WE ARE BRIGHT PINK

Margot
When my courageous mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in November of this year, I knew that the diagnosis would entail many hospital visits, painful surgeries, and a slow and difficult healing process. What I did not know is how much it would involve my loving and caring father each step of the way. Through this struggle, I have learned that the role husbands of breast cancer patients and survivors play is sometimes overshadowed by this painful and harrowing disease. While my mother was undoubtedly the number one priority in our household these past few months, my father took on a uniquely different and life-changing role as well. My father, the man who wears suits, enjoys his grill, never misses a football game, and loves his golden retriever as much as his three children, finally found himself picking out wigs for my suddenly bald mother, matching her many scarves to outfits when she was too sick or too fed up to choose, and changing my mother’s bandages that she was painfully required to wear following her mastectomy. My father also garnered skill in other worthy pursuits, such as coaxing friendly hospital workers into delivering extra Jell-O to mom after chemo treatments, learning how to pick out bras, finding the only therapeutic “hot” swimming pool in Central Ohio to help heal the aches that come with breast cancer, and how to dodge tissue boxes and other airborne objects when she thought she just couldn’t endure the chemo, the radiation, and the everyday struggle any longer.

Since the beginning of my mother’s struggle with breast cancer, my father’s inspiration has been former Ohio State and NFL football player Chris Spielman, who, in a world of fat paychecks, big egos and incredible talent, truly showed what was important in life by giving up his dream and his athletic career by walking away from football to be home with his wife when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While I am only in my mid-twenties, I recognize the history and the damage that breast cancer has heaped upon my mother, aunt and grandmother. I perform self-breast exams regularly, consult my doctor, and live a happy, fulfilled and healthy lifestyle. But aside from all of this, I have appreciated the men associated with breast cancer patients and survivors and have taken into consideration all that they do for their deserving wives. Through all the tears, the treatments and the torture of watching their beloved wives fight breast cancer, they sometimes, dare I say, endure one of the hardest fights of all. While I respect and appreciate all of the medical advice we have heard, I think what has helped my mother fight hardest and heal fastest is having my father at her service and at her side. Realizing this, I hope we all can be so blessed to find a Chris Spielman, or someone like my father, to help pick us up when we need it most, and help us truly lead the Bright Pink lives we love and deserve.