October is our month so take charge of your health

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3: This is for women only.

If you are a man, please avert your eyes. This isn’t for you. This is for women and I’m afraid you’re not invited. We need to talk about our breasts, or as Erin Brockovich famously said: “They’re called boobs”.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and believe it or not, and this may come as a shock to the men in our lives, we stop and think about our own health and the other women in our lives whom we love.

It’s not that we don’t like men. We do. It’s just that men have a hard time keeping up.

Oh sure, they can work and find time for a few leisurely pursuits but there’s a reason the medical profession came up with “walking” pneumonia. It’s a diagnosis which is almost exclusively used for women. We can’t help it. It’s in our DNA to get “everything done,” no matter how exhausted we’re feeling.

Men, on the other hand, are tempted to call Bermuda Red Cross for an oxygen tent at the first sign of a cold.

Don’t believe me? Then ask yourself this, when was the last time your “to do” list included a gentle steam followed by a therapeutic massage with the essence of fine oils by a Speedo wearing masseuse? I believe the answer is “never”.

Did you just say that you don’t have time because you’re busy with your “toy boy?” Jennifer Lopez has a “toy boy”, you have a three-year-old and you pick up his trucks. Your days are jammed-packed with responsibilities and countless errands.

After you drop the kids off to school, rush to work, get the dry cleaning, go back to pick up the kids, cook a lousy dinner, and then throw in a load of washing, is it any wonder that the last thing you want to think about is breast cancer?

This is why Breast Cancer Awareness Month is so important. It’s an opportunity for women like you and me who are otherwise too busy with a million other things, to focus on something that’s really important, our breasts! Feel a little silly talking about boobs? Don’t.

It’s vitally important that we are “breast aware” so that early detection is possible and we can give ourselves a fighting chance against breast cancer.

Monthly self-examinations and mammograms are two of the ways we can take charge of our health. I know mammograms are a little uncomfortable but think of it as a bad date: it’s over before you know it.

This month find time to celebrate your health and the women in our lives who have faced this deadly disease by participating in one of the many ways that you can. Go on-line to www.cancer.bm and check out what’s going on for the month of October. Here’s just two ways that you can participate:

Feel like taking a walk with 1,500 of your best friends? Join the real movers and shakers on October 17 for Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre’s 16th Annual Breast Cancer Fun Walk.

 Bring those double D’s and walk; walk like you know there’s a cure! Twist a few arms and ask friends, family and colleagues to pledge their sponsorship.

The goal this year is to raise $250,000 for new diagnostic equipment and patient support services. Heck, we can do that.

You might also want to participate in a “Girls Night In”. Skip the lines and the velvet ropes and create your own party at home any way you like.

Ask your “gurls” to donate what they might spend on a night on the town and give them a night they won’t forget.

Invent a new pink cocktail or debut those hot pink stilettos. Anything goes for this very worthy cause.

October is our month. Take time for you – call and schedule your appointment for a mammogram.

You’ll feel great knowing that you’re taking charge of your health. Be a “bosom buddy” and get all the important women in your life to do the same.

Tell the men in your life if they ever expect to see another ensemble from Victoria’s Secret they better write a cheque to the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre! We deserve it. n