Am I the only one who hates Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Every time I open a newspaper or switch on the tv I am bombarded with it at a time when I’m trying not to dwell on it. It’s particularly heart breaking for me to have to listen to the latest celebrity effected by breast cancer telling us how wonderful everything is and how brave they are. Of course everything is marvelous for you, I bet you’re not relying on the NHS, you probably weren’t sent home by your gp with antibiotics, you didn’t have to convince them something was wrong and wait two weeks for a biopsy. You didn’t have to wait over a week to get the results and another week to get an appointment with an oncologists and then a further three weeks before you could start chemo. I bet you’ll have all the ct scans and bone scans in the future and won’t have to wait seven years for the symptoms of secondaries to appear only to be told sorry it’s too late now.
I’m not opposed to breast cancer awereness, I just wish it was handled differently. It should be about imparting information on prevention not on “heart warming” stories which only serve to emphasise the fact that some of us haven’t been among the lucky ones.
How I agree Sharon. I found my lump in Oct and because it was Breast Awareness month had to wait 4wks before I could get a mammo and then because it was coming up to Christmas another 4 before I had my lumpectomy. I had a very aggressive, fast growing tumour and only made it by the skin of my teeth. The consultant radiographer on looking at my notes told me I’d been caught in the nick of time and that even a couple more days would have been too late!!
I do wish in a way that Oct. wasn’t the month I was dx (not that there would have been a ‘good’ month!), as it has meant that whilst I, my friends and family have been coming to terms with the news, we have been bombarded left right and centre - tv/newspapers etc with bc stories - and they do mostly seem to be celebrity orientated, and talk about this person and that person ‘beating’ cancer after a year… and we all know it’s not that simple - and this sort of msg really doesn’t help when you are trying to be honest with those around you.
If there are more women seeing their GPs and being referred as a result of the campaign, then that is surely a good thing - but for me the sad thing is that the empahsis on bc is given to just one month. I so much want to see far better education for girls from teen years up on self examination - I asked my gp, when I was well past 30, how to actually examine myself properly, and based on what she showed/told me, I’ve since discovered that a) I have never been pressing firmly enough b)if I’d had inflammatory bc I wouldn’t have known what the symptoms were c)PICTURES of what dimpling/ibc/lumps look like would be an enormous help in educating women. I still didn’t have a clue.
Believe me, my own daughters will be far more breast aware - and so will my friends, I’ll make damn sure of it.
For me the overtly pink boop boop de dooh tone of the campaign may be reassuring to some, but I suspect that for most women they find it a bit of a dumbing down for the fairer sex… and more than a little patronising when promoted by certain newspapers. But better a pink message, than no message at all.
The pinkness of this disease drives me insane - always has done - even before diagnosis. I have ranted on these boards many times about all of it - the manufactured pink culture of bc is utterly unrepresentative of myself as a woman and of my experience with breast cancer.
xwelcomex you are so right - there is a profound sugar coating of this illness and there is collosal ignorance.
I have just watched a very dear friend die - this disease had taken over her brain, her liver, her skeleton. There is nothing pink and fluffy about it and it is about as far removed from c-list celebs poncing about for the paparazzi at fundraisers as you can get.
There are lots of people who don’t see the problem with the pinky stuff - they think that if it raises money and awareness then it isn’t an issue. But I don’t agree - pinkyfication has created a culture around this disease which perpetuates nonsense. No other form of cancer is subjected to this manufactured identity. Why, because this is cancer that originates in breast tissue, are we infantalised and treated like little girls all in pink?
The pink thing is starting to bore the public too - I think there is now such predictability in the way that charities and media handle this disease that people are switching off - which is the last thing anyone wants. Charities need to find new vibrant interesting and unusual methods to raise awareness.
A friend of mine described it perfectly. She said that checking your boobs is like flossing your teeth - you know you should do it but most of the time you don’t until your dentist nags you. We need some effective and unusual ways of nagging all women to be constantly breast aware.
