October is the month of Breast Cancer awareness. Social media channels are full of hashtags and online campaigns to raise awareness and donations towards cancer research.
#Pinktober - The hashtag is a portmanteau of the words ‘pink’ and ‘October’, people use the hashtag to share their stories. Tanya Isla-Alicia Hinds: “October is breast cancer awareness month - since I was diagnosed in July 2016 I have done lots to raise awareness of this - breast cancer doesn’t discriminate - and people think younger women don’t get it - but it’s not true - please don’t think ‘it will never happen to me’ I never thought it would happen to me - but it did. I am one of the lucky ones - I’m beating it - due to the timing of my diagnosis - please - any concerns get to your GP - don’t delay - no matter how scared you might be. Lots of love to you all.”
CentralCounty Firefighters: “E35 Wearing Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2016.”
Katrina Sheehy: “I love everything about this especially since my grandma is a breast cancer survivor!”
Jodi Barrett: “October is breast cancer awareness month! On August 5, 2016, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer which has, unfortunately metastasised. Unfortunately, making her illness terminal. At 21 years old, I never even thought or imagined that I would be dealing with a terminally ill parent. I am sure many of my friends and family can relate to always imagining their life a certain way... I always imagined my mom seeing me graduate university, seeing me get married, and being a part of my children’s life. With a terminal cancer that may not be possible. Not only does cancer massively impact my mom, it impacts my immediate family as well. When my mom was diagnosed, I didn’t eat, or sleep for almost 4 days. I’m sure my brother and dad were experiencing the same pain that I was. The stress of the unknown, and the realization that my family was going to go through a huge lifestyle change was tremendously difficult to overcome. The past three months have been the hardest months of my life. Yes, my mom has gotten better, and her tumours have shrunk from chemotherapy. With that stated, the side effects, my mom’s emotions, and struggles still make her illness very relevant in everyday life. Which makes somedays so hard to get through. Without the tremendous amount of cancer research being done... the improvement my mom has had could have not been possible. I want to stress to everyone that ONE in EIGHT women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and breast cancer is also relevant in men. I can’t stress enough the importance of awareness of breast cancer because it is so much more common than we think.” Vicki Miskin: “For those that are not aware, October is breast cancer awareness month. And those of you that know me, know that each October since my 2013 breast cancer diagnosis I step on my soap box to talk about it. This year I want to throw out some statistics in hopes that I can impress upon people that early detection is critical in the treatment and cure of this disease.
According to breastcancer.org, in 2016 an estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the US plus an estimated 61,000 will be diagnosed with noninvasive breast cancer. About 2,600 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in men. The success of my treatment, I believe, is due to very early detection...”
