have a lot to lose financially if people change.

Cancer is scary.  I get it.  We have it in the family.  It is something my sister and I need to take seriously.  But, there's also diabetes, arthritis and a whole slew of other ailments.  I'd like to see those get equal attention.

Thankfully, November is just a few days away!

AMDG