Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention Month

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 If you've been out to supermarkets, stores, or done some online shopping lately, you may be fully aware that it is now October and Breast Cancer Awareness month. Today is also the second annual "Blog for your Breasts Day". I wrote about my connection to and interest in Breast Cancer in this post last year, and it was both nerve-wrecking and relieving to share that part of me with readers.

I know many of you may be thinking that 'of course we are all aware of breast cancer by now', which may be true, but here are some other tidbits that you may not know:

1. Breast cancer is one of the major illnesses women face after the age of 40. 
2. Symptoms (other than a palpable lump) include: thickening and swelling of the breast, irritation or dimpling of the breast skin, pain in the nipple area, any change in size or shape of the breast, and non- lactation nipple discharge (i.e. blood).
   Mammograms are used as a method of detection. They are mainly recommended for women starting around 40 years of age. It is also highly recommended that women over the age of 50 receive a mammogram every two years. 
3. Tips for lowering risks of breast cancer include (Source: Center for Disease Control): 
1. Limiting your alcohol intake.
2. Maintain a healthy weight and diet.
3. Take note of your family's history with breast cancer. 
4. Do self-check exams regularly. If you feel something irregular, schedule a breast ultrasound, as this may be one of the least expensive mechanisms of detection. 

Lastly, remember that for all of us, "Breast cancer is not a pink ribbon", as this pin on Pinterest has so vividly portrayed. So won't you please join me in becoming a part of Dr. Susan Love's Initiative: Army of Women (AOW). For this "Blog for Your Breasts" event, she states:

We invite you to use your voice through your blog to spread the word about the Love/Avon Army of Women. The Army of Women initiative, a program of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, funded by a grant from the Avon Foundation for Women, is recruiting ONE MILLION WOMEN of all ages and ethnicities, with or without breast cancer, to sign up and participate in breast cancer research studies. If we can get ONE MILLION WOMEN involved in research, we are one step closer to understanding the cause of breast cancer and how to prevent it.
The Army of Women campaign is an online initiative, where women can sign up at www.ArmyOfWomen.org. We are dedicating ONE day to reach ONE million women to sign up for the Army of Women. Together, we can move breast cancer beyond a cure and eradicate it once and for all.

Believe it or not, cancer is a multistep cellular  process that affects everyone differently. If enough people from different racial backgrounds, ethnicities, etc sign up for AOW and participate in some of the research studies that they have going on, I'm sure researchers would be closer in finding a disease mechanism in which to attack. I promise you, you'll only receive about one email per month (a monthly update) delineating all the new things happening with AOW and any new studies that they're having that you may be able to participate in. Please consider joining Army of Women today. Not just for yourself but for our future generations.

To the lurkers among us:

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Dear Lurker,

You! Yes, you! The family member, friend or stumble-upon reader who visits this blog page every once in a while. I know you're there. I know you exist. You come ever so often to lurk around (ever so subtly), read what's going on in my life and then leave without a comment or a hello.

Well, I'll like to extend a hearty hello to you. Thanks for visiting! Leave a comment some time. (I actually enjoy reading and responding to them). And won't you come on back and visit real soon! (I know you will, 'cause you're nosey like that -- haha. just kidding ... or maybe you won't because this post has scared you off...)

I guess I'm really trying to say that I acknowledge you, dearest lurkers, and I get it.
(I lurk sometimes too.)

Thanks for visiting now. ツ

The Scenic Route

I absolutely love when my GPS takes me through the back roads (during the daytime, only). Connecticut is such a treasure. Unlike Philadelphia where there are houses and buildings filling up every open space, there is a lot of land in this little New England state.

Take my current graduate house for example, and the street that it's on: There are tons of trees and big yards. It's kind of reminiscent of Jamaica, but not quite.

So far, my GPS has taken me through two gem routes. The first is in a little town called Naugatuck. After church one day, I decided to take a drive to Walmart. I was tired of the one in town because that's where all the college kids shop and there's never really anything there. So my little GPS took me to this one. The scenery by the store was absolutely breath-taking. The store sits on top of a winding hill that looks down on rest of the town. It was beautiful. Also, the drive back home was great. I felt like I was in another world almost. The trees hung over the roadways like a super long archway.

The second  route is actually located on the same street as my university. Once again, I was trying to get to another Walmart in Wallingford, CT when it was discovered.  (haha. what is it with me and Walmart?) The scenery begins once you pass the campus (understatement, b/c the campus is just as beautiful AND there is a national park/hiking trail right across the street from school). There is a heavily forested 2 mile drive that's beautiful during Autumn. There are a few houses scattered about, but they are hardly noticeable among the trees.



Sometimes, I want to pull the car over, whip out my camera and snap some photos. But there's usually no shoulders to do that. I have discovered a few cutouts large enough to fit a car, so when I feel adventurous one day, I'll go and do just that. ツ