It's October. It's time to wear pink and support the fight against breast cancer. Also, it's time for what has become, for me, an annual rant.
The Pink Tsunami makes me wince, even as I wore pink to work yesterday and put on my pink socks with the breast cancer "loop". I knew I would be in a meeting with a former co worker who's spent a lot of this year battling (and I have no other word for it) breast cancer. She wore pink, too.
I will say up front; I have never had cancer. I have been a bystander and, at one point in my life, a caregiver to someone who was undergoing cancer treatment.
Don't get me wrong. I know there is a history behind the pink tsunami. I know some of the details of what my mother in law went
through battling her two distinct breast cancers during the 1970's (more
on that a little later). So many people alive today do not know the
horrors of breast cancer back then - how women were given no support,
how women would be put under while a "frozen section" was run on their
tumor. The woman would not know, when she woke up, if she would awaken
with their entire body intact or not. Cancer in those days (not just breast cancer0
was something you fought privately, with little or no support.
My late mother in law, to be blunt about it, was butchered by a well meaning
surgeon and had an extensive scar on her chest to prove how men treated the removal of a
breast in the bad old days.
So what is my issue? And do I have a right to even have an issue, given I have never had cancer?
Well, yes.
I think the "pink" campaign trivializes breast cancer. How many of
you are aware, for example, that there is no such monolith as "breast
cancer" but instead a whole spectrum of cancers affecting the breast?
My mother in law had two different types. One was a tumor. The other
manifested itself as a discharge. Her doctor "poo pooed" the discharge but finally
an instinct told my mother in law that she had a problem and had to
seek help elsewhere. Even after the cancer diagnosis, it was
diagnosed incorrectly. Fortunately, Memorial Sloane Kettering in New York City (the same hospital where the woman I wrote about above is being treated) made the
correct diagnosis (so correct treatment could be given). There is nothing cute or pink
about this killer.
And, not everyone survives. Not only that, but sometimes there is a tendency
to "blame the victim": those with Stage IV, well, they didn't eat the
right foods, or they didn't exercise enough, or they didn't do their
self exam well enough, or they didn't get enough mammograms or...they
didn't fight hard enough. Really? I know I still don't understand as I've never faced cancer and a part
of me hopes I never have to understand. But blaming the person in treatment I do understand. It's wrong.
There is no cure for breast cancer. You are in remission, or you are not.
This one is really important.
Men can get breast cancer
too! I worry about my dear husband - with his family history-mother
had it twice, and three of her sisters had breast cancer also. Yes, he's at risk.
Did you know that men have breast tissue? I read a
statistic online saying that one out of every 100 breast cancers is
diagnosed in a man. These men are drowning in the pink
tsumani of misunderstanding.
There is a high risk breast cancer clinic in
Binghamton, New York (where I work) and I've talked to my husband about calling them just to
talk. So far, he won't, despite his family history. He is scared off
(or so he says) by the sea of pink.
Why not read the story of a man who lives an hour or so from here, Bob Riter. In his 60's he's a survivor and an advocate.
4. I believe the pink tsunami of breast cancer funnels money from
other cancers.
Maybe breast cancer gets the publicity because there is a test for it or
because of the horrible past history I touched on above. Let's face it, there
are no
reliable tests for many cancers. But women (and men) die from other reproductive cancers. My former neighbor
did, leaving a 12 year daughter and a 6 year old developmentally disabled son and a grieving husband to raise them.
Or let's think about pancreatic cancer. Alex Trebek thinks about it daily.
A cousin's wife died from brain cancer earlier this year. Not too many people survive the cancer she had.
A co worker's brother died of colon cancer. He was in his 20's. His sister fights to get insurance to pay for colonoscopies for her two grown children, both now in their 20's. Rates of colon cancer are increasing among young people, according to the New York Times.
There are all the 9/11 first responders and civilians who have passed on from 9/11 cancer. They will be passing for years to come. Where are their canned soups, marches and colored clothing?
For this coming October, why not forget the pink and raise money for research into fighting all cancer, and raising awareness and funds for the support of family and friends?
Day 2 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost
We are probably making our first real progress against cancer. We've had baby steps- finding a drug that kills more cancerous cells than normal ones. But, now, we have ways to kill only the cancerous ones. Let's hope it's true- pink or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope. We need this hope so badly.