GPs have a lot to answer for - for years they have misdiagnosed women. There is no point getting women to be active about breast health if GPs are still failing to refer women.
Positivity and courage are all well and good on a personal level - but they aren’t a compulsory element of a cancer diagnosis - and they won’t cure cancer.
Positive, courageous women die every day.
So do scared, depressed, anxious women. Women who are facing uncertain futures. Women who are facing the reality of not being around to raise their kids. Women whose partners leave them at the lowest point in their lives. Women who lose their breasts and libido as well as their peace of mind. Women who lose their jobs and are in terrible financial limbo. Women who are now being denied benefits eventhough they are far too ill to return to work. This is the reality of BC for many many women.
I want to see that message told more often than it is.
Otherwise the world thinks that because Kylie is a picture of health nowadays that BC really isn’t that big a deal.
Ah Ha!!! Some very sensible comments here and along with the thread in the diagnosis part of the forum actually quite chilling!
Fluffy and pink is something I hate and whilst I am very thankful that lots of money for research is being raised by these campaigns, which indirectly help us all there are lots of other more simple stuff that can be done that has much more impact.
I am undergoing chemo having been diagnosed at age 49…could have been diagnosed soooner if mammos for under 51s were available in our area! My mother and gran died of it and my daughter aged 26 at dx has it…so I have a very vested interest in getting a very serious and not bluddy pink message across…that breast cancer as we know has many forms and many symptoms and is not all about finding a lump, getting treated and being instantly cured…which is how it seems to be portrayed! Most people and most of if we are honest, in the past tried not to think about it…and hope the strange itch/red patch/funny nipple/weird skin/odd dimple…and lumps and bumps would go away or as many people, my mother included put off the mammogramme they were called for ‘in case it showed something’…
So I spoke to my bcn and a few other folks and we have an idea!
Practically every woman buys bras…and nearly every woman buying clothes goes in a store changing room…so
What about a message…not a pink fluffy one…but a practical one…on a bra packet/lable/hanger such as ‘Breast cancer affects young women too…check ur boobs!’ or little diagrams of how and what to do and look for on the wall in every ladies changing booth…where there are generally loads of mirrors!
What about the bra fitting ladies in M&S…should they be trained in what to look for?..if they spot a lady who is looking for a new bra due to soreness under arm etc they could say…have you had that checked out?
I am becoming increasingly aware that far too many women are being diagnosed far too late, especially the pre menopausal women who tend to have more aggressive forms of bc…what do you think?
I think how to check your breasts and what changes to look out for including pictures should become part of the sex education and health awareness that girls get in secondary school. After all my girls had a year assembly meeting lasting half an hour about cervical cancer, the vaccine and the importance of getting regular smears and seeing your gp if you have any problems, but not a single word about checking their breasts. It should be a compulsory part of the health awareness that teenage girls receive and something that should be mentioned at cervical smear test appointments.
I’ve never believed that the end justifies the means when it comes to awareness or fund-raising, and I’m deeply unhappy with the trivialising aspect of Pink October. I fear that the providers of such funds are, in effect, buying endorsement of their behaviour.
I can’t help but think of Debs objecting to all the trivialising last October and not living to see this October. Nothing funny, pleasing or fluffy about that; just the harsh reality of breast cancer.
We live in a technologically advanced age - how hard can it be for a text to be sent once a month saying It’s Boob Checking Day? Or an email or whatever.
Anyone could sign up to ensure that all female relatives were subscribed to that service.
Great idea about messages on mirrors in changing rooms and loos. And every bra sold in this country should carry a ‘check yourself’ tag as a not-so-subtle reminder.
It stands to reason that breast health must be made a part of health education at school. Girls would come home and nag their mums and aunties and grans - it would have an excellent ripple effect in broader society. If girls grow up “breast aware” it will be second nature and they will remain vigilant all their lives hopefully.
