Cancer Awareness: June

For this month, I am actually not able to highlight any specific cancer. No particular cancer has June as its month. HOWEVER…June 2nd was National Cancer Survivor’s Day.

So, instead of celebrating just one day, I propose we use the entire month to celebrate survivors of all cancers. This is even more fitting because our local Relay For Life took place this past weekend, where survivors were honored. Survivors have it rough. After being told the scariest news in their life (you have cancer), the drama continues. Some go on to have surgery. Surgery is life altering. Some surgeries simply leave behind scars, but others rob people of not just the tumor, but perhaps the ability to have children. Some never heal right, and have long lasting effects. Some survivors went on to have chemotherapy. Chemo is nasty. You lose your hair, you lose your appetite, and more often than not the chemicals in the chemo screw up your system for  good! So many assume just because chemo is done that everything is “over”, but it’s not. Some survivors go on to have radiation. Long hours, days at a time, spent in the hospital. And still others have more than one of the three…even all three. The scars are not just physical, they’re also mental. When you hear that news, you feel all alone in the world…it’s hard to hear others say they “understand”, because they don’t, they can’t. Only someone else who has been on a similar journey has any way of understanding.

So I propose everyone reading this honors a cancer survivor in your life. And, let’s face it, cancer has touched everyone’s life in some way, whether it is a friend or a relative or even you. Let that survivor know that they are NOT alone, that you care. Perhaps you want to honor a survivor by letting them know you are participating FOR them in your own local Relay For Life. Maybe you want to send flowers, or simply a card that lets them know you’re thinking about them. Just go out there and ACT. You never know when you are going to be the one in that doctor’s office getting your own life altering news. And you don’t know how long that cancer survivor will remain in your life.