Welcome October

How is it October already? I swear, I feel like it was just the beginning of summer. October is a month that I love and hate at the same time.

I love October because the fall colors really show. It is high school football games and bonfires. It is trips to the cider mill and Halloween. It is post-season baseball and sweatshirt weather.

My mother and my grandmother both passed away from breast cancer in October, so I hate it for that. I do believe that it is ironic that they passed in October, though. If you were not aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Every year I was in radio, I always made sure that I was involved in a Breast Cancer event. It may have been a motorcycle club doing a ride for breast cancer or a classic car show. Sometimes it was at a clinic or hospital where free mammograms were being done.

From breastcancer.org:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among women in the U.S. Each year, about 32% of all newly diagnosed cancers in women are breast cancer.
In 2025, approximately 316,950 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, with 59,080 new cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which is non-invasive.
About 16% of women with breast cancer are younger than 50 years of age.
About 66% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a localized stage — before cancer has spread outside of the breast — when treatments tend to work better.
There are currently more than four million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
About 42,170 women will die from breast cancer in 2025.
Less than 1% of all breast cancers occur in men.
Approximately 1 in 8 women (13%) in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer at some point in their life.

Early detection is so important. If you are a woman, I encourage you to get your yearly mammogram. Please don’t wait.

Friday Photo Flashback

For this week’s edition of the Friday Photo Flashback, we go back to Spring Break of 1989. I had graduated high school, was working at my first radio job, and my high school band was heading to Florida to perform at Disney World. My brother was still in band at the time and my parents and I tagged along on the trip as chaperones.

My grandmother and aunt had moved to Florida. At some point on the trip, my grandmother met up with us. If my memory serves me correctly, my friend Steve also came on this trip, and we were hanging out together. I wish I had spent a little more time with my grandma on this trip, but you know how 19 year old kids are …

I love this picture of my mom and my grandma. They both would be diagnosed with breast cancer and their lives would be cut short by it. In this picture, they are both healthy. This is the way I will always remember my grandma. She always seemed to wear her hair that way. It was the late 80’s, so both her and mom have those big round lenses on their glasses. I can see the watch that she always wore, too.

My mom is wearing a T-Shirt with the Kiss-FM logo. That was my first radio job, and I am sure I was still working there when this was taken. What I wouldn’t give to have one of those shirts today! Blonde was not my mother’s natural hair color, but I always loved when she wore it that color. Her hair seems to be a bit short in this picture, too.

The more I look at this photo, the more I think that this was taken just before we all loaded up the busses to head back home, or maybe before my grandma was heading home. Mom is holding shopping bags, so we had probably all just come back from one last trek to buy souvenirs. It is hard to say.

I don’t think this was the same trip (mom’s hair looks longer), but it could be.

When I found out my grandma had cancer, I avoided seeing her. I regret this. A lot. It is one of those things that comes up a lot in my mind. If I could turn back the clock, I would. I didn’t want to see her sick. I remember someone had taken some pictures of her after she had gone through some chemotherapy or radiation and she was a shell of her former self.

Those pictures sort of assured me that I was doing the right thing by not seeing her. Well, at least I thought so. I know now it was not. I should have seen her. I should have called her. I should have held her hand and said I love you. I should have had the chance to say goodbye. In Sinatra’s “My Way,” he says, “Regrets. I’ve had a few…” This is one of my biggest regrets. The only good thing about my not seeing her sick is that when I think of her, she is just as she was in these photos.

I think of these two brave women every October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I miss them both very much.

Thinking Pink!

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I remember how it started. I was working in the mailroom/copy center at EDS. I had already been out on a couple deliveries. I was loading up for my next one when I was called back into the courier office to take a phone call. This was back when most cell/car phones were in bags that plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car. I had no idea who would be calling me.

“Hi honey. It’s Mom. Listen, I don’t want you to worry. I just got back from the doctor….” I remember interrupting her and asking what was going on. “I have breast cancer,” she told me. She continued talking but I wasn’t hearing anything. Breast cancer had already taken the life of my grandmother, my mom’s mom. I had heard terrible things about cancer and I distanced myself from her (a decision I regret to this day), because I didn’t want to see her suffer.

“Are you there?” mom asked. I responded, but don’t recall what I said. I hung up the phone and was in a daze. My boss came in and saw me in what must have been some form of shock. I told him what happened and he sent me home immediately. That was how I remember mom’s 10+ year battle with breast cancer started.

Chemo. Radiation. Chemo. Radiation. Remission. Then it was back. More chemo. More Radiation. Remission again. Then it returned again….

It was a very emotional thing to go through for us and we didn’t even have the cancer! I can only imagine what she was going through. She remained strong throughout her battle, enjoying the ups and fighting through the downs. She fought hard for over 10 years before the cancer finally took her from us. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever dealt with. Coincidentally, she passed away in October. It will be 12 years this month.

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So why I am writing this blog?

Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This year, it is estimated that over 266,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women, along with almost 64,000 cases of non-invasive cases of breast cancer. At the same time, about 2500 cases of invasive cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in MEN! You read that correctly! Almost 41,000 women are expected to die from breast cancer this year, while almost 500 men will die from it.

Early detection is KEY! So I am writing to encourage you to do what you can to find it and treat it early! When breast cancer is detected early, and is in the localized stage, the five year relative survival rate is – 100%!!! Early detection includes doing self breast exams and scheduling regular clinical breast exams and mammograms. The breast cancer mortality rate decline 39% in the US from 1989-2015 and continues to decline because of early detection and treatment.

Great informational links

Do not wait! Schedule that mammogram. Talk to your doctor if something doesn’t seem right. If you do not know what you are looking for – here is a link that may help:

http://resources.nationalbreastcancer.org/know-the-symptoms/

Here is another link to great information: https://ww5.komen.org/

You can find a breast cancer walk near you at this link:

https://secure.acsevents.org/site/SPageServer;jsessionid=00000000.app305a?pagename=strides_msabc&NONCE_TOKEN=C82E98DFA8091DE540B9714396FAF9D4

I am here for you

As my friend, I want you around for a long time! If you are a survivor – I celebrate your victory with you! If you lost someone to this disease – I cry with you. If you are going through treatments for breast cancer – I am hear to support you and cheer you on!

Please spread the word! Share this blog! Share these links! Encourage others to have a breast cancer screening today!

Thinking pink … for mom … who is missed more than I could express in words.

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