As you might have guessed, Pinktober is not my favorite month. Every year when October rolls around we are inundated with Pink Ribbons and Facebook posts asking us to do something silly like posting the color of our underwear or other such foolishness.
I will admit for the first 7 years after my original diagnosis I was sucked into believing that it was all a good thing. I have tons of breast cancer awareness shirts, cups, mugs, wristbands, etc that I purchased over the years, or that others purchased for me.
I fell into the trap of thinking I had done everything right and that because of that I was GOOD. After 7 years, I had been lulled into believing that I HAD BEAT CANCER.
If you have read any of the previous posts, you know I did not BEAT CANCER.
In August 2011 I had surgery to repair my hip destroyed by metastatic breast cancer. This photo is in the rehab hospital. Note I’m sporting the Pinktober shirt.
Just as I celebrated 7 years of being cancer free, I got the phone call.
My journey took the Stage 4 Exit onto a new cancer highway.
Last week was my cancerversary for my stage 3 diagnosis 13 years ago. This week I can celebrate my Stage 4 cancerversary. The celebration is that I am still here to share my story. But it is a bittersweet celebration. One that I wish no one would have to celebrate.
Getting us back to the Pinktober. I am completely impressed by the Susan G Komen foundation and the marketing efforts to Get the Word out. Because of their efforts Pinktober is one of the most recognized months, from the NFL to local high schools, to police cars painted pink. They have done a great job in getting people to be aware of Breast Cancer.
In fact, I bet 95% of you reading this know someone (besides me) who either has or had breast cancer. In fact Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women world-wide and the second most common cancer overall (click here for more information).
We are fortunate in the Austin area to have a great resource to help those diagnosed with breast cancer (The Breast Cancer Resource Center). They offer great resources and help for anyone diagnosed with Breast Cancer (by the way you can also help support the BCRC through AmazonSmile).
So while I am happy about the awareness brought about by Pinktober, there are a large number of women (and men) who are continuing to fight a disease that is considered to be incurable. The reason we refer to ourselves as #Lifers is because we are in treatment for the rest of our lives in some form or another. I never feared the cancer coming back when I had my original diagnosis (in fact you can read here about how it didn’t occur to me until it was very progressed). It wasn’t that my doctor hadn’t told me that it could come back, in fact, he was very up front about it. But after a 7 year run of checkups and feeling great, the cancer came back.
Most people do not understand what metastatic breast cancer means. In the middle of Pinktober, metastatic patients get a day, October 13th, to be recognized. If you want to read more about what metastatic breast cancer is, or if you know someone facing the diagnosis, The mbcinfocenter is a great website to learn more about the subject.
So once again, the metastatic community endures the Pinktober fest knowing awareness is good. Just remember all is not pink and fluffy when you or someone you love has Stage 4 breast cancer, it is a daily struggle that continues long after the Pinktober festivities end.
Leave a Reply