This one's not just for the ladies

October, this year as every year, is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.



I'm not much of a cause or campaign guy. I make one exception, and this is it. Regular SSTOL visitors know that my wife KJ is a breast cancer survivor (first diagnosed in September 2000) who's currently fighting a metastatic form of the disease. With one American woman in eight afflicted by this scourge, chances are that someone you know and love either has had breast cancer... or will.

Plead with the women in your life to learn self-examination techniques, and apply them rigorously. It's not just a matter for older women — KJ was first diagnosed at 34, by which time her tumor had probably been growing for several years.

If you're a woman, check yourself. Early and often. We love you, and want you to stick around awhile.

If you have a few extra bucks in your pocket this month, you could do worse than donating them to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, or the breast cancer research entity of your choice. Your sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, wives, and lovers will thank you.

Let's find a cure. Soon.