What Stinks about PINKtober

Everyone on our planet knows that October is breast cancer awareness month. I certainly support raising awareness for early detection and spreading the word.

What I abhor is unscrupulous people jumping on the bandwagon.
"Hey, over here!" "Wanna show your support?" "Well, buy one of these fabulous PINK tee shirts, or shoelaces, or hair thingys for your ponytail, and help raise awareness.

Now you do this, and other than getting a cheap and cheesy "breast cancer souvenir" which you will maybe wear once, and then probably stuff into your drawer, you've contributed nothing towards the cause for cure. You've more than likely, probably only lined someones pocket who is taking advantage of the month.

Don't believe me? Check out Ebay or Etsy and see how many items you can find. You'll note they all are for "raising awareness"but how much of the sale actually is donated to research?

Please do yourself a favor and donate directly at the source such as  http://www.bcrfcure.org/
or http://www.cancer.org/index or whichever organization you prefer.
Then go out and wear all the pink you want. You'll honor yourself, and anyone special you may have in mind. And you can really feel good about it.

Now, another thing I am plain out pissed about. You'll see ads loaded with "happy campers" all pinked out, and the ad is supposed to leave you all warm and fuzzy, because it gives the message that if you'll only "be aware" and find it with early detection, then you will be fine and dandy.

I call it like I see it, and this is pure bullshit. Ladies and gentlemen, you are being "pink-washed."

What began as a noble cause is sending the message, that with all this "raising awareness" well, if you do get breast cancer, and it has metastasized, well it must be your own fault then, because God only knows you'd have to be living under a rock not to realize that early detection would've saved you.

So if by the time you've found your lump and discover that unfortunately it has already latched on to your lymph nodes and beyond, well you can't blame PINK for that.

In the U.S., few women have metastatic disease when they are first diagnosed with breast cancer (less than five percent of diagnoses).1 More commonly, metastatic breast cancer arises months or years after a woman has completed treatment for early or locally advanced (stage I, II or III) breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer returning and metastasizing varies from person to person - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/KomenPerspectives/Living-with-metastatic-breast-cancer-(January-2014).html#sthash.v9FJU4E5.dpuf

This whole campaign is focusing on early detection. That is all well and good, but they are leaving out the very women AND men who need recognition the most, and that are those who have, and are living with metastatic breast cancer.

Yes, you heard me. People actually live with this crap. Many for a hell of a lot longer than you think.

When my younger sister Beth was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27, it was already metastatic disease. Was that her fault? No, in fact it is estimated that 5% of breast cancer is metastatic disease when first found.

Now is metastatic disease an automatic death sentence? Well that depends. For some it is a chronic illness.
Beth survived for 22 years. She waged war with this disease.  Her cancer didn't recur. It never freakin' left! When she was 48, it moved to her bones. She died at age 49.

That being said, it can and, does recur in patients who were lucky and caught it early. Approximately 18 to 20% of women diagnosed with early breast cancer will have their cancer return within 10 years of diagnosis. Now is that going to be their fault? Of course not!

 My point is this, no one bloody well knows, or can predict if this will happen. Yes, we all know that early detection is our best shot, but really, shouldn't our attention right now be on metastatic disease? These women AND men live with this as a chronic illness. We need to hear from them and their healthcare providers. We need to hear about, and learn how they cope and survive.We need to know their "Life Plan."

Love,
Dixie

In the U.S., few women have metastatic disease when they are first diagnosed with breast cancer (less than five percent of diagnoses).1 More commonly, metastatic breast cancer arises months or years after a woman has completed treatment for early or locally advanced (stage I, II or III) breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer returning and metastasizing varies from person to person - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/KomenPerspectives/Living-with-metastatic-breast-cancer-(January-2014).html#sthash.v9FJU4E5.dpuf

In the U.S., few women have metastatic disease when they are first diagnosed with breast cancer (less than five percent of diagnoses).1 More commonly, metastatic breast cancer arises months or years after a woman has completed treatment for early or locally advanced (stage I, II or III) breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer returning and metastasizing varies from person to person - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/KomenPerspectives/Living-with-metastatic-breast-cancer-(January-2014).html#sthash.v9FJU4E5.dpuf