The TRUE Face
October...Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast self exams are touted. Women are encouraged to get yearly mammograms. People walk to raise funds for research. Pink ribbons are everywhere. Smiling, healthy looking survivors are portrayed by the media. But...there is something wrong with this picture. What about the infirmed? Breast Cancer Awareness Month has somehow neglected to show the TRUE face of cancer. Why isn't the "ugly" side of cancer portrayed in all of its rawness? Where are THOSE faces? Why doesn't the media put bald women in breast cancer awareness commercials? Where are the portrayals of the women who are so sick from treatments they can barely function? Where are the portrayals of women who have lost their breast(s) to the disease? Where are the portrayals of women who suffer from ongoing pain and complications from chemotherapy and radiation? How come nobody brings to the forefront that our babies (teenagers and 20 somethings) are now losing their breasts to breast cancer? They haven't even had the chance to live their lives yet or to nurse their own babies. I was recently contacted by a young woman, age 22, who had had bilateral mastectomies due to breast cancer. I also know of a teen, age 17, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The youngest age I am aware of is age 14. Where does it end? WHEN does it end?
The TRUE faces of breast cancer...those faces in treatment...those faces that suffer complications of treatment...those faces that are close to death...those faces of our young children with breast cancer...they are suppressed. But why? It is because the true faces are not what society wishes to be confronted with. What society wants to see are the positive images of smiling survivors and pink ribbons. Hide the ugliness of cancer. Keep it out of the face. Some of you may have had friends or even relatives distance themselves when you were diagnosed with breast cancer. Have you ever wondered why they and others begin to treat you differently, once they find out you have breast cancer? It is because they do not want to be confronted with your disease. It reminds them of their own mortality, of which they wish to remain distant, resulting in their growing distance from you. Portraying only the positive, survivor side of breast cancer allows society to lend a blind eye in not addressing mortality, as it relates to the disease. They are AFRAID to be confronted with it. Can you imagine what the societal response would be if every October, women with breast cancer were portrayed on their death beds or with amputated breasts or with fried, radiated, weeping skin and no hair? Appall...outrage that it was even publicized. It would make them face their own mortality and fear. It NEEDS to be in the face. As it stands, society has the false belief that breast cancer can be cured and that women have their treatments and go on their merry way, living their happy lives as survivors. Yet, those "survivors" are still dying at a rate of over 40,000 per year. As long as a positive aspect is portrayed, no one is going to have a true summation as to how much of a fight for the cure is really necessary. Society THINKS we are doing just fine. Society THINKS that women with breast cancer are cured. The TRUTH is...there is no cure for breast cancer...no cure for ANY cancer. What Breast Cancer Awareness Month SHOULD focus on is what women have to suffer through because there is no cure for the disease...show the true faces of breast cancer so that more aggressive strides will be taken to find the cure. I would think that more money would be raised if the TRUE face of breast cancer was publicized. Just maybe someone would start researching a little harder and a little faster for the cure. Certainly, early detection has been beneficial, but finding lumps at an early stage is NOT a cure for cancer. Women are still dying from this disease...too many and too often. It is long passed time for change.
We need to start pushing harder for the cure. Pink ribbons are not going to cure breast cancer. They are fine as a symbol...and they are ever growing to bring awaresness to the cause, but they do not cure breast cancer. Bring forth the TRUE faces of breast cancer. It needs to be brought to the forefront so that society knows the truth about what this disease is doing to us. Help to bring the issue to the forefront. Pass the link, pass the word. When you walk or run for breast cancer, have friends and relatives hold up those signs that ask "WHERE IS THE CURE???" Pass out flyers that ask the same question. VOICE!
Disclaimer: Information presented within the pages of this website is, for the most part, that of my opinion and for informational purposes only and not to be used in place of the advice of your medical provider. You are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of your medical provider and to conduct your own research on any topic of interest, for fact finding.
October...Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast self exams are touted. Women are encouraged to get yearly mammograms. People walk to raise funds for research. Pink ribbons are everywhere. Smiling, healthy looking survivors are portrayed by the media. But...there is something wrong with this picture. What about the infirmed? Breast Cancer Awareness Month has somehow neglected to show the TRUE face of cancer. Why isn't the "ugly" side of cancer portrayed in all of its rawness? Where are THOSE faces? Why doesn't the media put bald women in breast cancer awareness commercials? Where are the portrayals of the women who are so sick from treatments they can barely function? Where are the portrayals of women who have lost their breast(s) to the disease? Where are the portrayals of women who suffer from ongoing pain and complications from chemotherapy and radiation? How come nobody brings to the forefront that our babies (teenagers and 20 somethings) are now losing their breasts to breast cancer? They haven't even had the chance to live their lives yet or to nurse their own babies. I was recently contacted by a young woman, age 22, who had had bilateral mastectomies due to breast cancer. I also know of a teen, age 17, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The youngest age I am aware of is age 14. Where does it end? WHEN does it end?
The TRUE faces of breast cancer...those faces in treatment...those faces that suffer complications of treatment...those faces that are close to death...those faces of our young children with breast cancer...they are suppressed. But why? It is because the true faces are not what society wishes to be confronted with. What society wants to see are the positive images of smiling survivors and pink ribbons. Hide the ugliness of cancer. Keep it out of the face. Some of you may have had friends or even relatives distance themselves when you were diagnosed with breast cancer. Have you ever wondered why they and others begin to treat you differently, once they find out you have breast cancer? It is because they do not want to be confronted with your disease. It reminds them of their own mortality, of which they wish to remain distant, resulting in their growing distance from you. Portraying only the positive, survivor side of breast cancer allows society to lend a blind eye in not addressing mortality, as it relates to the disease. They are AFRAID to be confronted with it. Can you imagine what the societal response would be if every October, women with breast cancer were portrayed on their death beds or with amputated breasts or with fried, radiated, weeping skin and no hair? Appall...outrage that it was even publicized. It would make them face their own mortality and fear. It NEEDS to be in the face. As it stands, society has the false belief that breast cancer can be cured and that women have their treatments and go on their merry way, living their happy lives as survivors. Yet, those "survivors" are still dying at a rate of over 40,000 per year. As long as a positive aspect is portrayed, no one is going to have a true summation as to how much of a fight for the cure is really necessary. Society THINKS we are doing just fine. Society THINKS that women with breast cancer are cured. The TRUTH is...there is no cure for breast cancer...no cure for ANY cancer. What Breast Cancer Awareness Month SHOULD focus on is what women have to suffer through because there is no cure for the disease...show the true faces of breast cancer so that more aggressive strides will be taken to find the cure. I would think that more money would be raised if the TRUE face of breast cancer was publicized. Just maybe someone would start researching a little harder and a little faster for the cure. Certainly, early detection has been beneficial, but finding lumps at an early stage is NOT a cure for cancer. Women are still dying from this disease...too many and too often. It is long passed time for change.
We need to start pushing harder for the cure. Pink ribbons are not going to cure breast cancer. They are fine as a symbol...and they are ever growing to bring awaresness to the cause, but they do not cure breast cancer. Bring forth the TRUE faces of breast cancer. It needs to be brought to the forefront so that society knows the truth about what this disease is doing to us. Help to bring the issue to the forefront. Pass the link, pass the word. When you walk or run for breast cancer, have friends and relatives hold up those signs that ask "WHERE IS THE CURE???" Pass out flyers that ask the same question. VOICE!
Disclaimer: Information presented within the pages of this website is, for the most part, that of my opinion and for informational purposes only and not to be used in place of the advice of your medical provider. You are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of your medical provider and to conduct your own research on any topic of interest, for fact finding.
