--- this morning tv

[Guest user]

--- sorry, meant \'different\' for everyone - not \'difficult\' because it apparently isn\'t for the woman that was on last week!!!

[Guest user]

not a lot really - just some fudge about it being difficult for everyone

the phone in\'s on now...

[Guest user]

--- DARN! --- just broke my neck running downstairs to get there in time for the adverts!!!!!

what did they say?

Joy xxx

[Guest user]

damage limitation this morning are back on the breast cancer topic!

phil and lorriane currently discussing it with a lady from Breast Cancer Care and the female doc from this morning.

phone in to be on the same topic shortly...

liked the spin at the start - something along the lines of \"following xxx\'s story that we featured last week, lots of you called and wrote in with your own stories...\"

yeah! and complaints!! but they\'re hardly gonna say that...

[Guest user]

Well Done Well Done Geonome. I have also emailed This Morning and feel better for it.

How Very Dare They!

PaulaD

[Guest user]

--- hI, yOU SOUND AS ANGRY AS I WAS WHEN I WATCHED THE PROGRAMME. This is a copy of an e mail my daughter has just sent to me, to let me know she has sent this to the programme also.

\"\"\"---I found the programme upsetting and incorrect in its information, as my mum has bc and we have looked into it thoroughly in order to try and be in some control of the disease of which so many men and women die.

There was nothing to be gained by following this woman\'s offer of celebrity status, as the only people interested in the treatment and effects are either those suffering from it or their families..... since these people are already going through it or have been through it, what can they gain by watching someone else\'s experience? They KNOW what the treatment is like and know that making out foot massage is the norm and feeling that this is a \'good cancer to get\' and that statements like \'only a few people die of breast cancer\' can do nothing but harm.

This woman was so quick to offer herself to be filmed but did not bother to find out the facts so that she could REALLY help anyone out here. What is she REALLY doing to help rid this world of this horrible disease of which I am high risk of too. I love my mum and hated seeing the silly, irresponsible attitude of the presenters and doctor and patient. I know other daughters must feel the same.

Our fundraising events and efforts are stifled by these ridiculous statistics and statements involving the word \'CURED\' and MIRACLE DRUGS.

YOU HAVE DONE A LOT OF HARM AND BEHAVED IRRESPONSIBLY.

[Guest user]

How Mad is Mad? Caron Keating was a presenter on \"This Morning\" Philip Schofield dated Caron for many years and Fern Briton, along with many of the researches on this show were all friends of hers. They saw with their own eyes how this awful disease slowly crippled Caron and robbed her of a life that was still so very young and how it left two small boys without a Mum. They witnessed first hand how hard she fought breast cancer (which was first diagnosed as very early stage and curable) . And for those friends she managed to keep her secret from, would most certainly have read her Mothers book ( a very moving account of the heartache and how the family struggled ). Whilst having a run-through for this interview (which their would have been) did none of these people stop and think \"hang on a miniute - I\'m not sure I like what\'s being said here\'........ Or are they all as thick as Pig Shit.?

Love to you all
PaulaD

[Guest user]

--- I received --- a standard e mail saying they are in receipt of my comments just like Siggy.

Joy xxx

[Guest user]

Tigerlily I hope all is well with you and that you are no longer feeling so upset. I am sorry that you have been unable to obtain my email address. I have not heard anything from BCC either asking for permission to give you my email address or letting me know that you would like it. I understand that you are not the first person who has experienced this difficulty. Could I suggest you contact the moderator again?

Take care and best wishes
Roisin

[Guest user]

Daphne Very well said. I totally agree with you about the need for BCC to choose a representative sample.

Best wishes
Roisin

[Guest user]

Just standard automated response Got a standard response about too many e-mails to reply and thank you for contacting them, that\'s all.

Agree that they should provide clarification on their show about fact that Kerry\'s comments were her own personal observations on her own situation and bear no relation to the true facts of the situation.

