A call to action for cancer screening

Like many, I have a pretty long list of those things that will never happen to me because these are the things that happen to other people. So I thought. Take cancer as an example.

A few years ago, one of the kindest women I have ever met died suddenly of cervical cancer. She worked out regularly. She ate all the right things. She didn’t smoke. She was a mom, a wife, a devoted daughter, a career woman and a friend to many. She put herself last – last when it came to everything. Not long after my friend died, I got a call from my doctor’s office: “We need you to come in to talk about the results of your pap test.”

With October being breast cancer awareness month, I can’t help but think about the importance of routine screening for a whole host of cancers. I think of my friend and the life she was cheated out of because of cancer. I also think how lucky I was to find out through a routine screening that I too had cervical cancer.

Routine screening and early detection is essential when it comes to many of the cancers women face. Studies show that early detection of breast and cervical cancers saves lives. Timely mammography screening among women aged 40 or older could prevent 15 to 30% of all deaths from breast cancer. Detection and treatment of precancerous lesions found during a pap test can actually prevent cervical cancer, as well as find cervical cancer at an early stage when it is most curable.

I was one of the lucky ones – thanks to routine screening. My advice to everyone, man or woman, is to make sure you get the appropriate screening for cancer. Talk to your spouses, parents, children, siblings and friends about the importance of getting screened.

Remember, cancer happens. «

Christine Clark, Chief Communications Officer