Movember 2012
Don Campbell | Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 10:05AM Happy Movember!
Since its humble beginnings in Australia in 2004, the month of November has been adopted by men (and women) worldwide to raise awareness and funds to support the fight against prostate cancer and men's mental health issues. The sign-post for the initiative?...the upper lip, in the form of a sharp looking moustache!
My Dad suffered from prostate cancer. It was a very dark time for him, and everyone around him. It literally was a battle for survival, as it always is with cancer. His saving grace was early detection. My motivation is to continue the fight...for awareness, a cure, and long-term prevention. The thought of prostate cancer becoming familiar with my family again is scary. Not just for my sake, but for my two boys. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). In 2012:
- An estimated 26,500 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 4,000 will die of it.
- On average, 73 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer every day.
- On average, 11 Canadian men will die of prostate cancer every day.
It's time for me to join the fight! I can't remember the last time I had a moustache. I matured early as an adolecent, and had a full beard at age 13. I wore it, simply because I could. Frankly, it made me look like a psychopath, but I kept my facial hair for a few years until it became less unique. As a result, I probably haven't had hair on my face in 30 years! This could get interesting.
I've joined my 'brothers and sisters' (referred to as Mo Bros and Mo Sistas) in this fight by registering with the Movember organization. Their website contains many facts about the charity itself, and how you can get involved as well. One simple way is to follow my progress over the course of the month, and donate to the cause through my Movember page at mobro.co/ConnectWithDon. I promise to keep you up to date with images, commentary, and Movember information.
Feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what type of moustache you think I should grow. Handlebar? Fu Manchu? Frankly, as my upper lip already has a scar from my youth hockey days, it'll be interesting to see what can even grow there. And will it be brown, grey, or salt-n-pepper? No matter what it looks like, I'm sure it will make me look dashing! ;-)
Thanks for your support! Every little bit helps.
Don
UPDATE
The FINAL result!
As a treat, here's a video of what happens after Movember ends...
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