Yesterday saw the kick off of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Be prepared for an onslaught of PINK!
I'd not been diagnosed long at this time last year, so it was all a bit overwhelming and I tried to stay away from it a bit, feeling like I didn’t have a right to get involved. But this year, with a bit of perspective on the last year I've had, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Yes, it's amazing that there is a month dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer, raising money for research, generally making people more au fait with the signs of breast cancer because in so many cases early detection is key. But the pink, it somehow seems to trivialise it (Ironic I know given the pin we’re selling is pink – but it’s a year round pink – not just for October!)
Yes, it's amazing that there is a month dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer, raising money for research, generally making people more au fait with the signs of breast cancer because in so many cases early detection is key. But the pink, it somehow seems to trivialise it (Ironic I know given the pin we’re selling is pink – but it’s a year round pink – not just for October!)
And if, after just one day I’ve seen so much of it already, know that for people on the 'outside' it must get boring - being told to donate and wear pink and post hearts or the contents of your handbag to Facebook! It must be easy to put it out of your minds, forget about it when there is essentially a pink washing happening. But posting a silly status on Facebook won’t help anyone – if anything comes out of breast cancer awareness month it should be the message to check your boobs more, go see your GP if you’re at all worried, and make sure your GP takes you seriously.
There are loads of helpful tips on how to check your boobs on the Breast Cancer Care site and about a visit to your GP here, on the Coppafeel! site. You can even sign up a boob check reminder here!
But the reality for me is I can't forget about cancer - it's there when I wake up in the middle of the night with hot sweats, it's there when I catch a glimpse of the collapsed vein in my arm, or I can't control the regrowth of my hair, it's there when I feel a random pain in my body and my mind instantly goes to a bad place. It's there when I see tweets from the wonderful people I've met online who've had the worst news imaginable. I hope the further I get away from this, the less it’ll be there, but the reality is, for now, it’s on my mind more than maybe it should be.
I now don't need a month to make me aware of cancer. And I hope you never do either!
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