I walked an average of twenty miles a day, with 3000 other women, to raise funds for education, treatment, and research. Among the people walking were 320 women who had survived breast cancer. Unfortunately, the heat put a few walkers out of the running, and their hardships dominated a lot of the event's press coverage, but I believe that our message still came through. Why would we put ourselves through all of this if we didn't really believe we had something important to fight for? We all strongly believed in early detection and prevention, not just a cure.
As a participant of the 3-Day, I was required to raise a minimum of $1,900. My sister and I raised funds together, and we were pleased to see how generous our donors were; they were profoundly touched by our mission. Most of these people wanted to help because they had been close to someone who had had breast cancer. Many of them were also pleased that we were doing it for a very important person in our lives who had breast cancer, our mother.
Mom is cancer-free for now and a two-year survivor. She is alive and healthy thanks to terrific medical care, a strong support system and perhaps most of all, early detection. I believe this is the chief strength of all the 3-Day publicity--awareness. The more people think about the benefits of early detection, the more likely they are to be vigilant and save their own lives.
We are lucky to live in a time where issues such as breast cancer can be freely discussed. Only a few decades ago, even the word cancer was taboo in public speech. Women was not encouraged to examine her own breasts. In fact, the practice was considered shameful.
Early detection could have saved many lives back in the classic age of Hollywood. The disease killed numerous actresses. Breast cancer also brought an intensified feeling of shame to these women whose profession required beauty and the appearance of perfect health.
Judy Holliday, Hattie McDaniel, and Rosalind Russell all lost their battles with breast cancer in the days before the topic was discussed publicly. These women kept their illnesses secret from all but their closest companions. The aura of shame around breast cancer deprived them of the community of other women who had the disease.
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