I had to think for a while before answering.

"Well, when someone tells you that you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you become pretty aware of it, then as you lose a few body parts to surgery, as your hair starts falling out from chemo, as your body feels like it’s being weighed down by glue and metal scrapings, and as your reflection reminds you of something from the movie Aliens, well, I’d say that at that point, your cancer awareness is pretty heightened."

But what is cancer awareness, really?

Does it mean being aware that you have cancer? Or does it mean being aware that there is cancer?

I have noticed a key trend when it comes to cancer awareness.

In our society, for what I suppose are obvious financial reasons, the emphasis is placed primarily on raising funds to bolster cancer prevention and to find the ever-elusive cure.

But are we really aware of the people who are caught in the middle of the two, who face a daily battle with their illness and with the mirror?

My Experiences...

I was at a hardware store once in between chemo treatments, because of course, even if you have cancer, you still need lightbulbs and batteries.

The clerk looked at me with my bald head and said "Wow - that's cool - who did you shave your head for? How much money did you raise?" I was gobsmacked. "I have cancer. Really!" I had never felt so caught off-guard.

Embarrassed, she handed me my change. She had never seen anyone with cancer before, only people who supported everything around it.

Empowering Cancer Patients

The purpose of my book, I Put the CAN in Cancer is not to increase the awareness of cancer, but to empower cancer patients and bring a semblance of normality back into their lives. They aren't bald ogres, or philanthropists who have toiled to raise thousands of dollars to shave their heads for "the cause", and they don’t want to be pitied.

They are normal people who have fallen victim to a nasty disease, and all they really want is to live their lives as normally and seamlessly as possible.

Cancer patients are stuck in the middle of prevention and cure, sandwiched in a no-man's land where the concept of cancer awareness has virtually made them outsiders in their own little worlds.

Putting the CAN in Cancer

So if you have cancer, you need only be aware of one thing. YOU can put the CAN in cancer by walking your dog, hugging your kids or parents, or on a particularly good day, checking your wig with your coat at a restaurant...

Imogen Gough