Go Gray in May

 

 In case you didn't know, as I didn't until recently, May is brain tumor awareness month. I decided a while back that I would be honoring this month in a variety of ways, and as I was working on putting these wheels in motion, I also found out that May is Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) awareness month AND Lyme Disease awareness month as well! Being that these are my three main diagnoses, I was pretty surprised to find that they all had the same month where they were highlighted. You'd think I was born in May, but I wasn't, I was born in July. At first I started to back pedal my brain tumor awareness agenda for my blog and Facebook, but then I began to feel more and more clearly that this year I was just supposed to focus on brain tumors, and so I will. Who knows, maybe next year I'll be highlighting Lyme Disease since that is the one I've written about the least?

 Brain tumors are not as rare as you might think, and more than one million people in America are living with one. There are more than 120 different types of tumors, and they are the second leading cause of cancer death in people under 20. I honestly don't know a lot about brain tumors in general, but I'm learning more and more as I prepare to be aware this month!

 What I have learned a lot about is my type of brain tumor, a pilocytic astrocytoma. These tumors are one of the most common in children, but finding one in an adult is pretty rare. According to this study, "Pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) ...account for approximately 25% of pediatric brain tumors and 1.5% of adult brain tumors" According to Co-Pilot, which could evidently read the study that was gate-kept behind a pay wall this amounts to, "less than 0.1 cases per 100,000 person-years." Yes, you mathed that right, that's 1 in a million. So, my tumor is pretty rare, even more rare when you factor in that mine is in the 4th ventricle which only happens less than 3% of the time with PAs, but brain tumors in general are out there. You might be sitting by someone on a bus or in church with one and have no idea.

 Why is it important to bring awareness to them? The things we don't know about are off our radar. We don't know to pray for them. We don't know how to interact with them, We just don't know! Once we know, we can do something. God can inspire us to love on and serve others, perhaps by donating, perhaps by encouraging helpful legislation, perhaps by coming alongside someone and saying, "Yeah, I've heard of that. You're not alone."

 Here's a few facts from the National Brain Tumor Society to get you started:

 

  

 So what am I doing to "Go Gray in May?" Well, I'm starting with this post. All my upcoming posts in May will have black and white main images, to continue the theme. My Social Media profile pictures will be changed to the image at the top of this post and I'll have educational cover pictures as well. I'll also be posting "info nuggets" as we go through the month. In addition, I ordered several new shirts so that I can spread awareness wherever I go (like to Disney World!!):

 

 That last one was actually purchased for my son, he picked it out 😁. If you click on any of the above shirts it will take you to my associate link on Amazon. If you purchase anything through that link, I will receive a small commission, but it will not change your price at all.

Here's the Thing: Am I going to change the world by wearing gray shirts in May or changing my profile picture? I doubt it. But maybe, just maybe, a few more people will learn a few more things about brain tumors and people like me won't feel so alone and weird. Do you have any other great ideas? I'd love to hear them!