Stop funding Breast Cancer Awareness, Prevention and Early Stage treatment!

Ha, I bet that got your attention No it was not a typo nor a way to fool you. I really do believe that.

Okay, who really is not aware that breast cancer exists? Awareness requires no funding, no pink ribbons, nothing. 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Those women are friends, mothers, daughters, sisters, wives; trust us, we are all aware. The one awareness I would happily fund is that women are not the only ones who get breast cancer. That is right. Not sure you all knew that, but men get breast cancer too. Now you are aware; tell two friends you know about this and they will be aware and tell two friends and "so on and so on".

As for funding early stages and prevention, while they are important I will ask you why is it SO important? Why is it so scary for someone to be told "You have breast cancer"? It's scary because of those told, 1/4 will become (or already are) metastatic, aka stage 4. And stage 4 is terminal, do not pass go, do not collect $200, it will kill you. And the stats on how fast it will kill you are beyond scary. From time of diagnosis until death, the average person with "mets" has 18-24 months to live. That is why a breast cancer diagnosis is so scary, even in an early stage, It's the possibility of stage 4 that scares people.  Yes chemo and radiation are scary, but death is more scary.

So I have a proposition. Turn stage 4 breast cancer into a treatable condition that does not shorten life to under 2 years. Seriously. Make stage 4 cancer a chronic condition, drugs for life, even with side effects FIRST. Take away the death sentence as a priority Remove it as an option from the table.

Then and only then take one step back, and start to work on stopping early cancer from becoming stage 4. When that is done, work on preventing cancer.

But wait, you say. If they can truly prevent cancer, isn't that a better choice than working on stage 4? NO! NO! NO! Doing that is telling anyone who already has stage 4 cancer, who had cancer at any stage at any point in their life that could come back that they don't matter. And come on, this aspect has been worked on for many decades with no success. Stop making breast cancer a possible death sentence first then go backwards. Seriously. Tell the 113 USA women who die every single day that they matter.

Oh no, you say, "big pharma would never go for that". Um, if they were smart they would By focusing on treatment and prevention, so called big pharma is killing their own business.

Lets do the math and lets make it simple.
Lets say a 100 people develop an early stage breast cancer each year (very low but an easy number to work with). Lets also say treatment (probably chemo) costs 100 units a month. In an early stage cancer this is 6 months and then nothing. So we are at 100 people * 100 units * 6 months or 6,000. At this point, about 75% will remain cancer free for life. The other 25% will have a re-occurrence, not all will be stage 4 but let's go right there. Those 25 people will have 18 months of treatment (and then die) for a total of 2,500. Making the total money that "big pharma" will get from the original 100 diagnosed is 8,500.

Now do that math if stage 4 is a 'normal' lifespan but includes treatment, even keeping the current survival rate at 75%. We have the original 6k from that first treatment. But, then we have 20-50 years (or more) of lifetime treatment for those who became stage 4. Lets split hairs and go with 35 years. Now you have 100 per month at 12 months times 35 years or 42,000. Add that to the original 6k and you get 48,000.

Did you see that, if big pharma could effectively treat stage 4 they could get 41,000 extra for every 100 newly diagnosed patients. Maybe remind them of the profit potential. Pharmacological companies are for profit. They are. They will not change. Show them the real profit in effectively treating stage 4.

Scientist on the other hand, are all about the science, the discovery. There is not a scientist out there, studying cancer (or anything else) who does not want the fame that would come with a breakthrough discovery. Let them know they could also get the fame from stopping the death sentence, from finding long term, lifetime treatment as from a cure.

Stop the deaths. Stop the fear. Put the money where it will help the most.

2015 Was the Best Year Yet

No seriously. Yes, yes, I have spent half the year fighting my way through breast cancer treatment. 

To borrow a phrase “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

The worst part of the quote is quite obvious. So how is the best of times? Simple - people.

In 2015 I really learned what it means to be part of a community. I’ve learned how big people’s hearts can really be.  I've been shown the true meaning of caring. Since being diagnosed, people have been coming out of the woodwork to help me and the boys.  We have friends and neighbors stepping up and yes, complete strangers who have come together to support us.

Since June, when needed, there was meal train set up so that after a day of work or treatment or just inability to move off the sofa, we were always fed. One amazing friend has an amazing mom who got us a deep freeze so that we would have space for all the food given us and always have something on hand. I sometimes get a phone call about extra soup or baked goods and would we like them dropped off.  The food has nourished our bodies, the meaning behind it has nourished our hearts.

I worked as long as I could, knowing that I needed a large buffer to carry us through the lean period of EI disability. I had planned to work longer but back to back hospital stays from neutropenia and pneumonia forced me off two months sooner. Even then, people rallied around us. One amazing group held an online craft and bake sale, to raise funds, many of these people are total strangers to us. Others just collected among themselves, wanting to help. I have enough grocery store gift cards to get us through the next couple of months, without using the last of my savings. I was blown away, I still am. And this was all done without me even asking.

Then there is the time people have spent on, for and with us. Watching the boys during my hospital stay made it easier for me to concentrate on getting well. Taking the boys out to run around and get rid of energy is such a great help. Or even working without us to find ways to help. Some of the best times are when people find ways to help me spend time with the boys without using up my entire energy store. Me being sick, having cancer, is so hard on them, and we really need to be together as much as possible. Plus I need them around me as much as they need me around them.  Being able to sit on the bench at the playground and watch them while they run around with a friend is so much better than being apart from them. Even the school has been amazing. The teachers, principals and support staff have done everything they can to help while our life is turned upside down. I know that is rare and a challenge in a school with almost 600 kids. I’m rarely alone at Cancer agency appointments. One friend has provided a ray of sunshine to me and anyone else in the room during chemo treatments. I don’t think she even gets how great it has been to have her there.

For me, and many others, it’s hard to accept help but I’m learning, by need. I’m also learning to ask for help. The amazing thing is, I don’t often have to ask for help. It’s often already there, waiting for me to use it.

There are not enough words in the dictionary or enough time in the day for me to thank everyone who has helped. I’m not done treatment yet, but the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel is in sight. We are still being helped and will still need help, even after the physical needs are taken care of. I am blessed to know that help will be there. I also know in my heart that I need to “pay it forward”. I know the help was not given with expectation of it being returned but I also know that the joy, relief, compassion I’ve felt in this time needs to be passed onto other people who need help. Everyone should know the feeling of having the community that I do.

One BIG step down

It's not over but the longest step is over. I had my last chemo injection. I have to get through the 3 weeks of side-effects but the end is near.

In four weeks, just 8 days before the guy in the big red suit comes, I go in for a double mastectomy. While all surgery is scary, I'm looking forward to this one. This is where they actually cut the nasty tumor out! How much better does it get than that.

Then, 4 weeks after that I start radiation. Current mind set is daily for 5 weeks. It could go up to 6 or down to 4 but whatever, and end is in sight!!!!!

The boys are doing as well as can be expected for 6 year olds. They have up days and down days but since being off work, and after I came back from the hospital a second time, the energy normally spent at the office, is now spent on them in the evenings. This makes our time together easier and I think it's helping. It's not perfect and I expect them to get upset when I go for surgery but I'm hoping the excitement of Christmas can help offset some of it.

I'll try to post more. I have lots of thoughts and partially finished posts but none seem to make it up here.