Must-see TV saves lives

Resslin' Around, by Casey Resler

October, as many know, is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's just another month to many, but so much more to the millions of people who have been affected by breast cancer in some capacity.

Last year, on Halloween -- the last day of October -- an awareness commercial came on the television. My mom watched the commercial, which featured a school teacher who was bald from chemotherapy treatments. The subject pleaded with people to be aware, have a mammogram and perform self-examinations. Normally, one of those commercials wouldn't have affected her. But she had a lump on her breast that was bothering her a bit, and the commercial kind of made her think.

Two weeks before, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, and my family realized that this happens to everyone. You always think it'll happen to other people, but that's not true.

So after seeing that commercial on Halloween, my mom called the doctor. They saw her that afternoon. After a mammogram and a biopsy, she was diagnosed with breast cancer on Nov. 14.

Following a double mastectomy, she started chemotherapy the day after Christmas. Happy holidays! She completed them the week before Easter, and now her hair is growing back and she is regaining the strength that was sapped from her.

She saw that commercial on Oct. 31 -- as if someone was trying to send her a big message. The very next day means its November, and the massive National Breast Cancer Awareness Month blitz would have calmed, and chances are that commercial doesn't air. One little commercial, but instead of going to the bathroom or getting something from the refrigerator during that break in television programming, my mom paid attention. It quite possibly saved her life.

The point is simple -- it can happen to you. My mom, as well as my aunt, are in their late 40s, are perfectly healthy and there was no family history of cancer of any sort. They are regular women doing regular jobs and living regular lives. And now they are cancer survivors.

It's easy to turn a deaf ear to the television when a commercial comes on, but in some cases, that commercial saves lives.

It's easy to discount all the media attention about certain subjects that don't interest you, but in an instant, they may become your personal crusade. There's just no telling.

The statistics of breast cancer are staggering. The number of women who are diagnosed is overwhelming. The number of men diagnosed with it is unbelievable.

If you don't know someone who has battled breast cancer, give it a few years and the odds say you will. It touches that many people's lives.

Don't take my word for it, though. Check it out yourself.

take the initiative, learn more and go one more step and talk to your doctor. Early detection really does save lives -- and those pesky commercials really do work.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.