Siggy

[Guest user]

Its new today It wasn\'t there yesterday, and I note that they\'ve edited bits of it. They\'ve taken out a couple of paragraphs about Kerry\'s \'statistics\' and surgery, and also half the alternative therapy bit (the Hong Kong visit & China). Still reads as being really trite tho.

I agree, jacks, that they should add a comment at least. Has anyone had any complaints acknowledged?

I note the BCC logo has gone too...

PS Roisin, i did contact the moderator re; emailing you, or passing mine to you, but heard nothing back.

[jacks]

still there ---Just went onto this morning and the article is still there under the health thread, I thought they had taken it off!!!!! If they had anything about them they should replace it with an apology!!

[Guest user]

Well done, Mole Just read your post - I hope it makes them sit up and take notice.

[KathyF]

This is what I wrote I missed the broadcast item but have just read the website. I am VERY disappointed to see the misleading statistics about 5 year survival being trotted out yet again! Yes, 80% (or even 90%) of those diagnosed with breast cancer today will probably be alive 5 years after diagnosis, but that doesn\'t mean that they will be free of cancer. Those with Grade 3 tumours and lymph node involvement certainly do NOT have a 90% chance of being disease-free in 5 years time.

I was diagnosed 7 years with a small Grade 1 cancer with no node involvement. Last summer I found another lump in the same breast under the old lymph node scar and had a mastectomy in October. The cells which grew into this tumour almost certainly came from my first breast cancer, which means that at the 5 year mark I was alive, but was definitely not free of breast cancer.

Breast cancer is not at present curable, in the sense that any of us can know that it won\'t come back. My surgeon told me that she wishes that she could be like her colleagues in other cancer fields and tell her patients that if it hasn\'t come back after 5 years they are cured. Unfortunately breast cancer isn\'t like that and can come back 10, 20, 30 or even 40 years after first diagnosis, sadly very often with fatal results.

The current statistics for breast cancer tell us that about 41,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and at the same time about 12,500 die each year of this dreadful disease. By my reckoning that means that over 30% of people diagnosed with breast cancer die of the disease at present. Thankfully there have been many advances in treatment in recent years, but none of them is a certain cure and many only serve to prolong life or slow down recurrence.

Breast cancer is NOT a good cancer to get - no cancer is ever good and it certainly isn\'t trendy, unless by that is meant that it is becoming more and more common, with over 8000 women under 50 being diagnosed every year.

Of course I hope and pray that Kerry Robertson\'s treatment will be successful and that she will be among those whose cancer does not recur, but sadly, with a Grade 3 tumour and lymph node involvement, she has a more than average chance of recurrence.

Glib and uninformed comments such as those quoted on the website do no-one any favours and unfairly minimise the suffering of the tens of thousands of women (and some men) who have to cope with this devastating disease.

[Guest user]

I sent in my two pennies worth yesterday too ---Dear all:


Sadly I was at work today when your item on how great it is to have breast cancer came on. But my friends on the breast cancer care forums drew my attention to it.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 48, I was wrongly diagnosed for 6 months despite going to the doctors within one day of finding a lump (June 14). Despite early detection and a small tumour I had to have two operations and am left with only one and a bit breasts left. After my second operation, on 18 December I ended up in hospital on christmas eve with a wound infection. This resulted in crippled veins and no improvement in the infection by 29 December. On this day I had a big hole made in the side of my breast which did not heal until well into February the next year. This delayed radiotherapy until March which did not finish until April. Now I am taking tamoxifen for five years.

I feel that having breast cancer is the worst thing that has happened to me and it has also affected my career and gives me sleepless nights about my mortgage. Having said that, I have met women in their mid thirties with breast cancer with two children and £250,000 outstanding mortgage so I should be happy as larry. I recently saw someone who was diagnosed the same time as me and she now has bone secondaries, she also has young children. but she was so lucky, she\'s just had a hip replacement and it\'s amazing how quickly they get you up nowadays. Of course her life expectancy is now between 2 and 4 years but never mind.

