Cancer.

Pretty much one of the most universal words you never want to hear from your doctor. It’s hard these days finding someone whose life hasn’t been touched by the disease. In Canada, Breast Cancer alone kills over 5000 women each year!

That is why myself and the rest of the TwentySomething crew are so completely honored and touched to be able to give back and support an amazing cause. Next Friday January 25th we will be hosting the first annual ‘ Breast Obsessed Event’ in support of Breast Cancer research and awareness. The event info can be found by clicking on the banner on our homepage but the night will be packed full of fantastic performances from 4 different Canadian artists/groups and a long list of celebrity VIPs who are coming out and rocking the night all in support of this very important charity.

Now I shouldn’t make the C word sound so completely dismal. Afterall there are many precautions you can take to decrease your chance of developing Cancer. The first and probably the most important is early detection. Especially when dealing with Breast Cancer.

Women in their 20s should start getting their breasts checked every two to three years, and that’s if you don’t have a history of breast cancer in your immediate family. If you do have a history of it you should be even more thorough.

You can also take preventative measures through diet and exercise.

Make sure to make fruits and vegetables a big staple in your diet. Particularly fruits/veg high in antioxidants and phytochemicals as they are packed with cancer fighting compounds. Also make sure you work in a significant amount of foods high in fiber and choose good fats as people who are overweight tend to be more at risk for developing cancer. But remember it can’t just be diet. You also need to stay active. If you’re like me, the gym and traditional cardio is not for you. But to keep up an active lifestyle I try looking for alternatives. I have recently been turned onto pole dancing classes (thanks Sammy). You have a blast and work up a serious sweat!

Obviously a terminal disease isn’t the most fun topic to talk about but it is an important one. It’s time to get rid of this attitude of “if I don’t know then it doesn’t exist”. It does exist and the older we get the bigger an issue it becomes. So take a proactive approach and start getting regular screenings just for piece of mind. And that goes for you too boys.

(I can hear the latex gloves snapping already!)

peace

Jill

“I’ve been a rock star since you were very young. But I’ve never encountered anything as powerful as cancer.”

- Melissa Etheridge

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