#dressinblueday
Happy March! Today marks the start of National Colon Cancer Awareness Month. The first Friday in March is designated Dress in Blue Day to bring awareness. You better believe I am wearing one of my many blue Colon Cancer Alliance tee shirts today, and I will continue wearing blue throughout March.
March is the month I was diagnosed with Stage IIIa colon cancer in 2020, and can you believe that March is the also the month I was diagnosed with Stage IV Metastatic colon cancer in 2022? What?!?!? It feels like a juxtaposition in my mind, processing the grief, anxiety, and trauma, while also celebrating this month in an effort to raise awareness and promote screening. In my own little corner of my own little world it feels like these events align for a significant purpose. In the real world it doesn’t hold nearly the same weight or emotional tie.
If only I could sit with each one of you face to face, look into your eyes and compassionately encourage you to get screened for the highly treatable disease, I would. The most recent age recommendation is 45, but there are so many younger people being diagnosed that it is NEVER too early to be screened!
Here are a few things we (by ‘we’ I mean those of us afflicted by this disease) know :
Colorectal Cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S.
Colorectal Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
1 in 24 people will be diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer in their lifetime.
Colorectal Cancer can be prevented with screening!!!
Colorectal Cancer is highly treatable when detected early!!!
1,500,000 colorectal cancer survivors in the U.S.
“In the U.S., about 10% of colorectal cancer cases are diagnosed in people under 50! Those numbers are rising about one to two percent each year, and researchers are still finding out why. Young adults are the only population group experiencing an increase in colorectal cancer, and it’s currently the deadliest cancer among young men and the second deadliest among young women.”
For more information or to find out how / where you can get screened, click HERE!
Okay, I know that was a lot of information, and maybe a little boring if this topic does not interest you, but I can’t ignore sharing the important facts. I will say that while researchers are still looking for the “reasons why”, there is plenty of speculation and evidence that our processed foods contribute to cancers. It’s just a fact. The food industry is great at marketing products to appear healthy, but unless you read every label and know every ingredient, be aware that the U.S. food industry allows a LOT of questionable ingredients in the foods. This is really a topic for another day, however, I will conclude my little rant with this: Incorporate WHOLE FOODS into your daily routine. Organic is best when eating the Dirty Dozen, but whole foods in general are going to leave you feeling better because they are what our bodies were intended to consume.
I don’t share these things to stir fear in your heart and mind. I share because I care! (That sounded pretty cheesy)! Haha! Really, though, I do care and if I can be the voice that encourages even one person to make a healthy choice or take the brave step toward screening it will be worth my efforts.
God has a perfect plan for each of us, and caring for the earthly body we have will lead toward realizing that plan.
“The LORD will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.”