I have been told that I have about a 95% chance of living ten years - that takes me up to 58. I had been expecting to live until I was 85. I don\'t smoke, I don\'t drink, I am thin, the only thing I did wrong was not to have children. I didn\'t start my periods early and I don\'t know when I will start the menopause as this is the only menopausal symptom that hasn\'t come upon me since taking tamoxifen (no periods that is). Tamoxifen has been described as chemical castration, they won\'t give you any hormones to relieve the symptoms. I have to pay for my own prescriptions and spend time at hospital being checked over at regular intervals. This is expected to go on for the rest of my life.

Yes it\'s a great cancer to have. I now have a higher than normal chance of having a mastectomy on the breast that\'s had cancer, a higher than normal chance of getting cancer in my other breast, and I have been advised you never get the all clear so it\'s treatment for a chronic illness from now on.

It\'s good to know it\'s trendy and that you are making sure that women will go for treatment - better not tell them what it is really like, might frighten them too much.

[madrid]

Thanks Tigerlily Thanks for that Tigerlily!

Just wanted to say thanks for your explanation about the google search. I think it was important for those of us who didn\'t see the programme to find out what happened, and as you say we are all \'non-commercial\' users and wanted to read the article for our own personal reasons, not to copy it and publish it elsewhere.

Please keep posting!

Helen

[Guest user]

Whatever her motivation... ....and I suspect 15 minutes of fame, I feel quite sorry for her now. It is difficult to imagine how anybody could have completely and utterly alienated a significant part of the breast cancer community as it seems she may have done. I hope she has other sources of support.
I didn\'t see the programme, I have read the webpage (thanks tigerlilly), and like others BCC I do wonder what is your criteria for allowing your logo to be used - reputations and credibility are/is so easily damaged.

I think also it would be good if you copied your correspondence to this forum, after all it is us who you are representing, and I for one would be interested in your responses.

Thanks

Celeste

[Guest user]

--- thanks everyone --- for telling me how to read what the this morning website said. I have just been on and am amazed how low key it is to what was actually happening on the programme.... I bet those of you who didn\'t see it are wondering what all the fuss is about.

It mentions the incorrect statistics, but obviously doesn\'t portray the attitude of the whole interview that took place with the Dr Chris Steele actually endorsing these figures and that breast cancer is a \'good cancer to get\' regardless of any stages and grades mentioned. I managed to video just a small section of the interview and when I showed it to two friends, independently, BOTH came out with the same remark - \'that person is after her 15 minutes of fame\'..... There is no comparison of treatments for men and women, North and South, hospital to hospital, in fact NOTHING to be learned or gained from watching one woman who ASKED to be filmed, going through HER routines. The foot massage and the visit to Hong Kong are very interesting facts. .... since I lost my business through this cancer I will just pop along to the income support office and ask for them to be provided with my next giro.

Joy xx

[Guest user]

thanks tigerlily Thanks Tigerlily for posting the piece from the ITV website. And thanks too for explaining how to do a cached Google search. Sorry your post was removed..personally I don\'t see that you did anything illegal or in breach of terms and conditions. I have sometimes posted copies of things from other parts of the web because I think they may interest others and these have not been removed.

Best wishes

Jane

[Guest user]

curious I have just read the diary, it says something about implants preventing the spread of breast cancer by impeding the blood supply, no idea where she got that idea from.

I tried googling her surgeon\'s name in case I could find out more. the only Nicki thompson I could find working with breast cancer is a Senior Physiotherapist at the Royal Marsden Sutton who has done a video to help women with breathlessness caused by cancer.

there do seem to be a lot of odd things said in the diary but I suppose she may be in denial so I can only feel sorry for her

Mole

[Moderator]

Tigerlily Dear Tigerlily

I am sorry you feel so distressed by us removing your post about the information on the This Morning ITV website. As the moderator, it is important I do my best to ensure information copied from other websites onto the forums does not contain material that breaks any Terms and Conditions from where the information was originally published. In many cases there is no problem with information being copied, but having checked the ITV website terms and conditions I was obliged to remove your post. I have now emailed you, explaining why we removed your post, but it sometimes takes us a little while to get the email to you. I am sorry for the delay.

