"Pinktober"

October has always been a month of exciting, busy things. My mom's birthday.  My son's birthday.  Halloween, and now birthday party planning (directly related). The annual ALS charity walk that we do with my husband's family.  Homecomings and galas.  The gateway to the holiday season.

This year...I'm still trying to get my spirit into most of these things (no homecomings or galas this year; unsure about my energy for the walk), but I've been acutely aware of the coming of "Pinktober," or Breast Cancer Awareness month.  It's hard NOT to be aware, when I've had pink thrown in my face before October even hit.  I don't even like pink that much.

I've also had a hard time internalizing that I'm a cancer patient.  Like, I know that I am going through chemotherapy and that I feel horrible more often than not.  But there is something about the words cancer patient that I can't wrap my head around.  A couple weeks ago, I was ambitiously trying to do too much and my husband told me to slow down. "Remember you are a cancer patient.  You can't be running yourself ragged like you usually do."  I immediately had a visceral reaction, like "ew, not that!"  But alas. I am here, on October 1st, a cancer patient.  In fact, I opened Breast Cancer Awareness month at the infusion center, getting my second round of IV hydration in the last 9 days, because (1) you lose fluids, and (2) it's impossible to replace fluids when everything makes you gag or tastes metallic.  You're welcome.

I did celebrate by popping a zofran and heading to my favorite vegan restaurant after the infusion, where I was able to eat approximately 1/10th of my plate.

I digress.  On this first day of October, I am reminding you all that while AWARENESS is an excellent thing, and having a specific date on which the awareness will ramp up is good, Breast Cancer Awareness month is not about buying or sporting pink ribbons.  Much of the items that are sold are not truly benefiting what is needed most: research. And prevention.  And particularly, research and prevention of metastatic breast cancer.  Know where your money is going, and ensure it is going to benefit actual needs (like www.metavivor.org).

Also.  Check your boobs.  Above is the graphic of things to look for, but as we know, one of these may not be obvious.  Do not ignore symptoms or signs that your body is giving you.  I was so taken aback to hear, from the admin of one of my "young women with, or recovering from, breast cancer" groups, that the group is averaging 25 new requests per day.  Digest that!

I am leaving you with a series of stats from www.breastcancer.org.  This isn't to scare you, but to arm you.  Know the statistics.  Take care of yourselves.  Take care of us.

This last part is perhaps the most difficult to digest. There is really nothing I could have done differently to prevent this?  Happy October.

• About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
• In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer. [Mine is invasive breast cancer.]
• About 2,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2019. [Men have breast tissue, too!]
• About 41,760 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2019 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989. Women under 50 have experienced larger decreases. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
• In 2019, it's estimated that about 30% of newly diagnosed cancers in women will be breast cancers.
• In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women.
• About 5-10% of breast cancers can be linked to gene mutations inherited from one’s mother or father. Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. On average, women with a BRCA1 mutation have up to a 72% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. For women with a BRCA2 mutation, the risk is 69%. Breast cancer that is positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations tends to develop more often in younger women. An increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with these genetic mutations. In men, BRCA2 mutations are associated with a lifetime breast cancer risk of about 6.8%; BRCA1 mutations are a less frequent cause of breast cancer in men.
• About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.  The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).