breast cancer awareness

Breast cancer is NOT a game

I generally don’t participate in these BUT… Haha, you should not have liked or commented. Now you have to pick from one of these below and post it as your status. This is THE 2015 BREAST CANCER AWARENESS game. Don’t be a spoil sport, pick your poison from one of these and change your status, 1) Damn diarrhea 2) Just used my boobs to get out of a speeding ticket 3) How do you get rid of foot fungus 4) No toilet paper, goodbye socks. 5) I think I’m in love with someone, what should I do? 6) I’ve decided to stop wearing underwear 7) it’s confirmed, I’m going to be a Mommy/Daddy! 8)Just won $900 on a scratch card. 9) Its final, we’re moving to Mexico to be beach bums! Post with no explanations.

Oh dear goodness. Not this bullshit again. Why is this still a thing? Why hasn’t this “game” been killed in a fire? You know what I want to do whenever I see this form of slactivism in my social media news feeds.

Breast cancer is not a game. Repeat after me: it is not a game. It certainly is not a shitty game which tells you absolutely nothing about breast cancer. For real, what does that game above tell you about breast cancer? After reading that, did you learn anything about breast cancer that you didn’t know before? I mean, it’s telling you there’s awareness going on. What are you aware of now that you weren’t before? If you didn’t know that breast cancer existed before coming across the 2015 BREAST CANCER AWARENESS GAME, then please give me the address of the rock you were living under. Were you living in a land free of pink ribbons? (Take me there!)

Awareness should be the first step, not the only step. #BCCure, #BCKills, #dontignorestageIV, #MetsMonday

— Ann Silberman (@ButDocIHatePink) March 2, 2015

It's not about boobs. #BCCure, #BCKills, #dontignorestageIV, #MetsMonday

— Ann Silberman (@ButDocIHatePink) March 2, 2015

You know what I think whenever I see this pop up in any of my news feed: you could care less about breast cancer, and I need to unfriend you right the hell now. I’m not even kidding. If anyone who knows me and what I have gone through (i.e., lumpectomy, chemo, radiation and double mastectomy) can participate in such a game and not realize how demeaning and offensive this is to anyone going through breast cancer treatment. I never saw what I went through as some cutesy game, and I certainly don’t view my mother’s death from this disease as LOL.

Lisa Bonchek Adams, who has stage 4 breast cancer, wrote this spot-on piece entitled “Breast cancer is (still) not a Facebook game”:

The above instructions are not awareness. This is offensive. Breast cancer is not a joke, awareness does not come from sharing the color of your underwear or your marital status (the whole “tee-hee, wink-wink” attitude adds to my disgust). Even if it ended up on TV, that still would not be educating people about breast cancer they didn’t know before. All it does is show the world that lots of people are willing to post silly things as their status updates.

She also wrote:

Education underlies awareness. To even call something a game and honestly believe it’s doing anything to help any aspect of this disease is delusional.

While you’re playing games, (mostly) women are dying of metastatic breast cancer. We have been running and racing for a cure that has not happened. Where’s the cure? The below infographic is proof of how little most people know, despite all this awareness.

50 FREAKING PERCENT believe that breast cancer progresses because patients either did not take the “right” treatment or preventative treatments. Are you kidding me? That is unacceptable. Is this why we treat those living and dying of metastatic breast cancer as some dirty little secret nobody should talk about because most people think they brought it upon themselves? That is so far from the truth that it should be filed under fiction.

Did you know that 30 percent of those diagnosed with early stage breast cancer have a metastatic breast cancer, i.e., the breast cancer that kills? WAS THAT FACT RELAYED TO YOU WHILE YOU’RE PLAYING THE GAME?

Awareness does not save lives. It doesn’t. Despite recent media articles telling you that breast cancer rates have dropped, don’t believe the screaming headlines.

Frankly, I’m tired breast cancer being portrayed as the feel good cancer and being held up as a shining example for early detection which works sometimes or most times but not all the time and that part of the messaging is conveniently left out of every discussion about early detection. It’s buzzkill, it detracts from the message that mammograms are helping save lives. Mammograms are detecting cancer earlier and earlier thanks to the constant improvements being made in the imagine, but early detection is just that. Early Detection. Early detection is not a guarantee.

If you or anyone really want to help, tell these Facebook game players to sign this petition. “I ask that Komen commit at least 50% of total donations to medical research and innovation rather than to awareness and education. I request all other breast cancer non-profits do the same.” Donate to Metavivor. Do something meaningful.

Just don’t play these games. Please. Can you really play a game making light of the deaths of so many?

1 in 8

During this year’s Pinktober, did you happen to come across the “1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime” statistic? Here are three screen caps with this statistic:

Now from the American Cancer Society’s website:

A Komen affiliate website:

1in8

I actually learned recently that this 1 in 8 statistic is actually a teensy bit misleading. Lifetime risk isn’t the same of your actual risk based on your age. You know what blows my mind? I found actual scientific information explaining this statistic on Susan G. Komen’s website (I know, knock me over with a feather):

Women in the U.S. have a “1 in 8” (or about 12 percent) lifetime risk of getting breast cancer [4-5]. This means that for every eight women in the U.S. who live to be age 85, one will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.

Source: Komen

So next time you come across the “1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime,” keep in mind the second part of that statement: “who live to the age of 85.”