I appreciate the anger and distress everybody feels about what happened yesterday. It is important to us that any information about breast cancer is accurate and sensitive. Breast Cancer Care has been in close contact with the programme several times and has made it very clear in our correspondence why we were concerned about the information given yesterday. The contact details for Breast Cancer Care are added to articles and websites all the time, as an organisation available for further support. Unfortunately it isn’t possible for us to review all the content of each one. The majority of the time there are no problems, however whenever there are we do our best to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Kind regards

BCC moderator

[Guest user]

have had a reply... I have had a reply form the moderator who explained that the terms and conditions of the \'this morning\' site says it can\'t be used/copied/published (etc). i havethanked the modreator for relying in the following email:

Thank you for your reply

it would have been nice if you\'d said why you removed my post from the site, rather than just \'illegal\' as it made me look like a hardened criminal rather than someone conveying information - also since it was endorsed with your details, it looked as though the article was within your domain already, hence useable on your web site.

There is still a point of argument since their terms and conditions actually say \"except for your own personal non-commercial home use\" which is what we are all doing on this site - its not used or posted in a commercial capacity, business setting, or for any gain. I am happy to let this go however - anyone on the site can access it like I did if they want.

I will thank you on the site for replying.

Tigerlily

[Guest user]

thank you tigerlilly thanks for that tiger lilly - i just did the search and read the article.

i\'m disgusted that any responsible broadcaster can allow such tripe like that to be said and written...

i know that it\'s all kerry\'s personal opinions and that \'this morning\' aren\'t responsible for those, but they are responsible for allowing the continuing perpetuation that this is a \'good\' cancer to get, that its \'curable\' and that something like that could bring anyone hope apart from people who know nothing about it...

my mum had a low grade tumour. a small tumour with barely any lymph node involvement. in my innocence, i believed in the \'cure\'. i now know differently as ten years later and in her early 50\'s, she is stage iv and seriously ill.

but if media reporting is to be believed, she is one of the \'cured\' because she beat the statistics to last more than 5 years.

believe me, that\'s not much of a comfort to either her or us.

[Guest user]

Well! Jane, as ever, you\'ve summed up the situation well and I agree with Roisin and you, what were BCC doing to allow their logo to be used without checking that the programme content was acceptable to them and, more importantly to the people they represent.

Thanks to Tigerlily for posting the webinfo which I managed to read before it was removed for legal reasons. It mentions that the woman contacted This Morning and asked to be featured.

The experience of one woman, who has deliberately sought publicity, is unlikely to be representative of what it\'s like for most people.

If This Morning wanted to feature breast cancer stories, they should have selected a representative sample of people by asking for volunteers through hospitals, not jumped at someone who happened to contact them and by doing so, caused such a huge amount of anger and distress.

[Guest user]

WHY? - ITS NOT ILLEGAL... Dear Moderator

Its not illegal, nor hacked nor othersuch. Its widely publicly available when you do a Google search. Google \'cache\' (or archive) old pages which are accessible to all if you click on the \'cached\' word when you\'ve search.

For example I just searched for - Kerry Roberson breast cancer uk\' and the search resuts came up. Under the search result, all you do is click on the word \'cached\' and the archived article comes up.

I would like to know why this is deemed to be \'illegal\'. It most definitely isn\'t - its in the public domian.

I will email this so you see it as i am amazed

Tigerlily

[Moderator]

Tigerlilly Post by Tigerlilly on 22/02/06 1:44 pm removed for legal reasons.

Kind regards

BCC Moderator

[Guest user]

Why are we surprised Part 2? My first reaction yesterday to the reports about this programme was: \"Why are we surprised?\" And I still feel this. I think the programme was simply at the extreme end of the popularly help perceptions about breast cancer which fuel the media obsession with this cancer. I also don\'t think the breast cancer charities do us any favours here. Roisin has rightly questioned BCC\'s role: why allow the logo to go on the website without checking the content..and look at the moderator\'s response yesterday..very cautious.

