I found out earlier today that it is the first ever World Ovarian Cancer Day. The purpose of the day is to get everyone to send a consistent message about ovarian cancer — for at least one day. Remembering my mom's struggle and our family's, I decided to post the following to Facebook:

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13 years ago my mom knew two things: that she had ovarian cancer and that it had been caught late, just like in 85% of cases, which meant that she had less than a 50% chance of seeing any of her kids enter high school. Not catching it early is ugly but she beat the statistics for a long time. 10 years. She was atypically strong and had support from so many great people — and our family could never thank you all enough.

Eventually though, it's not a matter of strength or support; not a matter chemo or promising new treatments. Eventually — if it's caught late — it's not a matter of recovery because ovarian cancer is exponentially more deadly after its been given a chance to make a footing.

3 1/2 years ago my mom was one of the 14,000 US women to die wounded from a too-late a fight with ovarian cancer.

Cancer is treatable. Even ovarian cancer. The 15% of women who get diagnosed early make it 5 years with 93% certainty. Today on the first World Ovarian Cancer Day we would do well to know two things:

1) These symptoms of ovarian cancer warrant a check-up:

• Increased abdominal size / persistent bloating (not bloating that comes and goes) 
• Difficulty eating/feeling full quickly 
• Abdominal or pelvic pain 
• Needing to pass urine more urgently or more frequently 

2) That detecting cancer — of any type — late is a waste; it can usually be caught early because we have the screenings and exams to do so. Caught early, it can be treated effectively.

And really, detecting most diseases at most stages is a waste. Living healthier and seeking preventative medicine, we can prevent a majority of the diseases that ruin our quality of life and lead to an empty seat at the table. The most advanced treatments in the world aren't nearly as ideal as never having to consider them.

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It's one of the most deadly cancers for a woman to get because of how late it's usually diagnosed. That was the case with my mom's cancer and, although she fought like hell, ovarian cancer added one more woman to its long victim list.

I'd urge anyone with those symptoms to go in and get them checked out. You can't lose; either you don't have cancer (but also a little lighter in the wallet) or you might be able to catch it early when the 5 year survival rate is better than 90% (instead of catching it late when it's worse than 50%).

Well it’s about time!

Minot High School caught up with the times this year and adopted a winter semi-formal. The times have managed to elude MHS since its very first winter, but no more! Many other state high schools have been sporting similar wintry dances for years now. Hopefully the Snow Flake Break will become an annual tradition.

What is commonly called a Snow Ball, we are calling Snow Flake Break. And first off, I’d better make it clear that a “Snow Ball” is not the same as a “snowball.” A snowball is a spherical object made of snow, while a Snow Ball refers to a fancy (or in our case semi-fancy) dance held in the wintertime.

Winter dances date all the way back to the Russian Revolution in 1917. A group of college students were putting together a dance and wanted a new “catchy” name. They had just been to the Ice Ball (during Russia’s ice season) and a clever young Russian came up with Snow Ball, or снежок (snye-ZHAWK).

It was a big hit and the Snow Ball has been with us, humans, ever since. The same can’t be said for the Ice Ball however. It’s dreadful temperatures and prevalent ice lead to its last appearance in the year 1922.

The Russian Snow Ball was always a week-long affair and featured different activities for each night of the week. There was ice-skating, ice-fishing, ice-scraping, an ice-sculpting competition, and finally the Ball on Friday night (weather permitting of course).

The Snow Ball has been held every year since 1917 in Russia and today is as rich with tradition as Christmas. Being so popular, the tradition started to branch out to other countries but really gained speed in the 20’s.

Not long after the first commercial radio broadcast in 1920, news of the Russian’s winter dance and festivities spread to all snow-covered corners of the world. It swept the world by storm and was “the Bee’s Knees” for roughly ten years but slowly lost popularity and came to be celebrated with about as much enthusiasm as Arbor Day.

The Snow Ball was revived triumphantly during the late fifties in England and came with the Beatles to America in 1964. The first Snow Ball in the U.S. was held in a vague town in Rhode Island the following year but was called a Winter Formal because it was “more American.”

The Winter Formal spread fiercely through the U.S. and became especially popular in high schools, where the majority of them are held today. The celebration still lasts one week but the traditional Russian ice-tivities are now replaced with more American activities that vary with each Formal. All, however, are more fun than ice-scraping.

Since the turn of the Millennium, Winter Formals have started to include a dinner party before their Friday dances with the hopes of relieving the stress on stressed students having to make reservations for dinner. The dinner has been widely enjoyed, and plus, you’re guaranteed a seat!

Though a Snow Ball has been discussed for years at MHS, this year we made the commitment and became a tri-dance school. We are very proud to be a part of the Earth’s tradition of wintry themed dances. You can all give yourselves a pat on the back; well done, team!