Cervical Cancer Awareness Month!

It's finally here - January, also known as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month! If it seems odd for me to be excited about a month honoring a potentially deadly disease, I can assure you that it's not. In a perfect world, there would be a cure for every cancer. Anyone diagnosed with cancer could be put on a course of antibiotics, and be back to normal in 7 to 10 days.

Cancer isn't that simple. it is tests, biopsies, and blood work. It is CT and PET scans. It's surgery. It's chemotherapy. It's radiation. Very often, the treatment hurts more than the disease itself. And sometimes, too many times, it's doing all the right things to get ahead of the disease, without success. All too often, cancer proves just how deadly it is.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which I'm pretty sure you know already, unless you live in a cave with no satellite tv or wireless Internet access, and only encounter woodland creatures. And it is great to have so much support for breast cancer - my mother is a breast cancer survivor, and her knowledge and strength where completely unparalleled during my own cancer battle. But not all cancer is pink; we are more than just our boobs. We need to talk about the uncomfortable fact of cervical cancer because it is one of the most preventable cancers out there,

So this month is teal and white, the colors of cervical cancer. it's a time to support the fighters, admire the survivors, honor the taken, and keep demanding a cure.

If you are due for a Pap smear, please make an appointment immediately to have one. Gentlemen, remind your wives, girlfriends, sisters, cousins, aunts, etc to make their appointments. Even if you aren't due for a Pap smear but experience any of the following symptoms, make an appointment to see your gynecologist right away:

• irregular vaginal bleeding
• vaginal discharge with an unpleasant odor
• watery vaginal discharge
• vaginal discharge tinged with blood
• pelvic or back pain
• pain during sex
• problems urinating
• problems defecating
• swelling of the legs

Early detection leads to less invasive treatment, faster healing, and the preservation of fertility. Please make your health a priority. It could be the difference between life and death.

xo