Well, this is my third pink-tober with metastatic breast cancer (I was one of the 10% that is stage IV from the get go). I have to admit I was much more worked up about it last year. While I agree that most of the marketing is misleading and the monies that ARE allocated toward BC are not spent on the most effective channels (hello...CURE) I don't have the anger this year that I did last year. Early detection and mammograms wouldn't have helped me. (I had several breast exams during my pregnancy and was too young to have regular mammograms and yet I had stage IV cancer just three months after I gave birth.) Yet, if a consumer wants to buy a pack of pink toilet paper, and $.50 of that is going to go toward BC programs, well, that's $.50 we didn't have to begin with. Yes, I agree the imagery is appalling, but I feel that imagery is also one of the reasons BC gets so much attention. (I dont think pictures of my mastectomy would sell well) And my hope is that all this attention will continue to keep BC in the forefront of peoples mind and that may push research for new and better drugs and one day a cure. Maybe this is a far stretch, but I need to believe.
I know this is probably not a popular view here, and being a metster myself I totally get the disgust, but I'm just trying to look at things a bit differently this year. Trying to see the silver lining, trying really hard.
