Cancer & Women

Long time no see, blog. I’m back. 

College has been really difficult, I won't lie. But as I like to remind myself, “the carousel never stops turning.” (Yes, I got that from Grey's Anatomy, and yes, I know we’re getting off topic… but maybe not entirely.)  

Because when I think about that quote, I don’t just think about stress or exams or deadlines. I think about something much bigger: how life keeps moving, even in the face of illness, especially cancer. 

Cancer and women is not just a medical issue. It’s deeply personal, deeply structural, and deeply unequal. (Can you tell I'm a Sociology major yet?) 

Women carry a disproportionate burden when it comes to certain cancers, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer- all diseases that are not only physically devastating but emotionally and socially complex. And for many women, especially women of color, the experience is even more layered. It’s not just about diagnosis. It’s about delayed diagnosis. It’s about being unheard. It’s about navigating a healthcare system that too often overlooks pain, minimizes symptoms, or fails to provide culturally competent care.

The carousel doesn’t stop turning for them either. 

 It keeps turning while women sit in waiting rooms, wondering if the lump they found will change their lives. 

It keeps turning while mothers undergo treatment, still expected to care for everyone else around them. 

It keeps turning while women fight not only a disease, but also systemic inequities that make survival harder than it should be.  

And yet, there is something else that keeps moving too: resilience.  Women show up  for themselves, for their families, for their communities  even in the middle of uncertainty. But resilience should not be a requirement for survival. Strength should not be the expectation placed on those already carrying so much.  If anything, this is a call to slow the carousel, or at least to make it more just.  

We need earlier screenings. We need better access. We need to listen to women (really listen) when they say something is wrong. We need to confront the disparities that make outcomes worse for Black women and other marginalized groups.  

Because the truth is, the carousel may never stop turning. But we can decide how it turns, who it serves, and who it leaves behind.  And that’s where change begins.