Flying my Flag

This past Monday would have been my parents’ 35th wedding anniversary. Instead, today we reflect on 8 years without my Mom.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


People ask why I continue to be involved with the Komen 3-Day for the Cure.


It is so difficult. So exhausting. So emotionally draining. Why continue to walk, to fundraise, to captain a team?


That first year I set out with a singular, significant purpose. I was walking to honor the memory of my Mom, a woman taken too soon from this life. I was able to raise over $6,000.00 that year as I walked with her on my heart. I made a statement of great value to my family and me, raising $1,000.00 for each year she’d been gone.


I walked a difficult road that first year to prove that my Mom was worth it. Her life had value and would NEVER be forgotten.


While my involvement in the Komen 3-Day for the Cure is never going to change the past, I continue to do what I do for the future.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I continue to support Komen and their efforts because there are still things we don’t know about Breast Cancer. There are still questions that remain unanswered.


My mother had Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Never heard of it? Neither had I. IBC is a small 5% of total breast cancer cases. But while breast cancer overall has a 5 year survival rate in the 95% area, IBC’s 5 year survival rate is less than 50%.


IBC isn’t always a clear cut lump, and there are still Doctors out there who will dismiss the symptoms as having nothing to do with the potential for cancer. Changes in the skin, being, red, warm or dimpled like an orange can all be symptoms. Itching or pain in the breast can often be brushed off by both Doctors and patients as being nothing to worry about because they can still indicate other things.


Some may say that we’re all aware of breast cancer, but until Doctors and patients understand all of the forms this disease can take, I would argue we still need more awareness.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


We all have some thing, or some things in our life that we plant a flag over. Something that causes you to stop and say “this is important to me.” To some it is Autism Awareness. To others Heart Disease. Equal rights. Matters of faith. Social justice. We each have a flag. Some big, some small. My flag is Breast Cancer Awareness and Research.


Our flags may not match, you may not agree, and that is okay. But please, today, in honor of the woman who lost her battle with breast cancer 8 years ago, promise me something.


Promise me you’ll take care of your body. Have a physical yearly. When you get to the age recommended by your Doctor or dictated by your personal family history, have the screenings you need. Get your cholesterol checked, put up with your pap smears, and yes, have mammograms. And this is so important, know, really know your body. If something changes, see your Doctor.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mom, you are loved and so very much missed. I can only hope you are proud of the way I've lived the last 8 years of my life without you.


K