Today we celebrate awareness about Metastatic Breast Cancer. This day is observed annually on October 13th.
We all heard about cancer, and breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. Studies show that one of eight U.S. women, about 12%, will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime/
Metastatic breast cancer… some may not be familiar with what it really means and the difference between benign and metastatic. When they say it is benign, meaning that the tumor cell has no ability to invade or spread around the neighboring tissue, meanwhile metastatic means that the cancer cells spread to new areas of the body, often by the lymph system or bloodstream.
No one brings metastatic disease to themselves but the sad truth is that anyone who had an earlier stage of breast cancer can experience a metastatic recurrence despite mammograms and early detections. Early detection is not a cure but it helps prevent early cancer from coming back as metastatic disease.
Studies show that approximately 40,000 dies of breast cancer each year over the last 20 years and all deaths are from metastatic breast cancer. Studies estimated that there are over 155,000 women and men living with metastatic breast cancer in the US and are living well.
This day is set aside by unanimous House and Senate resolutions in 2009, establishing that one day in October should recognize and bring awareness to metastatic breast cancer. It may not be enough to celebrate this event in one day but spreading awareness is a start to prevent the disease.
So, today, celebrate this day by raising awareness and make sure to do your annual mammogram checkup since it is that time of the year for breast cancer testing. Early detection does not guarantee a lifetime cure, and treating early stages of breast cancer can prolong life and do necessary care to avoid having metastatic cancer. Share on social media to raise awareness using #MetastaticBreastCancerAwarenessDay.
1967 American Basketball Association debuts
On October 13, 1967, the Anaheim Amigos lose to the Oakland Oaks, 134-129, in the inaugural game of the American Basketball Association. In its first season, the ABA included 11 teams: the Pittsburgh Pipers, Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, and New Jersey Americans played in the Eastern Division, and the New Orleans Buccaneers, Dallas Chaparrals, Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks, Anaheim Amigos and Oakland Oaks played in the Western. Until it folded in 1976, the league offered players and fans a freewheeling alternative to the stodgy NBA. “It was a looser atmosphere,” one fan remembered. “We could do a lot of things [the NBA] won’t let us do”; these days, basketball games are “supposed to be family entertainment.”
The ABA was a much flashier league than the NBA. In place of the traditional orange basketball, it used a garish red, white and blue ball that, Celtics coach Red Auerbach frequently said, belonged on the nose of a circus seal. Its cheerleaders wore bikinis. Trash-talking and fights on the court were the norms. And the league had its own rules: It had a 30-second shot clock instead of the NBA’s 24-second timer, and it introduced the three-point shot, which the NBA scorned at first but then adopted. Its players had nicknames like Bad News, Jelly, Magnolia Mouth, and Mr. Excitement; two of its coaches were affectionately known as Slick and Babe. ABA teams played playground basketball: showy and pure, with lots of running. (By contrast, one player recalled, “the NBA was kind of like a half-court game. The only team that ran was the Boston Celtics.”)
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-basketball-association-debuts)
