By Dorothy Okung
Educational Coordinator - PFPMA

This October 2013, in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, PFPMA is giving the clarion call to: “PAINT THE TOWN PINK!”.  In past years PFPMA (Professional Football Players Mothers Association) have participated in the yearly National Breast Cancer Awareness month drive by putting together events such as 5K walks etc.   PFPMA is going beyond those activities to challenge everyone they know through every social media outlet to get the word out and PAINT THE TOWN PINK! 

Bringing about awareness is one of the biggest challenges that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has in helping to prevent unnecessary deaths from the disease.  As it stands now, statistics show that about 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point during her life.  After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer in women.   The challenge is getting women to have mammograms.  Early screening is the key to preventing the growing numbers of women dying from the disease.

We asked some women from PFPMA to tell us what they felt were the reasons why women do not go to get tested as regularly as they should.  Sharon Stoutmier, mother of Omar Stoutmier former of Redskin, Sharon is no stranger to the diseases, she has witness a few family members  suffer from this horrible disease, she  told us: “It’s not talked about in certain communities.”  We asked if the reason had to do with income or social status, to which she answered, “It costs too much, it’s too painful, it’s for old people, the fear of finding something, and [the fact that] radiation from the mammogram causes cancer.“  These are some of the reasons that prevent women from going for early screening.

But, these fears are truly baseless.  Early screening is the key.  Gwendolyn Jenkins told us of how early screening saved her life and today she is a survivor:

“In 2011, following a routine mammogram, I was recommended for a biopsy of a tiny spot seen on the image, which my doctor indicated could be calcification, but wanted to take a look to be certain.   On October 31, 2011, to my shock and dismay, I received a call that the results of the recent biopsy showed I had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), sometimes also called “stage zero” cancer.  That meant abnormal cells were lodged in one or more of the breast ducts—the "highways" connecting the milk-producing lobes to the nipples—but they hadn't yet escaped to invade the other tissues in my breast. On one hand, I’m told not to worry; I did not have invasive cancer and most likely never will (the 10-year survival rate is almost 100 percent, with treatment).”

She is proof that early detection can save a life.  So, moms, daughters, grand-mothers, aunts, sisters, WOMEN, spread the word!  Let it not end with just “buying the proverbial t-shirt” or wristband.  This October, take the message of National Breast Cancer Awareness to Cyberspace; let it spread faster than an invading cancer cell.  Let it go viral!  Throughout the month of October, on your Instagram, Facebook or Twitter accounts, post messages like: 

• “Show you care. Send an e-card with breast cancer prevention and screening info to a loved one: http://1.usa.gov/XQUnj7”
• “Worried about cost? Mammograms are covered for women over age 40 under the health care reform law. More: http://1.usa.gov/159zd67”
• Did you know? Breast cancer can occur in men. Over 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. More: http://1.usa.gov/HSlf4
• Host a breast cancer walk with your organization’s members.
• Or add this free Web badge (http://healthfinder.gov/NHO/nhoBadges.aspx#october) to your Web site, blog, or social networking profile to show your support for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Whichever way you decide to get involved, by all means, get involved!  As in the words of Gwendolyn Jenkins, mother of Malcolm Jenkins of the New Orleans Saints, “This year was the first time that I participated in a survivor walk (Avon Walk for Breast Cancer – Washington, DC)… In the midst of fighting breast cancer, I had become an advocate and fundraiser for the cause.”

So, for the coming month of October I want to encourage PFPMA members, NFL wives and NFL players and affiliates, to PAINT THE TOWN PINK!!! We want you to continue in your efforts to spread the awareness this up-coming NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH, by wearing your normal “PINK”: t-shirts, socks wristbands etc. to the games.   LET’S PAINT THE TOWN PINK!!! The life you save may be your own.