As I sat down to watch Sunday night football recently with my husband I was caught off guard by the amount of pink on the field.
Helmets dressed in pink, pink socks, pink ribbons and so much more.
Turning to my husband I asked them what they were doing and he told me it was because October was breast cancer awareness month.
It was that little phrase that sent my mind backward a year in time to the October after my diagnosis of breast cancer was made.
Truly how I felt about seeing so much pink back then was totally different than how I feel about it currently as I watched the football players scramble.
Back then I was totally devastated by it.
I felt haunted by the reminder that I had breast cancer. I couldn’t go anywhere without there being something in pink staring in my face as if to taunt me about my cancer.
There was no pink in my eyes just tears and the fear for what my future was going to hold for me and my family. There wasn’t a place I could go to find peace because pink was everywhere with my name written all over each one and that was the only thing that counted.
Now as time has passed when breast cancer awareness month comes around I’m the one out looking for good bargains on what to buy in the color pink.
I am truly happy to support Breast Cancer Research not because of myself but to help others who have and will find themselves where I am right now.
The awareness comes when we wake up some day and realize we are not alone.
It wasn’t just the name “Karen” written up in pink. It has the names of many others as well. The awareness is not to haunt but help, to enhance the prevention not increase the pity of those already affected by it.
Being aware isn’t used to taunt but to draw attention to something that can be caught early and controlled better.
Indeed life happens and being aware of what we need to do about certain things is better that ignoring the fact that it can happen to us. I would have loved to have caught my cancer earlier before it spread to my entire skeletal system but I didn’t. If being aware of breast cancer can prevent that from happening to my daughter and three granddaughters then more power it.
Aware of my breast cancer? No duh!
I get that reminder every day when I try to walk with my spine and pelvis full of bone cancer from my breast cancer.
Being aware of anything isn’t the bad thing. It is what we do with that awareness that counts.
We can run and hide from it or face it. We can stand strong and walk thru it slowing or we can allow devastating news to freeze us where we are. The choice is ours.
I’m choosing to walk thru it slowly. Not because my bone cancer slows me down but because it moves me in the right direction. For sure moving forward instead of freezing ourselves where we once were in our fears and tears is truly awareness that counts.
Read more posts by Karen Gillett here. Karen is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire, located here.