LauraTWK

I would happily encourage anyone who wants to do their part for Pink October to share the information I'm posting each day wherever they can. That is the real goal of this thread. Our party is completely secondary to what really matters - equipping women everywhere with the information they need to give themselves the best chance to remain healthy.

October is here again, which can mean only one thing. It is time for me to climb up on my soap box and preach the virtues of thinking pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month yet again. The greatest tragedy of breast cancer is how many avoidable deaths occur each year. When detected early, it really can be very survivable these days. But too many women are either lacking the knowledge and information required to perform basic self-checks, find the whole topic too embarrassing to talk openly about or simply bury their heads in the sand and assume they will not be one of those affected. Surveys have shown that 33% of women aren’t regularly checking themselves and a shocking 20% of women don’t even know how to check their breasts. If you are one of those women, I beg you, please take the time to learn more about how to self-check at somewhere like http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam/bse_steps. And all women could do with familiarising ourselves with some of the less well known symptoms including a nipple becoming inverted or a change in texture of the skin - http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms. So, as you can hopefully see by now, dressing in pink or dying your hair pink to show your support and solidarity for sufferers of this terrible disease is an important contribution. But it is only a first step. There is so much more that you can do. Both for yourself and for others. First and foremost, your participation needs to be a stimulus to those women who are neglecting their own well-being to be proactive in protecting their health and being aware of what is going on with our bodies, as well as being a reminder to the rest of us not to get complacent. It needs to be accompanied with the information that can educate and change attitudes. There needs to be some form of engagement. Please share the links above with anyone who you think might benefit from them. And, if you feel that you want to make a financial contribution towards cancer research and care, then by all means do so. There are plenty of great organisations out there that are worth of your donation. My chosen charity is Breast Cancer Now who organise the annual Wear It Pink day but that is by no means the only one out there. Please, do your part in keeping this conversation alive, not just for October, but for all 12 months of the year. Ignorance can no longer be used an excuse for so many preventable deaths. I appreciate that there is a fair amount of text there to wade through and, if you have taken the time to do so, you have my thanks and gratitude. Please do not be passive with this information though. Share it with as many as you can. As has become traditional, a few of us who are passionate about doing what little we can, will be holding a small party to show our support and hopefully get people talking about this cause. If you care to join us, we would love to see your there. When: Wednesday October 14th, 19:00 BST Dress code: Wear Pink - Think Pink And bringing you the music will be: AHT LauraTWK Xanar