Let the Pink Parade Begin

This afternoon, I went to lunch with a few friends. We didn't even get in the door of Panera Bread before being greeted with a pink ribbon - via a sign that let us know all the proceeds from the day's purchases of pink food products would be donated to some sort of generic Breast Cancer organization. How much, what organization, where in the organization (for awareness, education or cure) were not even mentioned. So I asked the manager.

Of course he had no idea, he just regurgitated the few sentences that were probably on the memo he received from corporate last week. When I pressed him for specifics, he admitted he didn't know and directed me to the company's website which "should have all that information," he said.

And of course it did not. Not a word about it - not a pink ribbon or a mention that tomorrow - October 1 - even kicks off BC Awareness Month. So of course I hit the "Contact Us" tab and left a small book about the nature of my problem and why it just ain't cool to pink wash. Maybe they'll respond, maybe they won't. I'll keep you posted...

The Very BIG Business of Breast Cancer

Many of my friends and family know how the site of pink batteries, M&Ms, oven mitts and vacuum cleaners can send me into an absolute frenzy. They get how the parade of silly pink products that happens every year about this time - all in the name of breast cancer awareness month in October - pisses me off to no end. They understand that I have issues with how money is raised and where it doesn't go because I've told them (OK - ranted) about it endlessly. They also know that the mention of Susan G. Komen "For the Cure" makes my eyes narrow and my eyebrows nit really close together - but still, they love me :-)

I've been tweeting and FaceBooking about it, but every once in a while, I need help getting the message out. So I'm grateful to Marie Clare for writing an amazing article detailing why we should all think before we pink. Please give it a read and share the link with your family and friends!

Seriously - How Hard Could It Be to Find a Cure?

Tomorrow morning, a friend will be heading in for a biopsy for calcifications that showed up today on her annual mammogram four years after her original diagnosis - this less than a week after a mutual friend of ours died of brain mets. My mom died of brain mets in 1992. Can't tell you how much I hate cancer today...

Now just think for a moment about all the walks and races that have been held and the silly array of pink products have been sold since my mother's original diagnosis in 1988. Seriously - are we any closer to a cure today than we were 19 years ago?

Enough of the bullshit. Enough of the pink perfumes and the beautification of breast cancer - because it's really far from cute, feminine or pleasing to the olfactory system (and anyone who's ever battled this beast or stood beside someone who has can attest to that). Enough ribbons and batteries and baseball gloves and vacuum cleaners already - a CURE is what we really need.

Sure, BC probably gets more attention and funds than any other cancer, yet mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, friends, neighbors and co-workers die every day from it. There's something wrong with that picture.

And I don't want to hear about how multi-faceted BC is. Yep - there are lots of different types of breast cancers - I get that. But freaking pick one already and start there. I don't understand how difficult that is, I really don't.

So I logged onto Susan G. Komen's site to find out if they could help me understand it a little better. I saw from their little pink pie chart that only 25% of what they take in each year is actually allocated for "research and awards" (the "awards" part is supposed to be to local programs that aim to help women, so even less than that actually ends up in the "research" pot, it seems). But a combined 51% for "education" and "screening"? Important, true - but more important than researching a cure? Hmmmm...

And of course, the survivor in me hears a ticking clock somewhere off in the distance. If I ever have a recurrence or a new primary cancer, will there be much more hope than there is now that a cure will be found before I run out of time and treatment options?

I just wish I had more middle fingers to flip at breast cancer and all the bull that goes along with it. Rest in peace, Elizabeth B.

On My Christmas Wish-list for 2011

Finally - someone has the nerve and knowledge to tell the truth about the pink-washing of America that goes on every October. Hats off to sociologist Gayle A. Sulik for her new book "Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women's Health." I want this book! Really wish I could have gotten it this year for Christmas, though...

I found out about the book from another survivor's Facebook post about a book review that appeared on Slate.com. After you read the review, take a look at the comments below it that do everything from complain that breast cancer gets too much attention (compared to other cancers) to placing the blame for getting the disease smack on the laps of survivors. Sickening, really...

But I do agree with Sulik that we need to do a better job holding companies that make shit piles of money on the business of "racing for the cure" much more accountable for how they spend what they raise. To me, giving a CEO a $459K+ salary wastes too much of what is supposed to be for research (cough, cough, Komen). My son and I lived on 1/12 of that the year I was diagnosed while paying for my own health insurance (I was self-employed), treatment co-pays (like radiation which was $100 a week for six weeks) and hospital and doctor payments following surgery, so, yes, I think that is too much money to be giving a CEO of a non-profit agency that is supposed to be about raising cash to cure this stupid disease. But, that's just me...