Passionate about pink in October

The power of pink.

Saturday’s edition of The Press will feature our favorite October color — not black, not orange, but pink, in honor of breast cancer awareness.

The message today is threefold.

First and foremost, ladies, please be sure to schedule your mammogram. That uncomfortable but simple screening can literally be a lifesaver.

This year alone, according to breastcancer.org, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer. That’s a reflection of the fact that roughly one of every eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in her life.

Bad news: An estimated 41,760 women in the U.S. will die this year from breast cancer. Silver lining: Over the past 30 years, those death rates have been decreasing. Breastcancer.org notes that women 49 and younger have benefitted most, and health officials attribute that not only to advances in treatment but also earlier detection through screening and increased awareness.

Secondly, with Kootenai Health sponsoring our annual pink edition, we’d like to return the favor by recognizing an outstanding branch of community health care. That’s the Kootenai Clinic Cancer Services, which is fully accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. The prestigious designation is reserved for the best breast centers after a rigorous review of each center’s performance.

Finally, we’d like to honor not just those who have suffered through this devastating illness, but acknowledge the everyday heroes who generally receive none of the fanfare or even the recognition they deserve. We’re talking about the friends and families serving as caregivers.

Fighting any kind of cancer is truly a team effort, as any survivor will attest. Nobody goes it alone, nor should they. But that path would be even more challenging without the compassion and sometimes supreme effort of those closest to the patient. Caregivers, bless you, each and every one.

Here’s hoping that the statistics cited above become historical footnotes much sooner than later, that a cure for breast cancer now draws close. Until then, get those mammograms, gals. Don’t put it off another minute.