Regretably like it or not there is much to fuel the notion that breast cancer is \'sexy\', \'trendy\' and a \'good\' cancer. Many fund raising events for breast cancer focus on looking \'sexy\', looking good, being feminine..the message put out is invariably cheery.

There is a further complication on the \'good\' cancer front because for the people who survive breast cancer there is some truth in this. Disease free survival and overall survival from breast cancer are much much better than for many other cancers: take a look at the survival stats for ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer..no hiding there from the fact that those cancers do invariably kill..and quickly. I confess to thinking that if I had to get cancer, breast might indeed be a bit better (and I\'ve got a bad prognosis). Some of us do have survivable breast cancers...and many more of us live a few years after diagnosis... problem is that we live with the agony of uncertainty rather longer than if we had gotten another \'worse\' cancer.

I wish people were a bit more realistic and \'ordinary\' about cancer in general and breast cancer in particular. Cancer is an illness which kills..not always..but often..and yes there has been progress in tretaments for some cancers including breast cancer..but there\'s a long way to go yet. Lets not join the bandwagon of hyping up cancer...(there are other bad illnesses and bad things in the world) We live in a let it all hang out culture where people can get their fifteen minutes of fame by going public...and the media will respond by giving air time or column inches to anyone willing to say something a bit \'sexy\' for the cameras.

What really made me furious about the programme and the subsequent website coverage (yes now removed) was the factual inaccuracies. Fine if people want to go on breakfast TV and say their experience of breast cancer is different from mine (I recall that some people on these forums were furious last year when Marsha Hunt talked positively about her mastectomy..on that occasion I agreed with and identifed with her feelings so actually felt a sea wash of relief), but don\'t distort the facts. Grade 3 node positive breast cancer does not bring 95-100% survival chances, no not even 5 year survival. The web page was also inaccuate on hormone therapies and irresponsibile about \'alternative\' treatments. These are things which should concern us, along with the sanitised versions of breast cancer which the charities seem to cherish.

Jane

[Guest user]

Ofcom For everyone who\'s been incensed by the programme, why not register a complaint with Ofcom?

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/progs/specific/

Not something I plan to do as I didn\'t see the programme, but I have contacted This Morning to say that I want to read the stuff they had on their website for myself as it has caused so much anger and distress to breast cancer patients.

Remember what happened with Good Housekeeping when I involved the Press Complaints Commission? I believe that involving the regulator and exposing the fact that a programme has caused such upset to vulnerable people could be very powerful.

[chalee]

Well! It\'s no wonder my boss thinks I\'m a chancer for taking a year off work. I didn\'t see the programme but have read the reactions from you all. I\'m glad to have you on my side! Thankyou everybody for emailing.

[Guest user]

Website Hi Daphne

I saw the article on the website when Joy first reported it, but it\'s since been removed. I didn\'t see the program, but the web page and what was said here prompted me to email ITV yesterday too.

I was hoping they\'d mention it on the program today but I watched the first half hour and they didn\'t. They opened with something about biscuits, then about film stars\' weight, which are both obviously so much more important....

[Guest user]

Where is it on the website? I didn\'t see the programme and can\'t find a link to any article about it on the This Morning Website.

Can anyone tell me how to find it?

Although I haven\'t seen the programme, it seems to me that it\'s OK to feature someone who does have an unusually rosy view of breast cancer provided you get the balance right and also feature people for whom it is a very unpleasant debilitating experience.

Then the audience can judge for themselves which is the more representative experience.

It\'s like doing a feature on childbirth and just concentrating on someone who has a very quick labour and uncomplicated birth, overlooking the fact that it\'s not like than for many people.

