Adult Medicine, Family Medicine, OB/GYN & Maternity, Uncategorized

The Power of Pink

17
Oct

In October Legacy wears pink to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Virtually everyone now knows someone who has been diagnosed. Together, with regular wellness screenings, Legacy and the American Cancer Society are working to make breast cancer history.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, it can affect anyone – even men. Although breast cancer occurs mostly in women, in the U.S. about one out of every 100 men is diagnosed too.

If any close members of your family have been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, it is best to inform your provider. Depending on their risk factors for breast cancer, everyone needs to take the condition seriously. Cancer diagnosis can take an unexpected turn and knowing the warning signs is important. Early detection through regular screenings can significantly improve survival rates.

Legacy’s Vice President of Development, East Region Josh Davis, has been a longtime volunteer with the American Cancer Society from the age of 12. He is now an ambassador for the cause. To celebrate the occasion, every year he dies his hair bright pink.

To further support the fundraising event he volunteered with at 20 years old, he was dared to shave his head. This led to a life-saving discovery: Josh had a malignant melanoma of the scalp.

“Cancer is an equal opportunity disease,” Josh states.

Melanoma is a skin cancer that forms when the cells that give your skin color grow out of control. Melanoma accounts for only about one percent of skin cancers and nearly 20 Americans die from melanoma every day. Contributing to the American Cancer Society led to Josh’s life-saving surgery and treatment.

Josh’s story, along with other survivors, demonstrates how cancer takes many forms. Knowing the signs, building your knowledge and early detection could save you or someone you love.

Men Wear Pink

To encourage the involvement of not only women but men too, Josh and his husband Thomas became Men Wear Pink Ambassadors for Southeast Texas in Beaumont.

Men Wear Pink is a nationwide campaign created by the American Cancer Society to use the power of wearing pink to raise funds for ending breast cancer. Every dollar raised helps the American Cancer Society save more lives through prevention, research and support to help end breast cancer.

Legacy is proud to support the Men Wear Pink campaign in Houston and Beaumont to increase breast cancer awareness and research. Legacy has four more Men Wear Pink ambassadors for the American Cancer Society, including Chief Development Officer and breast cancer survivor Chree Boydstun (who co-chairs the Houston campaign), and CEO Dr. Robert Hilliard, Jr., Vice President of Major Gifts & Planned Giving Tim Martinez, and Senior Vice President of Digital Solutions Jayson Chitwood-Patton.

How to Get Involved

Give breast cancer patients hope by wearing pink to show your support for their fight against the disease.

Spotlight breast cancer awareness on your social media platforms. Education and spreading the knowledge is key.

Volunteer at a local or national organization that helps breast cancer patients.

Donate to research groups or campaigns like Men Wear Pink who are putting in the work to end breast cancer. Every donation, every contribution matters and makes a difference. You can donate to one of Legacy’s Men Wear Pink Ambassadors listed below:

Josh hopes one day, “the word cancer will not be a death sentence,” and at Legacy, we are on the frontlines to make this disease history.

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