Breast health awareness, a given in this country, often is not an option in others. Yet enhancing awareness of breast cancer has been cited by international experts as a key element of all interventions.
As more details have been revealed, I have reflected on what one of the world's most beautiful and most recognizable women has taught us recently about cancer.
After my sister died from breast cancer three years ago, I asked, during my mammogram, whether I should get tested for the breast cancer gene. I was warned that doing so, particularly if I tested positive for the gene, could mark me as an individual with a so-called pre-existing condition.
I don't know if my mother could have been saved, or simply had her life extended, if she had better access to medical care. It's possible that for her, there wasn't anything else to do. For so many other mothers though, that is not the case.
Much is made over the material girl's multitudes of metamorphosis. For those of you too young to remember, I speak of Madonna. And, yes, the Divine M...
Angelina Jolie was not the only one to choose a prophylactic mastectomy. I did, too -- but for different reasons.. (Thank you, Angelina, for making it public. You've given me the courage to write about it for the very first time).
Angelina Jolie, you could have decided to be totally private about undergoing a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgeries. But that is not the woman you are.
Angelina Jolie's revelation today, done with eloquence and dignity and grace, is remarkable both in its message and its import to the world of women. Pro-action.
Like many nurse practitioners, my mother declined to work in the for-profit sector and instead devoted her life to public health. She believed strongly in the need for universal health care -- a cause she felt was a deeply moral issue.
Instead of coaching athletes, she has spent the last several years coaching me as I've strived to get better, first from ovarian cancer at the age of 32, then from the autonomic nerve damage the life-saving chemo caused.
Every person has a timeline of their own life, made up of the big moments in it -- the personal bests and worsts that singe their memories. On my timeline, one of those worsts came on November 3, 2004, when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Cancer is a diagnosis that affects the entire family, so try thinking outside the box this year. Instead of purchasing Mom a tangible gift, begin a new tradition of creating a new fond memory.
For those who have lost a loved one, holidays can trigger grief. Mother's Day is particularly difficult for me, because I no longer have my mother here to physically spend the day with.
For me, one of the scariest parts of my diagnosis with breast cancer was the challenge of keeping life as normal as possible for my two young daughters.
Women are made up of more than just breasts, a uterus, and a pair of ovaries. There is more to women's health than the care and cure of these three vital but non-comprehensive organs. We need to look beyond, to the forgotten whole woman, who is more than a sum of her parts.
The one thing we have to make sure is that they don't change irreversibly. Cancer can take a lot physically. It can only take what we allow it emotionally. We are stronger than cancer. Even if it takes our life, we are STILL stronger than cancer.
