October has passed and I am sure you all have seen the myriad of pink ribbons throughout the month on television, billboards, t-shirts, mugs, and athletes. Ask just about anyone, “What does the pink ribbon stand for?” and they will tell you that it symbolizes breast cancer awareness. The awareness brought from the pink ribbon has encouraged more women to get tested earlier and more frequently to catch breast cancer before it has a chance to become deadly. The pink ribbon has become an iconic symbol and has done a tremendous job raising awareness and fundraising for an important cause.
But what does the white ribbon stand for?
If you were to ask me what the white ribbon stood for three years ago, I would have had no idea. Today, I am very familiar with the importance of sharing the meaning behind the white ribbon. The white ribbon symbolizes lung cancer awareness. Three years ago, my mother, Julie Currie, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and has been fighting to share her story ever since. November is lung cancer awareness month and the following facts prove that you should promote, share, and explain the importance of the white ribbon to friends, family, and anyone who will listen.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
Approximately 433 people die every single day from lung cancer in the United States. This statement alone is why it is so important to educate the public on the realities of this horrible disease. If lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world, why don’t I see white ribbons on television, billboards, t-shirts, mugs, and athletes? I think it is time to make a change and bring awareness to this statistic!
Annually, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
Let me say this louder for those of you in the back; more people die of lung cancer than colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. When I first learned that, I was in absolute shock. In the media, on the web, and in public, all I ever learned was to make sure to get tested for breast cancer at an early age because the sooner you get tested, the sooner you can get treated, and the sooner you can live a relatively normal life after that. The reason that lung cancer is so fatal is because there are basically non-existent symptoms until the late stages. It is more common for doctors to diagnose lung cancer in the later stages, like stage IV, because there isn’t as big of a push to get tested earlier compared to breast cancer.
You do not have to be a smoker to get lung cancer.
Do you have lungs? The only thing you need to get lung cancer is a pair of lungs. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer states that, “In the U.S., about 31,000 people die each year from non-smoking-related lung cancer.” Lung cancer does not care if you are male or female, smoker or non-smoker. This is why it is so important to spread the word and raise awareness, in order to get adequate funding for lung cancer research, which brings me to my next statistic.
On a per death basis, lung cancer receives 7 percent of the funding breast cancer receives in the U.S.
Funding is the basis by which research can be conducted. Groundbreaking research could be put to the wayside, all due to inadequate funds. The funding that breast cancer research has received in recent years has been absolutely fantastic! It is time to use breast cancer awareness techniques as a model for lung cancer awareness as well, to give hope to all who have been affected by cancer of all kinds!
I have a dream that one day the white ribbon will be as well known as the pink ribbon and that the world will be one step closer to curing lung cancer for good. Until then, please feel free to share this article to honor November as Lung Cancer Awareness Month!
For more information on lung cancer awareness go to https://www.iaslc.org/ or https://www.lungevity.org/for-patients-caregivers/lung-cancer-101 .
To donate for funding of lung cancer research go to https://lungevity.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.general or https://donate.lungcancerresearchfoundation.org/ .