The World is Awash in Pink

There are other Cancers.

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Women don’t JUST get Breast Cancer.

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Women’s health is not JUST about Breast Health.

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If I wear a peach ribbon, people assume it’s actually Pink. They give me a thumb’s up for supporting Breast Health. I don’t bother to tell them I wear peach because I have Uterine Cancer. Sometimes I do. They rarely bother to look upset. It’s natural to assume otherwise. I did, before I was diagnosed.

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There is no prosthesis for what I lost to Cancer. There is no rallying cry across the universe for my cause. There is no universal understanding of my shame or pain or fear. No telethons, no 3 day walks, no desperate worldwide search for a cure.

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My loss is invisible to the world at large. There is no sea of peach once a year to recognize what I and other survivors, other victims deal with. No peach kitchen-aid mixers, or peach pens. Or teal (for ovarian cancer) notebooks, laptop sleeves. I’m as guilty as anyone else. Before my diagnosis, I wouldn’t have noticed either.

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And I get it. The prevalence of Breast Cancer is probably a lot higher. But it’s not all there is. My experience and my struggle shouldn’t have to suffocate because it’s not the pop-culture-cause. If I’ve learned anything these last few months, Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t really care if you’re young, or old, or white, or black, or asian, or male or female, or rich or poor. Cancer is a thief. Of time, of health, of dignity… of life.

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But the world is awash with pink.

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Because the honest truth is that the world will always care more about a woman’s Breasts, than they ever will about our health.