BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

When I see ads for Breast Cancer Awareness Month I see this:

  

                     

 

I NEED to see more things like this:

 

 

                     Ericka Hart photographed by Shaun Mader Photography                        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I need to see inclusiveness in ads, commercials, pamphlets and pictures.  Cancer does not discriminate.

These images are intense.  They are REAL.   

Breast cancer IS NOT cupcakes, ribbons and rainbows.

Breast cancer is a lot of waiting, doctor appointments, copayments, white walls and needles.

Diagnosis carries fear, loss, anxiety, anger, disappointment, instability and MUCH MUCH MORE.

Cancer is painful, emotionally exhausting, and a quiet often invisible disease.

“Cancer is finally out of the closet, when I was kid people didn’t say the word Cancer, they

referred to it as the big C. It was something you whispered about, or didn’t talk about at all”
-Cheryl Wilmoth-Reynolds (my aunt)

We talk about cancer on the surface or in whispers.  We see a lot of ribbons and fund raising campaigns but not a lot about the process or survivorship.

That is why I share my story – to let all of you know the nitty gritty and the realness of this disease.  To let in the light that removes the shadows surrounding cancer.  To show you that I am not only surviving, but that I am THRIVING.

 

For breast cancer awareness I’d like you to remember:

 -CHECK YOUR BREASTS ONCE A MONTH, INCLUDING MEN!!

-KNOW YOUR FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY

-SURVIVORS, PLEASE FOLLOW UP WITH ANY AND ALL HEALTH ISSUES WITH YOUR DOCTOR

-BREAST CANCER CAN SPREAD - SO PLEASE, STAY VIGILANT!

-BE KIND. We never know what the person next to us is going through.