One of the things that companies do to promote breast cancer awareness is turn everything pink. I mean literally everything. I went to Tijuana Flats and you can pay an extra dollar, that gets donated to breast cancer research, to have pink tacos. Pink Tacos!!! One of my friends from work went to a local bar and got a pink bud light. How can you possibly not want to get a mammogram after drinking a few pink bud lights? ha.
While I have always thought that October was awesome, this October is different for me. It is literally brings tears to my eyes every time I walk into a business with pink everywhere. Walking into a place like Ulta with pink displays, Tijuana Flats with pink tacos, and bars with pink beers tells me that I am surrounded by people supporting the decision I made as a woman.
I am not going to lie, I've been having a hard time. Who wouldn't? If you said you, well you're just extra awesome. I needed a little October in my life I guess... I needed to turn on Sunday football and see my Niner boys in pink gloves and cleats, and I definitely need to see my Tar Heels in some pink Jordan's. I'm waiting...
I realize that I am probably harder on myself than your average Joe. I want to be 100% all the time and it's just not realistic. If you're in this process and you're like "man, does it hurt to use my arm after 5 hours of work," well 5 hours of work is all you need to do. I know what you're thinking, "but in my mind I can work the full 8 hours." Well, I have the same super women complex that you do and recent memories of days in bed full of pain quietly remind me to chill out.
There's good news: I am back over the hump and running towards the finish line. I am going to see Dr.P on Friday to hopefully start expanding again. I took antibiotics for a little over a week, spent way too much time in bed, and watched around 100 episodes of Grey's Anatomy, but I am getting back in the game!
How am I going to get back in the game? Well, I went back to work on Monday and it felt great! I keep saying I am going to go to the gym and then I get some bad news, but this time I am going to the gym. Tomorrow.
What else am I doing? I actually have some exciting things going on this month. Tomorrow, I have a photo shoot to be featured in Florida Hospital's magazine Best in Care, where they will talk about my decision to go through this process. I was also chosen to be featured in the Orlando Sentinel on Halloween by the Susan G. Komen foundation to spread awareness about the BRCA gene mutation.
It is an overwhelming experience to be reaching my goal, which is to spread awareness about BRCA. I have decided in reaching my goal that it's time to set a new one. When you fill out your family history at the doctors office, I want doctors to read your history and tell you about the gene mutation. When that doctor or nurse reads that your mom and grandma had breast cancer, or that the line of men in your family have all had prostate cancer, they should be automatically informing you of the gene mutation, the testing, ,and the preventative measures.
Why don't doctors already do this? I literally have no idea, but I am going to change that. Watch me.
Anyways, if you're interested in breast cancer events in Florida, you should join the Pink Army. I think it asks you for a referring person, so my ID is 50616. You can find information about awesome things like Pink in the Paint, Race for the Cure, or the Southern Women's Show. All of these events and many more are in some way supporting breast cancer awareness and everyone should try to be involved!
My song of the day is Stand Tall by the Dirty Heads. I picked this song because it warms my heart to listen to the chorus and think about the month of October and everyone coming together to find the cure for breast cancer.
Together we need to stand tall, it gets a little better. I see the wall that we can break down together. Stand strong, it gets a little better now. We can break it down, yes, we can break it. Together, we will stand tall, break down the wall, and finally beat breast cancer.
I hope everyone's weekend comes quickly and stays for a while :) See you soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment