Grugger’s Way

Below is a photo from 1982. I am the guy with the sneer on my face in the lower left corner. The guy in the upper right corner was already a Shellback, King Neptune’s Trusty Servant; and the rest of us were Pollywogs, (WOGS). We were crawling around on our hands and knees on non-skid surface of the aircraft carrier’s flight deck. We wrapped rags or foam rubber and duct tape around our knees and hands.

The “weapon” in the Shellback’s hand is called a shillaly*, and is made out of a short length of fire hose, with one end wrapped tightly with tape to make a rigid “handle.” The shillaly was used on our backsides to make us “move along smartly,” as he had us “wog dogs” on leashes. Believe me, this was just to be the beginning of a most “exhilarating experience.”

*NOTE: we pronounced the word as “shill-LAY-lee”

After lung cancer, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

The American National Cancer Institute estimates that 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer during her lifetime and studies show that the risk of breast cancer increases as a woman gets older. Most breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50, and the risk is especially high for women over age 60. Also, breast cancer occurs more often in white women than African American or Asian women. Breast cancer is uncommon in women under the age of 35, but it does occur, so women of ALL AGES should become aware of risk factors, symptoms and preventative measures, including self-examination.

Besides age, risk factors include family history and obesity. A woman whose mother (or sister) had breast cancer before age 40 is at greater risk. A family history of breast cancer on either the mother or the father’s side of the family can also increase risk.

Here is a link to the Federal Citizen Information Center web page on National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Here is a link to the American National Cancer Institute webpage on Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer killed two of my co-workers, one in her forties, the other in her fifties. Breast Cancer is in my family and in my in-law’s family. Cysts and lumpectomies have proven benign in two women that I dated years ago, when they were in their thirties, and provided a scare and a wake up call to both of them.

I urge all women, young and old, to become informed; to teach their daughters how to protect themselves; and to protect those they love. Men too, owe it to their ladies to become knowledgeable and supportive, and encourage preventative measures and tests.