Do Something. Live well.

Every year, more than 200,000 women (and men) are diagnosed with breast cancer. It is a phenomenal number really--and scary. There are over 2 million living in the U.S. with breast cancer at any given time. It was announced this week that Sheryl Crow has just underwent surgery for breast cancer and will be following up with radiation treatment as a precaution. It always strikes me when a celebrity announces their battle with cancer and not in the way that makes me beat my head into a wall when they annouce a pregnancy or something like that.

Here's the deal... Sheryl Crow publically announcing and allowing people to hear about her treatment will actually encourage more women to learn about the disease--education leads to early detection and a much higher survivial rate. If not for Crow's former fiance, Lance Armstrong, the public discussion of testicular cancer would not have ensued. I'm guessing Armstrong's courage to speak the words and share his story has saved the lives of un-countable men.

Think about even the public discourse on AIDS. Prior to the early 90s, there was not a whole lot of serious discussion about AIDS and the focus was on how it killed and affected gay men and IV drug users. Enter Arthur Ashe. He did not want to publically announce his condition, but media pressure and threats caused him to do so. Ashe's announcement, however painful for him, really helped to change the public discourse and change peoples perception about AIDS victims. Magic Johnson was another case, though sadly, players still refused to be on the court with him. One of my favorite quotes during that time came from Dennis Rodman who said he didn't care--"I couldn't care less if the guy I'm guarding has HIV. I'm going to slam him anyway."

Last year, I did the 3-Day Walk for breast cancer; not because I have breast cancer, or because anyone in my family that I know of has breast cancer--but because it educates, it creates awareness and adds to the seriousness. It opens the public discourse in a way that doesn't diminish the value of the topic. I did it because I could, and some people cannot. I did it because you don't wait around for you or someone you know to get sick before you take action.

First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me. ~ Martin Niemoeller

In the past, I have done the breast cancer walks, the juvenile diabetes walks, the premature births walks, and the latter I do again this year. You can view my page, donate or sign up for yourself at WalkAmerica. If you are interested in more information on breast cancer and what you can do to help support research efforts, please visit the Susan G Komen Foundation page. If you would like more information on the work Lance Armstrong's organization is doing, please visit LIVESTRONG. Whatever you do, do something.