1 in 9 is such a powerful statistic. In my experience when women hear that the lifetime risk of developing this disease is 1 in 9 it really hits home. I don’t know why it isn’t used more by the charities. Along with the 44,000 diagnosed each year and the 16,000 deaths. The figures speak for themeselves.
Breast cancer really isn’t something that only happens to other people.
I agree with everything that has been said - and I think posters and leaflets should be in every female changing room/public loo and certainly given out to secondary school girls. The leaflets could have photos in them to give more guidance on what we are talking about when we say ‘dimpling’ ‘lump’ ‘inverted nipple’ etc etc.
The other thing that occurred to me after my last post was how unfair this ‘think pink’ message is for men - I can imagine it must be extremely difficult for a man to be told he has breast cancer - but how much more so when the whole bc ‘thing’ is made so pink and fluffy? I know it is still ‘rare’ for men to develop this form of cancer, but it happens, for heavens sake - there are enough men on this forum to stand testament to that - and if we women aren’t breast aware enough… what hope for men? They must feel totally excluded from this pink campaign. Room for information in boys’ sex ed. lessons too, I think.
Really great recommendations here on this site.
If only they could be employed as quickly,as so many of them are just so sensible.
You’ve really come up trumps here. The messages in changing rooms, loos and in bras or their packaging are just excellent!
Well done to all of you.
Hope these recommendations will go further than this particular forum.
Welsh girl
My Mum had BC when I was a young adult (and I’m not stupid!) and I was her carer and still, I knew very little about the symptoms of BC.
Explicit messages have to be delivered to help us all become more breast aware. Now, I am an ambassador amongst friends and family as I don’t want others to be as complacent as I was!
But what I really think is that, of course greater breast awareness has to be pushed, but what I really want to see is some collective OUTRAGE at the commonality of this disease in our country.
Why is it that we have one of the highest rates of breast cancer globally???
Surely we shouldn’t just accept this fact…
What is it about western life styles that are causing so many women, (and there by all their loved ones) to suffer this hideous fate??
Instead of simply campaining for more early detection, we should be demanding/campaining for answers as to why breast cancer rates are so high…
1 in 9 here, 1 in 10,000 in Japan!!!
It just doesn’t add up, there must be some answers out there…
Breast cancer rates have doubled in Japan in the past 40 years and breast cancer is now their most common cancer in women. BC mortality has doubled in the past 20 years.
As Japan has become more Westernised and affluent so their rates have increased - and they have increased at a truly alarming rate. (It is known as the rich woman’s disease.)
How is a woman’s life different in Japan now than in 40 years ago? Women having children much later in life, women having fewer children, women not breastfeeding, women being fatter, women using HRT, women drinking alcohol, women starting periods earlier etc etc. All of the proven risk increasers that apply here too.
See here - jjco.oxfordjournals.org/content/29/3/137
Other interesting fact about Japan is that they rarely if ever got lobular carcinomas - but they are now on the increase. And the grading is going up too. So breast cancer is changing its histology in Japan - as well as increasing in incidence.
What is interesting about Japan is not the whole green tea & soy thing - it is the fact that we are able to watch breast cancer developing in a country and so we may be able to try and glean more information as to causes.
In my opinion what is really interesting about the Japanese model is not that the rates of incidence are low - it is that they are increasing at a hell of a rate.
I worked in 2 Japanese banks in London over a period of 10 years. Most of my Japanese colleagues said they had major problems with the Western diet when they moved over here. Things they complained about most were bread and dairy. At that point Japanese restaurants in London were very few in number, a meal for 4 people in one of them would have cost £200 as the bulk of Japanese eateries were exclusive and based in Mayfair (25 years ago!). It was years before cheap chains like Wagamama and YO! Sushi opened up.
I can also tell you that back then most of my female Japanese colleagues chain smoked and drank a lot, so maybe they have been storing this up for many years. Even the women would think nothing of smoking 2 packs a day. There was a fondness for wine and whisky as they are so expensive back in Japan; the Japanese I worked with also did not tolerate alcohol well (due to their build).