I wasn't sure whether to put this in the blog section or the article section, so I am just posting if where I feel it will be viewed the most.  This will be formal and informal at times, but there is a very important message that I have to convey to you the reader.

     Over the past 6 months or so I have been somewhat unable to find inspiration to write about anything or post anything for that matter.  I have just lived with the status-quo as of late.  That was until I watched the newest episode of Army Wives on Lifetime tonight (Yes, I watch Army Wives and I love it).  The past few episodes since the new season started have been centered around many revolving story lines, but one major plot that stays in the forefront has been about breast cancer.  To summarize the plot very quickly and briefly, the owner of the bar that was blown up at the beginning of the season was diagnosed with cancer to add to her woes.  She has been to different hospitals and visited with different doctors and had different treatments to try and cure her of her breast cancer.  The main listed treatment was radiation therapy, although that failed in the "long-run" of the plot.  Her options were to 1) try some other "experimental" solutions or 2) her final decision to drive cross-country to California where there is a "cancer treatment establishment" so that she can be fully monitored and treated without interruption.

     That was the end of that storyline.  However, it left me with a lot unanswered questions.  The first one was why does she have to go all the way to California to seek treatment?  Aren't there places in South Carolina (where the setting of the show is placed) where she can seek treatment?  She says that she is going to take an adventure while she still can and I understand that part of it.  Secondly, if chemotherapy and other treatments only work on so many people, isn't there is a more fail-proof solution to breast cancer? 

Then it hit me.  As I asked my wife these very same questions, I pitched an idea to her that I thought made sense to me.  I recalled an old episode of Dr. 90210 where a mother and daughter had masectomy procedures to remove the potential to contract breast cancer because every female in her family was at a very high-risk to get the disease.  Then it hit me.  Even though the risk of breast cancer is greatly reduced after having the preventative surgery, isn't that a much better solution than just the early-detection advisement of the National Breast Cancer Foundation?  Early detection is one "solution," but couldn't an entire step be taken out if the opportunity to contract breast cancer wasn't even present? 

She agreed with my idea, but there was a snag.  The surgery is costly if you include hospital or office costs, pathology, blood work, surgeon costs, anesthesia costs, pre-op and post-op appointments, medications, and reconstruction costs.  I know I am a guy, but that is a lot to consider.  Or is it a lot to consider?  This is about saving lives of women all over the world, especially in our own country.  There is nothing that can be done to make this option more openly available for the masses of women in the country to have a weapon to fight breast cancer with?  There isn't a government fund that can be created to make this a free option to preserve the lives of women everywhere?  I would do whatever I could to save my wife and my daughters from that pain and myself from that sorrow if any of them died from breast cancer if I know I could have prevented it.  I'm not saying to go out and get the surgery done just so that you could get bigger breasts or just to look and feel better about yourself.  That stuff is not covered by insurance for a reason.  It's because it would be for one's own personal gain.  However, if the decision were left to me, I would have them sign up in a heartbeat knowing that they would be alive that much longer.  I could live with myself if the cancer came after the surgery, but I know I did everything that I could to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Cancer comes from nowhere and can only be detected after it has hit and infiltrated the body.  However, wouldn't a simpler solution to early detection be to take away the chance of cancer, even happening even if that chance were only lowered?  A masectomy and screenings are not a full-proof plan by any means, but it surely beats the pants off of just trying to detect cancer early.  There are millions of women that would not have to worry about breast cancer ever in their lives if we could make this a viable option.  Just imagine how many lives could be saved by having this surgery followed by the recommended screenings. 

I would love to get opinions on what other people's solutions might be.  I would also love to get ideas as to what can be done in real life situations to prevent and defeat cancer and rid it from our world for good.

That's my word-Thank you for taking the time to read-I truly appreciate it