Tuesday, October 6, 2009

NFL - Week Four - Real Men Wear Pink

Watch any football last weekend? Pink hats, pink gloves, pink ties, pink shoes and even pink ribbons on the goalposts. Coaches, receivers, linemen and even officials are wearing pink. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the NFL has donned pink to draw attention to the second leading cause of cancer death for U.S. women - breast cancer. These men of the gridiron are showing support for and encouragement for the estimated 192,370 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and the estimated 2.5 million women living in the United States that have a history of breast cancer.

While some may think it is a bit odd for the bastion of manliness...the NFL to take up this cause of breast cancer awareness, I could not agree more with their support. I have a bias towards anything that will advance the cause of breast cancer awareness and cure.

My wife did everything right - according to all of the risk factors for beast cancer. Yet at age 43 she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. A radical mastectomy and aggressive chemotherapy gave her ten more years of cancer free life. Then the disease returned - this time no surgery, no treatment could take away the disease. She fought for three more years as the disease slowed its ravages, but continued to progress. The disease won and she was called home to her Heavenly Father. She left behind her husband of 35 years, four awesome children, a fantastic daughter-in-law and one amazing grandchild.

Having witnessed her fight against the pain, the attack on her body, the weakness, and her physical deterioration, I am a crusader for Breast Cancer Awareness Month - for if I never witness another woman who has to fight this disease, I will be happy.

Her fight was such an inspiration to me - for against her tremendous pain and suffering - she always pointed to God as her salvation - God as her strength - God as her Fortress! As her pain increased, her trust increased - she witnessed to her faith, her strength, her Father. I pray that we each can be encouraged by her faith, but never have to face the disease.

The men of the Men's NetWork also join together to encourage the women in our life to have an annual screening mammography beginning at age 40. We also urge the women who are at high risk of breast cancer - a first degree relative who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, delayed child birth, along with other risk factors - to have a screening mammography at an earlier age. Yes, real men are wearing pink and are proud to do so,

Yes, this real man will wear pink.

4 comments :

Anonymous said...

Amen and Amen! My church secretary has battled breast cancer for a year and it has brought a special awareness to the fight for me, her pastor, and for our parish.

Anonymous said...

And a third Amen!!
My wife also struggled with the disease, twice. We both had to look to our good friend JC for strength and support.

Anonymous said...

I, too, was blessed with a Christian wife who battled the disease for twelve years after 53. We were both thankful for the gift of life we had together, and the strength provided in knowing we had a loving God who sacrificed His Son to be our Saviour from sin and death. My concern now is for our three lovely Christian daughters who will soon be approaching that age. My prayer, too, is that this disease would be eradicated, and they may have a longer and fruitful life. On the other hand, not my will, but Thine be done. His plan is not always ours.

Anonymous said...

A great awareness indeed! Bless all you guys that walk that fight.

We also will do well to inform 'Pink wearers' that one of the great risk factors of breast cancer is abortion. Oddly enough, the Susan Komen group subsidizes Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the US.

It seems very ironic that such a good cause would give support to a group that promotes the very thing we are trying to fight.

Pray for Planned Parenthood that they might repent of their ways. Pray also that the Komen group would refrain from supporting Planned Parenthood as it does today.