Posted by SpeedJusty at 10/2/07 2:19 p.m.

Hey, my boy's friend's mother has just had surgery for breast cancer and will soon be undergoing chemotherapy. Other than a get well card and a sincere offer to take the kid off her and her husband's hands on occasion, what is appropriate for a well-meaning acquaintance to give and offer?

Posted by Halonet at 10/2/07 4:31 p.m.

I worked in hospital transcription in the 1960-70s and saw many middle-aged women parade through operating rooms receiving hysterectomies. I would hear doctors crowing in the background of the recording how the surgery was paying for their new car or vacation.

Is the breast biopsy or mastectomy the new hysterectomy? I think so. When I was confronted with the possibility of a needle biopsy, I decided to research John Hopkins Breast Cancer Center and read the posts from patients. Their list of complaints post-surgery were mind numbing.

When I asked the doctor why I would do this, I was told to "put your mind at ease". I could only come to the conclusion that women lurching forward at such surgery (that did not have any palpable lumps) were terrorized and would do anything to have the terror subside. To this end, some even opt for voluntary mastectomies.

Women are being victimized. How else are the x-ray departments paying for those very expensive mammogram machines? Logically, it's patients and more patients signing up for any procedure.

I opted to wait and have another mammogram later. As a note, the radiologist was comparing a negative film to a digital image which had much more detail. I had a friend in addition to the radiologist who was pushing me to get a biopsy, I had to trust in my own body wisdom and inner truth. I was vindicated.

To all the women out there who are at the crossroads, believe that medical practice is a business. They are not treating you out of some higher purpose to save your life. It pays to do research before you make a decision. Don't let others terrorize you. No one can love you or look out for your interests better than you can.

Women were not intended to have their sexual organs mutilated. If as much energy was given to prevention as it is to surgery we would be ahead of the game. What I have specifically in mind is the preservative parabens included in women's products that is often found in breast tumors. So those of you out there applying products to your skin with ingredients you can't pronounce know that they eventually end up in your body somewhere.

Testicular cancer is a threat too. But I don't see men rushing off to get their testicles squeezed between two plates of glass and radiated.

One last question: Why are there so many occurrences of breast cancer now? Women have had breasts since the beginning of time. When doctors look at the pink tide, they see green.

Posted by unregistered user at 10/2/07 8:59 p.m.

Susan, I almost poo poo-ed my pants when I saw Stella! Such a pleasure meeting you at Elisabeth's party!
Take care,
Tania Katan

Posted by Whitney Keyes at 10/2/07 11:38 p.m.

I agree about not stopping just at awareness. And it would be interesting to actually measure people's knowledge. People might know the pink ribbon means breast cancer...but do people know how many women are diagnosed each year? Survive or die each year? What the percentages are for getting breast cancer? What the risk factors are? I bet not. Let the information sharing begin! Go Suz, go!

Posted by unregistered user at 10/2/07 11:58 p.m.

At Lase Med, Inc. in Jacksonville, Arkansas, breast cancer tumors are routinely killed in the course of several outpatient office visits using "leish therapy".

Read about and view videos of the treatment at http://lasemedinc.com/

The body's own immune system then disposes of the dead tumors over a period of time.

Posted by unregistered user at 10/3/07 4:31 a.m.

The Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors at Cornell University has good, science-based, readable resources on breast cancer risk. http://envirocancer.cornell.edu

Posted by unregistered user at 10/3/07 5:23 a.m.

Pink, pink, pink -- sometimes those of us who are survivors of other types of cancer (yes, really, there are cancers in other parts of the body) get just a wee bit peeved. Hello, what about us? The craze of pink marketing sometimes makes us feel as if there's a great lack of awareness of other cancers.

And regarding breast cancer, when you read the dour facts contained in the Trib article, it makes you wonder how much the pink passion is really doing for helping actual BC sufferers. True, they can have pink ribbon yogurt, socks, hair curlers, jewelry galore, etc, but has any of this succeeded in finding a means of early detection that a) works (mammos are notoriously unreliable in this regard, producing both false positives and negatives) and b) doesn't use a technology that can potentially CAUSE cancer (yoo hoo, radiation)?

