It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I'm feeling very aware.
It's actually the 36th Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and my first as a person who's had breast cancer. I struggle a little bit with my identity in that regard... I don't know if I've earned my pink stripes, as it were. I am not an example of the enduring strength of the human spirit. My experience was a walk in the park compared to what so many women have gone through. What so many are going through right now. But if I can be anything to anyone going forward, in October and every other month of the year, I hope I can be a testament to early detection and the fact that mammograms save lives. I spoke to this a bit in my Facebook post back in July, but in my first visit to my new primary care physician here in St. Louis, she talked with me about the history of cancer in my family (my maternal grandparents died of colon cancer; my mom’s sister is a breast cancer survivor), and she suggested I stay proactive. I’ve already had a handful of colonoscopies (handful! It make
