Happy Pinktober ...

Well. It's here. Pinktober.

I have many mixed feelings about this month. There are some good things that come from it, but there are also a lot of gaps in what we shall call "awareness." I don't really want to get into - there are plenty of bloggers who do a great job of delving into that - but I feel the need to point it out because for many people like me - who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and made it through treatment this whole month feels odd.

That said, allow me to share with you something I think we can all do this month to try to make a difference. I have talked to you about Army of Women before, but I'd like to talk to you about them again. Today I am participating in Blog with Love Day. {note: I was asked to share this information, however I am not being compensated to do so.}

Army of Women is doing something that will hopefully turn out to be something AMAZING. They are launching the Health of Women Study. What is the Health of Women Study you ask? Allow me to use Army of Love's words to tell you

With the introduction of the Health of Women study (HOW) on October 1st, the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation will revolutionize the fight against breast cancer. By crowdsourcing health information, and involving the general public directly, we will uncover the information that will end breast cancer. This groundbreaking initiative invites the public, men and women over the age of 18 of all health backgrounds, to be collaborators by participating in the study via the web or on their mobile devices. HOW will also turn traditional research practices on its head by creating a venue for researchers to gather and share information, with the definitive goal of ending breast cancer. To learn more about the Health of Women study, visit: www.healthofwomenstudy.org.

This study is amazing and is open to Every. Single. Person. who is willing to share. That means you, and you, and you, and yes, even you - men, women, people who have had breast cancer, people who haven't, people with a family history of it, people with out a family history. By getting information from lots of people, maybe we can finally figure out some causes. Maybe someday this will us figure out how to prevent breast cancer from even happening. Can you imagine? A world where we don't have a month that looks like a pepto-bismol bottle was dumped over the entire country? 

Will it take time? Yes. Will it cost you anything? No. Could it help make a difference? Let's all hope so.

What do you say? Can you spare a few minutes this Pinktober?

xoxo,
Brandie