Sometimes I wonder if we are a little under-invested in actual helpful and innovative research and over-invested in maintaining the mighty and powerful pink industry.

Posted by unregistered user at 10/3/07 6:39 p.m.

Oh, I think we are completely under-invested in actual helpful and innovative research about PREVENTION, not just detection! Absolutely!

I have had breast cancer, and I really don't need five million pink products staring me in the face every October to remind me of it. Also, the pretty pink ribbons convey the message that breast cancer is a pretty, dainty, feminine kind of disease. You know, sort of like "the vapors." It isn't. There's nothing pink and pretty about it. It's ugly as hell.

If shopping would cure breast cancer, it would have been cured long ago! It's going to take more than shopping. It's going to take research into the cause and finding ways to eradicate it, not just treat it.

We are well past the point where we need more "awareness" of breast cancer. Everyone is already "aware." What they are NOT "aware" of, and should be, is that early detection doesn't mean you won't die, and smaller tumors alone don't mean you won't die, and that a lot of the money raised "for breast cancer" goes to researching new pharmaceutical treatments and not toward anything else. They're also not always aware of what a small percentage of the money they spend on pink products goes toward the cause at all.

We need more criticism of "Breast Cancer Industry Month," which right now is becoming just another holiday: a month-long annual celebration of the continued existence of a disease. After all, if the disease were eradicated, who would be able to make money from that? Doctors? Pharmaceutical companies? Marketers? The golden goose would stop laying those pink eggs. And something tells me a lot of people have a vested interest in making sure it keeps on laying.

Posted by Whitney Keyes at 10/3/07 6:40 p.m.

Please do some top 10 lists or quick facts we need to know - something easy to digest but important to absorb about breast cancer. What is a woman's chance of getting it? What are the three things she can do today to help prevent it? What shoudl we be doing in each age (30s, 40's, 60's, etc.) related to cancer and our breast/body health? What organizations should we donate to - that really are making a BIG difference and going beyond just awareness??? Tell us Susan!!!

Posted by funambulator at 10/4/07 9:45 a.m.

Halonet: I agree that patients should be critical consumers when it comes to health care and avoid unneeded tests and procedures. There has to be a happy medium, though, and I'd be nervous about counselling women across-the-board that if their lump isn't palpable they don't need it biopsied. I guess I thought it was easier to tell from an ultrasound whether or not a lump is suspicious enough to warrant a biopsy.

My own lump was SO suspicious (it was a 5 on the 1-5 BI-RADS scale which you can read about here: http://www.acr.org/SecondaryMainMenuCategories/quality_safety/BIRADSAtlas/BIRADSFAQs.aspx) and they were SO convinced it was cancerous that I had my reconstruction consultation before I even had the biopsy that made it "officially" cancer.

Only masses with a BI-RADS score of 4 or 5 (probably 2 or 3 with a strong family history) are typically recommended for biopsy.

I think you're right to be suspicious, because medicine is a for-profit industry. Funny - I bet no one is pushing unneccessary medical care on women who don't have insurance.

I also share your suspicions about parabens. Yes, there's 'no conclusive link,' but since I've been diagnosed, the words 'no conclusive link' don't really cut it for me any more. If there's a suspected link, that's enough for me. I check my personal care products here: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ - they have a good ratings system based on how many suspected toxins are in each cosmetic product by brand.

But reading that I'm "mutlilated" is not really fun.

unregistered user at 10/3/07 6:39 p.m.: Right on, right on, right ON!

the pretty pink ribbons convey the message that breast cancer is a pretty, dainty, feminine kind of disease. You know, sort of like "the vapors." It isn't. There's nothing pink and pretty about it. It's ugly as hell.

AMEN! There's a certain amount of infantilization going on here with all the baby pink. Guys with testicular cancer don't get baby blue stuff. An essay I really love on this topic is 'Welcome to Cancerland: A Mammogram Leads to a Culture of Pink Kitsch,' by Barbara Ehrenreich. You can read it online here:
http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/LearnAboutUs/WelcomeToCancerland.html

Susan Thanks for an obviously thought- and converstaion-provoking post!