[Guest user]

still mad when i read profiles and see the type of thing we go through to try to live with ( our trendy bc) it makes me want to swear i still cannot accept that this should of been allowed to happen and have just emailed them to say i actually lost sleep thinking about the harm this has done and i have already had one comment in the form of ! well at least you dont have to have chemo so you got of lightly............ yeh of course i did, this bc is a breeze,oooogggod dont get me started, i actually feel hurt for others more than myself and it is true i wont have to suffer the effects of chemo and i do know you all suffer as i read these posts every day, sorry for ranting but i just want what every one else wants , my life back, but how when and how do we ever get our lifes back when living with bc. I am so glad so many have responded to emailing them and wonder what other response they have had.
good morning by the way.
Culkie

[Guest user]

Glad I missed the programme. It\'s so disheartening to hear about this kind of rubbish being presented to the public yet again. How trendy is it to have a breast with a chunk missing or no breast at all? Bald may be trendy if you\'re Yul Brynner or Sinead O\'Connor, but it\'s not much fun when you\'re doing the school run. Since when is 12,000 a few?

Joy - you really socked it to them! Good for you.

[ForumMember]

My email I know many of us have emailed....here is my email I sent this am....

Dear Sir,
I have never contacted a TV programme before, but felt compelled to write after watching the programme this morning.
Whilst I applaude the idea of following a cancer patient through the course of her treatment & understand the need to remain positive, I felt the presentation today gave a totally unrealistic overview to anyone about to start treament.
As a breast cancer patient myself, I too have undergone diagnosis, surgery, 5 months of chemotherapy & about to start daily radiotherapy sessions for 3 weeks & then 5 years of hormone therapy.
To say that the \" people dont die of BC \" & the \"success\" rate for BC is 90 - 100% is untrue. As Dr Chris quietly pointed out, those figures are only for the first 5 years after diagnosis, and many of us are not \"cured\" after those 5 years, merely in remission. So much depends on the size of the tumour,the grade of the cancer, the stage of the cancer, whether lymph nodes were involved & whether the tumour is responsive to hormone therapy. If you were to log on to adjunctonline, you will see that life expectancy can be a slow as 10-20% in 5 years, not the miraculous 100% that has been stated.
To say that \"if you are going to get cancer, breast is the best one to get\" I found incredibly patronising. I am bald, no eyebrows, no eyelashes or nasal hair,& in the past 5 months have had breast surgery, have suffered from nausea, vomitting, diarrhoea, constipation, mouth ulcers, depression, hot flushes, night sweats, dry eyes, neutropenia, damaged veins, chemically-induce early menopause & debillitating exhaustion.
I have been unable to work (due to the risk of catching infections ) & so now face the prospect of financial problems. I will have a life time of worry & uncertainty about the cancer returning. So, I really dont feel that breast cancer \" is the best cancer to have\".
And as for the comment about breast cancer \" being almost trendy\"...... I really dont know how to reply to that comment.
I feel that it should have been pointed out that the complimentary therapies she is having are not funded by the NHS ( & certainly a trip to Hong Kong isnt ), as may people would be unable to fund this themselves. I am fortunate to beable to afford at the moment fortnightly reflexology sessions at £30 an hour, many people cannot.

I sincerely wish, hope & pray that the lady interviewed today continues to cope well with her teatment. I hope she gives an honest, truthfull video diary which shows her down days (and there will be many) as well as her up-days, as otherwise, those men & women about to start their treatment will have unrealistically false hopes & expectations.
I hope her next interview gives a more realistic view of dealing with BC, rather than the \" everythings fine \" one that was given today.
Yours sincerely,

[Guest user]

the breast cancer celebrity!!! I received a text from my sister at 11.30 saying put the tv on there is a woman showing how she is coping with bc/chemo.........i have to say i was very intrigued as i am due to start my chemo very shortly.

I watched and thought my god she is making it look easy...........however i have been on this site long enough now to know it is far from easy...........and with her patronising remarks added i just thought this must be a joke. My sister rang almost immediately it ended and said, what a load of crap, the minute that woman opened her mouth i disliked her............and i knew exactly what she meant...........i think we all do!!

