My grandmother. My aunt. My boyfriend’s mother. These three different women are all in the same fight against one disease. All three women have been victims of breast cancer. It is a major health issue among women today. But most people don’t know exactly how it affects the families and lives of women who are diagnosed.
When I was younger, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Back then, I didn’t know much about breast cancer but I had heard of cancer before. No one really sits down with you and explains all of the down-to-the-wire details until someone you know has it. I remember seeing her a couple weeks later and not noticing much difference. I didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t want to ask all of the details so I opted to figure it out on my own. She had both breasts removed but you would never know unless she told you.
A few years ago, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33, which is pretty young since only 7% of women under the age of 40 are diagnosed. When I spoke to my grandmother and she said, “Your aunt has breast cancer” I could not think of what aunt she was talking about because I thought all of my aunts were too young to have breast cancer. As rare as it seemed to me, she had breast cancer and it affected the whole family differently. For me, it opened my eyes to how life can change drastically in the blink of an eye. She only had one of her breast removed and is still fighting to get her health back.
The first time I met my boyfriend’s mother, she seemed like any other woman. I didn’t know she had breast cancer until a little while after meeting her. Her son never really liked to talk about it and still doesn’t to this day. She looked as healthy as can be. One of biggest stereotypes people assume when they hear that someone has cancer is that they look sick. But that wasn’t the case; she was still battling cancer and still is to this day.
All three of these women still deal with the struggles of the disease in one way or another. My aunt just got out of the hospital for her most recent attack from the disease and my grandmother helps take care of her. My boyfriend’s mother and my aunt have some of the same side effects and are both working on getting their health in shape. They both still undergo chemotherapy and take life one day at a time to get over this illness. Women with breast cancer need a lot of moral support from family and friends. There is still no known cure for the disease but anyone who knows someone with the disease knows that you can only hope for someone to find a cure as soon as possible.
Today, I encourage everyone to think of something they can do to help save a life because you never know when it’ll affect someone close to you. You can show your support by something as simple as liking “Loserkids.com” on Facebook and they will donate 10 cents to the Keep-a-Breast foundation or something as big as running in a marathon. Either way “fight like a girl” and show your support.