A softer touch
It may be National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but my breast self-exam how-to card—which hangs in the shower behind a caddy full of shampoo bottles—has gone unnoticed for almost a year now. And thanks to crafty Canadian artist Shannon Gerard, that’s just the way I like it.
Although more studies on the efficacy of self-examination need to be done, most doctors still recommend familiarizing yourself with the normal look and feel of your breasts to help you spot any potentially serious changes. But I’ve been so afraid that I might find a lump on my own, I’ve avoided the issue all together.
That’s where Gerard comes in. To help anxious ladies like me relax and get down to business, she has crocheted a much softer approach to breast self-exam education: Early Detection Kits, which include a plush boob to practice on (complete with sewn-in lumps!) and a beautifully illustrated instruction booklet to use as a guide. By adding a gentle dose of humor to a sometimes scary process, Gerard hopes that more women will warm up to regularly examining the real deal.
And she’s looking out for the fellas, too. Gerard, whose partner found a lump in one of his testicles last year, has also created Dinks Early Detection Kits for the male anatomy. “We girls have lots of resources,” she says, “but it seems harder to find appropriate info for dudes.”
In addition to spreading the word on the importance of early detection, Gerard also donates $5 from each sale to Cottage Dreams, an Ontario, Canada-based charity that offers cancer survivors and their families the opportunity to get away and celebrate their recovery in a beautiful setting.