I too, have emailed this morning voicing my opinions and described her as their breast cancer celebrity..............i can be patronising too!!! lol...............i doubt they will respond personally but i asked why on earth this woman wants to show people her chemo journey, who is she actually performing for? Surely not the sufferers, as we all know what a hellish journey it can be and dont need to be reminded so in our eyes she is afraud............so is she performing for the non-sufferers? In which case, who really wants to watch someone suffer on live tv like that.............which of course she isnt............all seems a bit perverse if you ask me.............what has our tv come to............and who the hell is this woman................i added in the email that i too am a very positive person who talks to many people (close to me) about my bc but i dont need to talk to the whole of bloody england to make me cope with it any better!!!

Be interesting to see whether anything is mentioned tomorrow............cant see how they can ignore this one because they know if they do there will be uproar!!!

TVs at the ready first thing.................catch up again tomorrow!!

Janine.x

[Guest user]

Added my two-penneth e-mail as well Nothing is soul-moving as yours Joy (your e-mail moved me to tears and I\'m a bit of a tough nut emotionally) as I didn\'t see the programme and the diary had been removed before I could read it, but felt angry enough from seeing the upset and hurt expressed on this thread to complain.

Power to the people!!

Trace
-x-

[Guest user]

Thank you.. to everyone who has E mailed the TV company regarding this. I didn\'t see the programme and as the diary has been removed wasn\'t able to read it. However, from what you have said I totally agree with you all. This sort of reporting doesn\'t do anyone any favours. I can only say that prior to diagnosis I didn\'t know anything about grades, stages, lymph nodes, prognosis etc. etc. but I learnt very quickly and you would think that before quoting statistics they would check and re-check the facts - it\'s surely not that difficult to do! It seems totally irresponsible to put out inaccurate figures.

I hope that BCC enlighten them.

[Guest user]

---grr ---i wondered why i couldnt find the article on the website. Ive just e- mailed this morning too, shouting all the stuff about statistics not taking into account how many are living with secondaries or recurrences, and of course the old 5 year statistic. Do you think that kerry understood these figures or totally believes she has a 95% chance of survival?
lynne

[Guest user]

well done Bother - seem to have missed all of this. But I just wanted to add my thanks to those of you who responded so quickly - especially to Joy for your articulate and forceful response.

In common with all you others I too have been most concerned at the way in which bc is portrayed in the media as being curable and somehow not a very big deal. When something like 1 in 10 women get bc this is frankly a national scandal - so many women are being duped into complacency - I should know- I was one of them and I hold the media at least partly responsible for my appalling lack of understanding prior to diagnosis.

love to all

Kate
xxxxx

PS Joy - why do you say you are not intelligent ? This is the third time I have seen you make this comment about yourself but I have always found your posts to be wise, supportive, sensitive and thoughtful - if that isn\'t intelligence I\'m not sure what is !!!

[madrid]

Thank you Joy I didn\'t see This Morning, and like the others who didn\'t am very glad I had struggled into work between chemo sessions and wasn\'t sitting in front of the TV.

Just to say thanks to Joy for the e-mail you sent to This Morning. I think you put into words what we are all thinking in a most eloquent way.

From one of the \'young ones\' still waiting to meet Mr Right post mastectomy (and another one to come in May!)

Thank you Joy.

Helen

[Homer]

i\'ve emailed too Just read through your posts and i\'m glad i missed this morning today,what a load of crap !!
they really wind me up because people will now be thinking that we are all moaning for nothing that its easy having cancer,
i wish i could have gone on tv the day after my epi..i\'d have shown what we really look and feel like !! bald and in my pjs too !

pity i couldnt read the article but all your mails must have had an effect on them GOOD.

i\'ll try and remember to watch in the morning in case they apologise
to us all.

kim x

[Guest user]

well well well I didn\'t see the programme, and I\'m so glad.

But just wanted to say that I am so proud of each of you for standing up for US...

