The pandemic severed my relationship with the bars and poolrooms I had frequented in the pursuit of a game of pool. I had been overtaxing my hand cleaning and sanitizing supplies — which were a novelty in 2013 — and knew, in 2020, that the men who refused to wash their hands were not going to observe the protocols of public safety. One of the men with whom I had associated posted on a social media site in response to a mayoral health mandate that he “(would not) wear no dam (sic) mask!” My immediate thought was, “Gotta go.” And I did, but it was hard.
I’ve recently begun to venture out again and have spent some time in a bar that has two pool tables. The tables are seldom in use, at least in the early evening when I arrive, carrying my pink pool case. Unlike in other pool rooms in other counties, no one in this bar has made a comment on my pool case, and I’ve had no opportunities to pass out the breast cancer awareness cards that I keep in that case to pass out to sneering men. (No woman has ever questioned the color of my pool case.)
I wrote a column about my two good friends, both women and both breast cancer survivors, and in 2018, I wrote that I was going to carry my case always, not just in October, as a way of highlighting the need to be aware of breast cancer. I carry it with pride and in anticipation of questions; I respond to the questions with a card that details the seriousness of the disease. My desire is to impart understanding and stimulate a conversation. In that spirit, I will start this October with some information that I recently garnered from the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.
• In 2022, an estimated 287,500 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S. as well as 51,400 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• 65% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a localized stage (there is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the breast), for which the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%.
• This year, an estimated 43,550 women will die from breast cancer in the U.S.
• Although rare, men get breast cancer too. In 2022, an estimated 2,710 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. and approximately 530 men will die from breast cancer.
• 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers. It is estimated that in 2022, approximately 30% of all new women cancer diagnoses will be breast cancer.
• There are over 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
• On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States.
The head of my column has my picture, but I have requested that it be changed each October. I am wearing a pink shirt, a pink tie, and my hands are crossed over my breast. (Subtle, huh?) I’m going to be wearing my pink t-shirt when I take my pink pool case to the bar and maybe, pass out some cards. And play some pool.
cjon3acd@att.net