Recent Comments:
Breast cancer drugs Tykerb, Xeloda don't extend life
The Cancer Blog
Feb 18th 2007 10:37PM I need to respond to one sentence in the above post:
"While some say they are worth every penny if they offer a cure, others question the cost if they only delay the disease progression for a few months."
First, Herceptin and these other drugs will not CURE metastatic breast cancer. They can put it into clnical remission, however. And the second half of the sentence about delaying disease progression for ONLY a few months. I've been on Herceptin, in combination with other drugs, for more than five years now. That's five years of living with metastatic breast cancer with pretty good quality of life.
These drugs are absurdly expensive, however. To read more, see:
The (High) Cost of Cancer Treatment
http://www.assertivepatient.com/2007/02/the_high_cost_o.html
Thanks,
Jeanne
Going pink mmm...mm good for Campbell's soup
The Cancer Blog
Oct 31st 2006 1:14PM Boycott October
I have finally realized why the whole pink ribbon/pink marketing thing makes me so angry: I feel exploited.
Next October, I will be on a pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku in Japan, hiking from temple to temple, far away from TV, newspapers, magazines, and advertising in all its forms. I will even leave my beloved laptop at home.
Before I go, however, I plan to organize a boycott.
I’m calling it “Boycott October.”
I will be making pink (yes, pink. It’s the "fight fire with fire" principle) buttons that say “Boycott October,” and then in smaller type: “Don’t buy pink products. Don’t exploit women with breast cancer.”
I will send a button, absolutely free, to anyone who e-mails me and asks for it. I will also send you a flier that you can copy and hand out to anyone who asks about your button. It will explain why you are asking them to boycott pink products.
If you e-mail me your address now, I will put you on the mailing list to receive a button next September. And I pledge not to use this list for any other purpose or to sell it to any other organization or charity (since I am neither an organization nor a charity, just a writer with breast cancer).
Jeanne Sather
jeanne.sather@gmail.com
To read more:
http://www.assertivepatient.com/2006/10/boycott_october.html
Breast cancer Barbie doll
The Cancer Blog
Oct 30th 2006 11:55AM I really dislike the Breast Cancer Barbie, for a number of reasons, but I am especially angry by Mattel's idea that this doll is an appropriate gift for a child affected by breast cancer.
Mattel says, on the back of the Breast Cancer Barbie box, “Barbie doll offers a great opportunity to educate children about the disease and its effects [see longer post on my blog for comments about wigs, toilets, etc.]—and offer support, hope, and comfort. Today many children are touched by breast cancer as the disease may affect someone they know—a parent, grandparent, relative, friend, or teacher. We hope Pink Ribbon Barbie doll can help open a dialogue, while supporting this worthy cause.”
Do NOT take this marketing hype seriously. Do not buy this doll for a child you know whose mother or grandmother has breast cancer.
Please don’t. There are better gifts: Your time. Your attention. If a young child wants it, maybe a hospital toy set so he or she can play doctor. (But it is sooo obvious to show up at the door with a doctor set when the kid’s mom is in bed. Tread carefully here.)
My two sons were 8 and 13 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, so I know how delicate this subject can be for kids.
It’s hard to believe Mattel is taking this seriously. There is no mention of Breast Cancer Barbie on the Barbie.com Web site, not even on the parents’ page, where you can sign up for a newsletter that includes “parenting tips.”
The message of Barbie has always been “buy stuff.” Don’t fall for it, at least not in October. Meanwhile, my Breast Cancer Barbie doll is joining my can of pink Campbell soup in a shrine to the cluelessness of American companies.
Go to my blog to read my "Breast Cancer Barbie" piece.
http://www.assertivepatient.com/2006/10/breast_cancer_b_1.html
Jeanne
Going pink mmm...mm good for Campbell's soup
The Cancer Blog
Oct 20th 2006 8:07PM Breast Cancer Barbie
Every single thing that Breast Cancer Barbie wears is pale pink: gloves, gown, spangled stole, lipstick, and the tiny pink ribbon stitched to her left shoulder. The shawl wraps across her shoulders and crosses behind her back, just like the pink ribbon symbol of breast cancer awareness. The box, of course, is pink.
I peek under the four layers of tulle ruffles that wrap the doll from knees to feet, curious to check out her footwear, and discover that she is, in fact, shoeless. (But that’s a diversion—perhaps all Barbie Collector dolls, this one a “Pink Label” Keepsake doll, come without shoes? Or was I gypped?)
A Doll With Boobs
As a women living with breast cancer (and minus one breast) who is forced to run a gauntlet of pink products every October, my question is this:
What does this beauty queen, fairy princess, DOLL in a pink formal gown say about me and my experience with breast cancer?
And the answer is: Nothing.
To read the rest of my rant about Breast Cancer Barbie, and to see a photo, go to my blog, assertivepatient.com
Jeanne
Going pink mmm...mm good for Campbell's soup
The Cancer Blog
Oct 6th 2006 12:37AM Good for you. Here's my take on the pink soup thing:
http://www.assertivepatient.com/2006/10/pink_soup.html
Campbell's has not yet responded to my request to talk about pink soup sales.
Jeanne
Breast cancer survivor auctions boobs as art
The Cancer Blog
Oct 2nd 2006 3:10AM I love everything that Molly McDonald is doing to help women with breast cancer make ends meet, except....Did she have to name her nonprofit The Pink Fund?
I hate pink!
It's October. But instead of leaves of gold, orange, and red, everywhere I look I see pink.
It's time, yet again, for the pink ribbons. Not to mention pink M&Ms. Pink gardening tools. Pink Web sites.
I didn't like pink BEFORE it became the color of "breast cancer awareness," and now I loath it. (It's a particularly sickly shade of pink, too, a color I associate with girly, sexist expectations.)
To read more, see my blog:
http://www.assertivepatient.com/2006/10/its_octobertime.html
Jeanne
Cancer growth slowed with new angiogenesis finding
The Cancer Blog
Sep 30th 2006 8:37PM Don't you mean Dr. JUDAH Folkman?
Jeanne
Nine things you would rather not hear from your physician
The Cancer Blog
Sep 22nd 2006 10:44PM I think we cancer patients develop a fine sense of the ridiculous. Sharing stories like these with friends of mine who have had cancer is one of the things that helps me cope. See my site for an anecdote from a friend of mine whose doctor had a terrible time telling her she had cancer--it seemed like the doctor was going to list all the parts of her body that were healthy before she finally got to the one that was diseased.
Here's the link:
http://www.assertivepatient.com/2006/09/talking_to_doct.html
