This post is dedicated to my Aunt Lizzie
In 2013 The National Cancer Institute estimated that more than 14 million people were living with cancer in the United States. As a young child I was fortunate enough to hear the word cancer and associate it with nothing more than a foreign disease that was associated with heartache and often death. The disease didn’t affect me or my loved ones in any tangible way in my younger years, as it does many Americans. As any child growing up in the 21st century would agree, while I did not have direct contact with the disease, I knew what cancer was and I had become quite versed in its implications for human life through all the available awareness campaigns.
Although I was aware of these things, I can attest to the fact that it can be very difficult to grasp the magnitude of the disease or it’s repercussions until it is one of your loved ones being affected by this horrible disease.
As I reflect on the fact that millions of families and individuals are affected by cancer, I am taken back to my childhood. I was nine years old when my parents told me that my oldest sister was diagnosed with melanoma. I remember worrying that she wouldn’t survive cancer. My young mind couldn’t quite wrap itself around the fact that my Mary Anne was associated with this disease. After much assurance from my family that Mary Anne would fight this disease, my faith in her survival was quickly restored. My sister had an excision of her cancerous cells and lymph nodes on her lower leg. She boasts an 8 inch scar that carved out nearly half of her calf muscle. She is a survivor.
Cancer is never something you can anticipate. Beating it in and of itself is a miracle for any individual. It is something no family wishes to deal with once, and never twice. My family, however, has a handful of survivors. My uncle was recently diagnosed with leukemia, and a few short weeks later my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. My family can attest to the fact that there is one right way to deal with cancer and that is to fight it! My uncle is currently going through chemotherapy to treat his stage III leukemia, and my grandmother completed her last round on Christmas. My grandmother is cancer free, and my uncle is on his way.
My family has been fortunate enough to have the option to fight this disease. They went through the necessary tests such as dermatological appointments and yearly mammograms to attempt to protect themselves against having to deal with cancer. Both my sister and my grandmother are in remission because they took the necessary preventative steps in catching their cancer early!
However, I have also learned through personal experiences that the fight against this disease cannot always be won. My Aunt lost her battle to multiple myeloma last year after fighting the disease and going in and out of remission for over fifteen years.
If I could provide any advice to those 14 million people and their loved ones, it would be to give yourself a chance to fight cancer! I couldn’t think of a more perfect time to share my family’s story than in April.
For those of you that don’t know, April is Testicular Cancer Awareness month. Speaking of giving yourself a chance to fight, testicular cancer has a 99% survival rate with early detection! Something as simple as checking yourself for abnormalities can help you not only survive, but also help men catch it in its most curable stages!
I recently learned that Tommy John, the men’s underwear company, has teamed up with the Testicular Cancer Foundation to help remind men something as simple as checking yourself can help you not only survive, but also catch the disease in it’s most curable stage! They’re even giving out $25 gift cards towards a pair of their men’s underwear to 4 individuals who share their awareness cards on Instagram in April. So ladies, encourage your loved ones to check and recheck themselves – and men, check yourselves!
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