Julia Guidi
Equinox Staff
For most, October means the start of Fall: Pumpkins, apple cider and foliage. However, this month also carries a more sentimental meaning. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Breast cancer has the potential to affect us all, whether you identify as female or not. For women and men alike, it is a possibility that they could develop breast cancer. Anyone on the gender spectrum could have close family members or friends that could be affected by the disease. That is why we must pay attention to breast cancer, this month and every month.
It’s easy to get caught up with life and forget to care for ourselves. However, self-care is imperative – especially when it can save your life. A mammogram is a x-ray of the breast that is taken with a device that flattens and compresses the breast. Mammograms are one of the most effective ways of detecting cancer. According to the American College of Radiology, mammography has helped reduce breast cancer mortality in the U.S by 40 percent since 1990. Additionally, even for women 50 and older, if mammograms were skipped every other year, 30% of the cancers would go undetected. Mammograms are important because they detect cancer early when it is the most treatable. They can show changes in the breasts up to two years before a doctor or a patient can feel them. It is recommended that women start getting annual mammograms around age 40 regardless of family history.
Breast cancer has affected many people, one of those people being me. Seana Brady is my longtime best friend and when we were in fourth grade, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Aimee Brady is one of the strongest and most resilient people I know. When you’re nine you don’t really notice much but there is one moment in particular I will never forget. It was a fall day and we had just gotten home from school. I remember looking at her and thinking that she looked different. She noticed me looking and she smiled at me and said, “Kinda different right? I promise it doesn’t hurt or anything.” I can’t really explain why that impacted me so much. What’s so strikingly amazing to me is that she was sick and she was still actively raising three kids and living her life. No matter how scared she was, she was always thinking about her family. This is a common theme among women with breast cancer. Often, these women have children and if not, they still have people in their lives that they care about. are still thinking about the well-being of their loved ones.