Jen xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[ForumMember]

Well done all of you I didn\'t see the programme and have only just caught up with this thread so can\'t read the article on ITV\'s website. I\'m rendered speechless by your reports of what was said and feel in debt to all those who wrote complaining. Thank you.

Judy

[Guest user]

This Morning!!!! Owing to a further period of ill health, I\'ve been away from this site for quite a few months. I was prompted to re-visit (and re-register!!) by This Morning\'s piece.

The following is a copy of the second e-mail that I winged off to the This Morning team:

Further to my earlier e-mail , transcript as follows:

\'I happened to catch your piece this morning on Kerry Robertson\'s Breast Cancer diary.

I certainly do not agree with her position that if one is going to contract cancer that \'breast is best\'!!!

As one of the few men who have contracted the disease, I can state from experience that my whole world has been turned upside down. Having been diagnosed 6 years ago at the age of 48 and whose treatment included full mastectomy of the right breast, chemotherapy (6 courses of FEC) and 5 years on Tamoxifen - life hasn\'t been particularly rosey!! Not only regarding my own health (one consequence of the drug regime used to tackle the cancer being a deterioration in my bone composition leading to severe degenerative arthritis......replacement joints in both knees......replacement joint in my left hip.......and, goodness knows whatever else may be waiting around the corner), the emotional impact upon my wife and family is immeasurable. Work and finances have also been hit hard!

Perhaps one of your researchers might take the time to look in on the Breast Cancer Care website - http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/content.php?page_id=44 - and simply open the \'chat forums\' section to view the opinions, experiences of a wider selection of people who have contracted breast cancer.\'


you may wish to peruse and / pass on to your editorial team (plus Fern and Phillip) the selection of views which I have cut and pasted from the Breast Cancer Care site (link as above, current issues / hot topics forum)

Regards

Etc...Etc...

I then cut and pasted the four pages of comments which I had read.......(and totally agreed with!!!!!!!!) to my e-mail.

I wish you all well.

Jim25 (formerly Jim5 but in reality 54!!!!!)

p.s. I see that David and Bill (plus a few other lads) are still active - I\'ll catch up soon!

If Pearly and Pamelap are still dipping in - lots of love.

p.p.s Doubtless this post will take a few days to hit the site as I see that I\'m back in \'moderation\' - (a phrase seldom used to describe me, I might add!)

[Guest user]

---Oh Joy What a great letter, obviously written from the heart.You are saying what lots of others are probably thinking. Go Girl!

[Guest user]

this morning--- ---i have just entered the site for the second time as i wanted my husband to read the article as i too was very angry with the wording and stats.

and guess what the article is missing, so i went back via my earlier visit and it has now expired.

is this usually this quick or due to the e,mails?

Debbie

[Guest user]

TV ---Boy, I\'ve just read all these threads and am I glad I don\'t have tv and now it\'s been taken off the website I can\'t read it. I think I would have flown over to the studios and given them a few homes truths too. So well done to everyone who has emailed them to put things straight.
I will email just for the hell of it, I am the gold medal winner of stroppy letters.......!!
Might even throw in a photo of the lovley burns I have from rads so they can see how trendy that is....

Karen x

[Guest user]

Hi Joy I posted a reply to you earlier, but it got lost somehow. Anyway I, too, was incensed by the flippant attitude portrayed, and just wanted to say I\'ve e-mailed the tv programme too.
best wishes, Judy

[Guest user]

WHAT were Bcc thinking of to endorse this television programme with their logo? Why are almost all of the criticisms on this thread aimed at the television people but not Breast Cancer Care?

I don\'t really expect much form the media with regard to accurate information about bc or a sensitive portrayal of what it is like to suffer from it.

I do expect both accurate information about bc from Breast Cancer Care and sensitive portrayals of what it is like to suffer from it from Breast Cancer Care. This is what this charity was set up to do. This is why we donate money to it.

Why is it easy to be angry with the media but so hard to be angry with Breast Cancer Care? It is this organisation that has let us down the most in my view. How many people have emailed Breast Cancer Care to make this clear to them?

Best wishes
Roisin