October means pink out for sports to support breast cancer research.  Breast cancer is a common fear for women today.  

   “I think Pink Out is important because a lot of people suffer through it and a lot of people fight alone. That’s why I started my platform ‘Crowns Fighting Cancer’ in honor of my mom,” said senior Tatum Bohl. Bohl’s platform is part of her inspiration for her pageant career. 

   Bohl’s mother, Kim Bohl, is a  survivor of breast cancer. Bohl said she found a lump, and had to undergo several surgeries. She was diagnosed in April of 2015.

 “Mentally, it was the scariest situation I’ve ever been in, but it toughened me up. It made me appreciate what I had.” Bohl recalls.

   “Pink Out not only recognizes those who suffered through it, but it also celebrates the people who have survived it. It is a constant reminder to others that they need early screenings,” she said.

  Middle school Life Skills teacher, April Simons, is also a survivor.  She caught the cancer early on, and was able to get the proper treatments. 

    “I think it’s important to bring awareness to others who may not think that it could happen to them,” she said.

   Eleven-year WHS choir and piano instructor, Charlene Million, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in June of 2018. She got very sick with Staph and Sepsis while on vacation in Orange Beach, Alabama

   “After seeing my oncologist at Siteman Cancer Center, the team gave me hope that we could beat this so that’s the mindset me and my family have. I had lots of daily prayers by lots and lots of friends and family and church members, and daily chemo meds and monthly checks,” she said.

   “Treatment makes me tired, the oral med makes my eyes water constantly and also has dried out my vocal cords where I can’t sing high anymore.  I have five grandkids that keep me hopping and I go to watch them play lots of games and activities, especially this fall with a freshman and senior playing volleyball in Illinois, a junior playing softball and a seventh grader playing football in NE Missouri,” she said.

   According to the Mauer Breast Cancer Foundation, there may seem to be more cases of breast cancer due to better detection.

    “It is very hard to tell whether breast cancer is actually more common in today’s society, or whether our perception is skewed,” the website stated.

    “We have much better diagnostic capabilities today so more cases are identified.Women are more likely to receive routine clinical breast examinations at their doctors’ office, inevitably meaning that more cases are identified. Up until the 19th century, people died younger. Breast cancer develops more amongst older women, so this increase in life expectancy could be skewing perceptions.Women used to have more children at a younger age and breastfed for longer, all factors which lower the risk of breast cancer,” according to the website. 

   Pink Out is more than “just a trend.” Breast cancer awareness month is recognized from big cities to small towns like Warsaw.

   The Pink-Out tradition was started in the NFL in 2009.

 “The NFL began its ‘Crucial Catch’ program in October 2009 in partnership with the American Cancer Society. Used pink equipment is auctioned off after games, and the proceeds are donated. Fans also can purchase pink licensed NFL gear, and the league’s proceeds from those sales also go to the ACS,” according to a Washington Post article.  “Within a week of the NFL’s first pink game in 2009, Anna Isaacson, the league’s senior vice president of social responsibility, saw the look gaining traction. She was driving past a high school football game in Cleveland on a Friday night and saw the bleachers full of pink-clad fans. Cheerleaders waved pink pom-poms on the sidelines. Players had colored their cleats in pink and wore pink tape. Isaacson pulled up to the school and started taking pictures. She said it’s one of her proudest moments working for the NFL,” states The Washington Post. 

   Local Carmen Mantonya, aunt of freshman Kinlea Russel is a breast cancer survivor.

  “I recommend to all my friends and family to go get mammograms to catch it early on,” she said. 

Mantonya found out she had cancer after a mammogram in 2023. She said that it was caught early on, and now she is cancer free.

   “I helped my aunt out around the house with stuff that she needed,” Russel said.

   Family Practice doctor Amber Campbell, who has 15 years of experience at Golden Valley Medical Clinic in Warsaw, acknowledges the importance of a healthy lifestyle and screening.

   “There are many ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer like maintaining a healthy weight and diet, being physically active, trying to limit alcohol and avoid tobacco use, breastfeeding, use of hormonal birth control, getting adequate sleep, stress management, and finding out your family history to get genetic testing and closer monitoring,” Campbell said.  

“The best prevention, in my mind, is to get mammograms annually starting at age forty,” says Dr. Campbell.

 Those who have been affected by breast cancer recognize that it is important to keep a positive mindset.

“The main thing for anyone with a non-curable but treatable disease is always  having something to look forward to and to trust God to be with me every step of the day!” states Million.