DeleteI raised a lot of money in support of blood cancers in the past as well as for breast cancers. You are right that there is just so much that the public (myself included) do not know about. And in our defense, I think there is just too much for one person to get a clear understanding about all the different types.
ReplyDeletePosts like yours, Alana, are desperately needed to raise the awareness like you are doing. No one "likes" to take about cancer, or the uncomfortable feels and emotions it may elicit in a conversation, and it is necessary to do!
Thank you for speak out and sharing your experiences and the links to other peoples' stories so we can learn more.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting. My aunt suffered through a wall of silence as she battled pancreatic cancer in 1974. No one should ever have to go into that battle without support.
DeletePerhaps I have a different viewpoint, because I am a cancer survivor. In 2005 I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, stage 3. As a person from an Ashkenazi Jewish background, with to relatives who died of breast cancer, I've been tested for the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 mutations -- which I do not have. With a family history that also includes prostate cancer and colon cancer, though, I have to be attentive to the latest genetic research, as research is finding all sorts of links, and I have two daughters to be concerned about.
ReplyDeletei don't have a problem with the pink tsunami, and in fact I participate in one annual breast cancer fundraising event. I think breast cancer awareness has led to awareness of other cancers, other treatments.
And a lot of the money raised "for breast cancer" actually supports programs that benefit all cancer patients. Example: "Lock of Love' donations are usually part of a breast cancer event, and the hair that is donated provides wigs for all cancer patients who lose their hair to chemo. "Look good, feel better" is a program that provides cosmetics to female cancer patients and teaches them how to improve their appearance during treatment.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer, so of course it receives the most attention. But I think breast cancer awareness has led to an awareness of all forms of cancer.
Thank you for teaching me about your experience. I am also of Ashkenazi Jewish background although my family cancer instance seems to be digestive cancer (pancreatic and stomach) rather than reproductive. The genetic links are a whole other topic that needs more exploring. I also was not aware of some of the other programs that benefit everyone. So again, thank you.
DeleteIt’s all about the awareness. I’m also somewhat of an expert on lung cancer, mesothelioma and 9/11 related cancers, it’s part of what I do for a living. Our lung cancer plaintiffs are living long enough to enjoy the money they get from their lawsuits, which never used to happen. Unfortunately the mesothelioma plaintiffs usually die before their cases are resolved, but their families are provided for.
DeleteI went into laboratory medicine because I wanted to find cures for cancer. I was told my grandfather had colon cancer back in 1960 only to learn from his death certificate last year that he did not have cancer but arterial disease. I now wonder if my aunt who died in the 60's really had breast cancer. It was something no one talked about back then. It was just the 'Big C'. And yes, men do get breast cancer. A gentleman at work had it and was too embarrassed to let anyone know that was what he was being treated for. I agree that the whole pink ribbon trivializes the disease, which is why I never participate despite having a good friend who had both breast removed after two bouts of the disease.
ReplyDeleteMy late childhood best friend, who was an ovarian cancer survivor, personally would not participate in any of the breast cancer only fundraisers. And I remember the 50's and 60's "hide the cancer" philosophy too well, especially when an aunt was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the late 1960's. People who long for the "good old days" forget some of this, I think.
DeleteMy aunt died of breast cancer in 1974, when I was 14. At one point, several months before she died, I was reading a women’s magazine — Good Housekeeping or Ladies Home Journal, something like that. There was an article about breast cancer in the magazine, and she wouldn’t let me read it. That’s how I knew she had breast cancer, no one ever told me what she had.
DeleteWe lost our son-in-law aat 39 years old from colon, liver and lung cancer. We participate in Relay for Life and hope and pray that not only a cure can be found but a prevention for all cancers.
ReplyDeleteIt's scary stuff. An online knitting magazine has a great knitted cap: http://knitty.com/ISSUEdf19/PATTfuckcancer/PATTfuckcancer.php
ReplyDeleteI tend to stay out of these discussions. Of course you get an opinion.
Your piece about the sea of pink is very thought provoking. Thank you for mentioning the fact that men can get breast cancer. I interviewed a man who was diagnosed with breast cancer as the result of a routine physical. He told me that many men do know recognize the symptoms. As a result, they do not receive a timely diagnosis, and many pass away. There needs to be an educational program for men, so that they can learn to recognize their symptoms. This could save lives.
ReplyDelete