April is Daffodil Month for Cancer Society

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2014 (4531 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I don’t know about you, but I need to see some bright colours, and soon!

To that end, the Canadian Cancer Society is selling its daffodils in support of cancer research and services directed towards those living with cancer.

I’m currently awaiting delivery of my yellow bunch of sunshine, which will distract me from the blanket of white which now adorns the lawn.

This leads us into April, and the 55th year of door-to-door canvassing for the Canadian Cancer Society.

When a volunteer knocks on your door, please think of friends or family members fighting the biggest fights of their lives. With every donation, large or small, you will receive a tax receipt and a daffodil pin.

I wear my pin for my mother, father, husband, aunt, cousin, former neighbour and several friends. I wear my pin in the hope that the funds raised today will advance research enough that my children and others won’t have to fight this fight. I wear my pin to start conversations about preventative testing and awareness.

And I wear my pin to remind others to advocate for their own health care.

Ask your doctor questions, and be diligent about recognizing possible symptoms: changes in bowel/bladder habits, a sore that doesn’t heal, a persistent cough or indigestion, a thickening or lump in the breast or elsewhere, unusual bleeding, changes in a wart or mole.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate between gender, race or age. According to the information distributed by the Cancer Society, eight Manitobans lose their lives to cancer every day. On a more positive note, 62 per cent of Manitobans will survive their cancer diagnoses, which is double the number of survivors in the 1960s.

Last year, I sent in my first FOBT (fecal occult blood test), which is the home screening test for colon cancer. I also went for my third mammogram. Thankfully, the results were negative.

As you read this article, I’ll be preparing for my second routine colonoscopy (cross your fingers). These early diagnostic tests are available to all, and, if you have a family history, it’s the sensible thing to do.

When I see someone wearing a daffodil pin, I thank them for donating, and sometimes I’ll even ask for whom they wear it.

It’s one of those grocery-line conversations that confounds my children.

They ask, “why do you talk to someone you don’t know?”

My answer, “I don’t know them yet, but I bet we have something in common”.

Please give in memory of someone you know.

Wanda Prychitko is a community correspondent for St. James-Assiniboia. Contact wprychitko@yahoo.ca