Tomorrow is the first of October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For me, breast cancer is very personal having lived through the fear with both my mother and mother-in-law, the loss of good friends, and the survival of others. I watched them smile through their pain and fear, only to cry and pray in private. We never know what someone is hiding behind their smile.

Cancer in all its forms has been the great equalizer in our society for it affects the rich, the poor, the quiet and the popular. It has taken the lives of children and left older people to regain their strength and live a while longer. It has seemed to have disappeared only to return again with a vengeance. I have watched friends live on hope and the promise of remission only to have that hope snatched away. I have seen others who were given second and third chances, whose cancer was beaten back time and again but at a toll that left them battle weary.

The word cancer is enough to bring fear to your heart. Just the thought of having to battle this beast is enough to bring on nightmares greater than any horror movie Hollywood could muster. Even with the increased survival rates, cancer still has the power to turn our blood cold. Every improvement, every early diagnosis, every new treatment or prevention is a battle plan. We need your help to be able to fight back against this foe.

As many of you know, I try to use my talents no matter how little to support cancer research whether it is through my stories, the anthologies I participate in or in this new venture, pictures. Cancer touched my life at an early age with my first experience, my grandfather’s throat cancer. I did not understand it all at the time. I’m not sure I understand it any better now, over fifty years later.

For the month of October I am posting a photo a day to help raise money to fight cancer. The money goes directly to the American Cancer Society for research. We have come a long way since my grandfather was diagnosed with throat cancer. From 2014 to 2020 the overall 5-year survival rate is around 69%. For breast cancer, the 5-year survival rate is 99% for early detection and 27% for advanced-stages. Prostrate cancer has a 98% survival rate for early-stage and nearly 30% for late-stage prognosis. Lung cancer survival is 20% unless caught early, going up to 60%. Colon and rectal cancer 5-year survival rate is around 65% for early detection, and only around 13% for advanced-stage.

Early detection is the key to survival, so go to your doctor for annual check ups. Ask questions. Get tested. And donate for a cure.

You can find my Facebook page with my photos here, and please donate, the life you save might be someone you love.

https://www.facebook.com/donate/2020824182003758/

The American Cancer Society is a leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. For more than 100 years, we have been improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through advocacy, research, and patient support, to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. To learn more, visit cancer.org or call our 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345.