Okay, I want to talk about the topic of cancer awareness. Most of you have probably had cancer touch your lives one way or another, right? Whether you, or a friend, significant other, family member,or a co-worker had cancer… The possibilities are endless of how cancer may have touched your life. Cancer has touched my life in different ways too, my grandfather has beaten cancer several times, my grandmother died from bone cancer, my uncle had skin cancer, and my friend’s mom is battling cancer now. The first time it knowingly affected me before I knew much about it was in middle school. There was a boy, Garnet, who I never met that fought leukemia and lost. I had just moved to town and I sat at his desk because it was the only one open. When the teachers told us he passed away, even though I didn’t know him, it made a mark in my life that I will always remember. It affected me.

The mind boggling thing is that there are so many types of cancer, but we mostly only hear about one. Breast cancer. The awareness for breast cancer is amazing! Seriously, it is not a bad thing at all. I LOVE that there is so much awareness for Breast cancer, there is an awareness month in October, people wear pink to show their support, there are fundraisers, marathons and all kinds of stuff that is well advertised, but my only issue is, why not for other cancers? Why can’t we turn the world all the other colors out there to show support for the other cancers that brave people are battling every day? Yes, there are marathons for some of them, and fundraisers, but they aren’t widely known about compared to when it is about Breast Cancer. We should change that, we should take the time to spread the word about other types of cancers people are facing and wear those colors too. Only we can make a difference. A difference was made for breast cancer, now let’s do it for all of the others! Most people are aware that October is breast cancer awareness month, but the other awareness months come and go and most don’t even know it. I honestly don’t usually realize it. I rarely see posts on social media, or anywhere else for that matter, for other awareness months. When I did a search on cancer awareness, breast cancer and pink ribbons were the top results. Go breast cancer! You are doing something right!

I have been watching a new ABC Family show called Chasing Life, which follows a young girl in her twenties who is diagnosed with leukemia. It is the first show like it that I have seen and it is refreshing. The first time I saw it advertised, I knew I had to watch it, and now the summer finale is around the corner and I’m emotionally invested. It is a really great show and I love that it is out there and I hope it will bring more awareness.

I have been intrigued by cancer since a young age, which probably sounds weird. I think part of that intrigue is the amazing strong people that go through it and fight the illness. Cancer is complex and different for each person, which is interesting in itself, but I would like to see the day that there is a cure for all cancers, and to do that, I think we need to make more noise and spread awareness for them all. I compiled a list of cancers, their awareness months, and colors below, I didn’t get them all, I know, but I did my best for this post. Feel free to comment if you notice one missing and I will add it! I would also love to hear others thoughts on this! Sorry if I kind of rambled and my thoughts were a little all over the place!

 

Cancer Awareness

 

January: Cervical Cancer Awareness Month (Teal & White)

February: National Cancer Prevention Month, Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancer Awareness Month

March: Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month (Dark Blue), Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month (Burgundy), National Kidney Cancer Awareness Month (Orange), Colon Cancer Awareness Month (Blue or Brown)

April: Testicular Cancer Awareness Month (Purple), Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month (Light Blue), Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month (Burgundy)

May: Brain Tumor Awareness Month (Gray), Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month (Black)

June: Men’s Health/Cancer Awareness Month, Sarcoma/Bone Cancer Awareness Month (Yellow)

July: Bladder Cancer Awareness Month (Yellow)

September: Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (Gold), Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month (Teal), Leukemia (Orange) and Lymphoma Awareness Month (Light Green) , National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (Light Blue), Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month (Blue/Pink/Teal-Tricolor), Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Awareness Month (Violet), Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (Teal)

October: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month* (Pink), Liver Cancer Awareness Month (Green)

November: Lung Cancer Awareness Month (White or Clear), Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month (Purple), Carcinoid Cancer Awareness Month (Black and White/Zebra-striped), Stomach Cancer Awareness Month (Periwinkle)