I don’t know why charities and organizations use that statistic so much and with little explanation. Maybe they want to scare people into thinking breast cancer is going to happen to everyone or maybe they don’t really understand the lifetime risk vs. absolute risk?

My friend AnneMarie, over at Chemobrainfog, wrote:

One in eight is a good springboard for a fundraising campaign. It makes for a great way to terrorize those who do not understand that the number applies across your entire lifetime and it increases with age. As you are seated around your table with eight family members of different generations or eight close friends, don’t try to figure out who, unless you also incorporate WHEN into the equation.

There are certain factors that increase your risk of developing breast cancer, and I fell in several of those categories: family history, dense breast tissue, certain benign (not cancer) breast problems and not having children (and related to that, not breastfeeding). No doubt that these factors definitely increased my risk more than the 0.4 percent figure stated above. Plus, now that I’ve had breast cancer, I’m also at an increased risk for developing breast cancer again. Since treatment ended, I have made changes to my lifestyle, such as running and not drinking alcohol, among others, to minimize my risk because I never ever want to go through that again.

Cancer can often feel like a numbers game, although many doctors and specialists in the field will emphasize that you are an individual, not a stat. When you fall on the bad side of these statistics, these numbers almost seem cruel. I had less than one percent chance of going into anaphylaxis during chemo, yet that happened to me. Cancer is definitely not something I ever wanted to be unique at.

I truly believe it’s important for us to know our risks and what we can do to minimize our risks for developing breast cancer. First, we need to fight through the Pink Ribbon rhetoric seemingly designed to scare the general public with statistics without little or no context.

Guest Post from “Hazel Flatchest”

Here is a guest post from a woman who reached out to me. Obviously her name is not Hazel Flatchest, but she wanted to remain anonymous.

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Breast cancer, you say? Well, it is October…. That month when you walk into the grocery store and it looks like someone vomited Pepto Bismol all over the aisles. So of course we want to talk all about breast cancer and awareness (gag!) and mammograms this month. Screw that. Cancer is soooooo 2010. Let’s talk about NOW.

The mastectomy scars have healed. The port was removed. The hair has grown back. Everything should be back to normal, right? WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. I don’t even know what “normal” is anymore.

But for the sake of argument, here’s my new “normal”: I haven’t held down a full-time job for more than 3 months in over 4 years. I cry several times a day. Not out of sadness or depression (although I’ve experienced my fair share of both of those in the past four years…), but mostly out of sheer frustration. I often feel as if I have lost my mind. It is shrouded in a haze of chemo fog that has affected my ability to solve even the simplest of math problems or puzzles. I can no longer multi-task without feeling stress and fear rise up from the pit of my stomach. I am, quite simply, a hot mess. And the worst part? Having to accept that this is now my new “normal”.

A recent article on NBC News regales that “Women who get chemotherapy for breast cancer may end up unemployed for a very long time.” I am living proof that this sentence is true. And discussions with friends who also went through chemotherapy for this asshole disease only seem to uphold this statement. Even friends who were employed throughout treatment and still hold those same jobs whisper of negative performance reviews and fears of losing their jobs. So what the hell? Seriously. WHAT. THE. HELL?

Here are some observations of my own situation since I did 16 rounds of conventional chemotherapy and 2 years of Herceptin for my stage 2, asshole Her2 positive breast cancer:

1) I get frustrated (and cry) easily. It really doesn’t take much. Just hand me a pile of things to do. I used to be a consummate multi-tasker. Now I just look at the pile and can’t figure out how to prioritize it into a reasonable workflow. So what do I do? Well, sometimes I just cry.

2) I am crippled by difficult problem-solving. I recently took an aptitude test that included a “spatial reasoning” section – lots of puzzles and shapes where you figure out what comes next in a series of shapes and symbols. After much consternation and nail-biting, I had to call a spade a spade and realize I was freaking myself out instead of arriving at the answers. I actually could not finish that portion of the test. I was just too stressed out to do it.

3) I am extremely forgetful. I have learned to write things down if they are important and need to be remembered. This has been particularly hard for me to accept because B.C. (before cancer), I had a mind like a steel trap. Now my mind seems to be riddled with giant holes that allow information to escape at record speed.

4) I am socially inept. This is an area of life that represents a true paradigm shift in my behavior. Before cancer, I was a social butterfly and easily made friends. Now I am unsure of myself and hesitant to start conversations with new people for fear I will appear stupid or desperate.

And that is just a short list of things I can come up with off the top of my chemo-addled head. I am Jack’s chemically altered brain. I am constantly frustrated, ashamed and humiliated by these changes in myself. And horrified that they are getting in the way of me getting a job and putting back together some semblance of “normalcy” in my life. Is this cancer’s dirty little secret? Does anyone else feel the way I do? Bueller? Bueller?

Beware. Prepare.

Things that make me go rage in the night

It’s not even October yet, and I’m already dreading the upcoming pink-washing assault. I despise with a passion of a thousand fiery suns the following phrases: save the ta-tas, save the boobies or save second base. I am pretty sure if I ever saw someone wearing a t-shirt or some kind of apparel with those phrases on it, I might have a rage stroke. That’d be it for me. Dunzo.

Here lies Lara. Her rage caused her to burst into flames.

When it comes to breast cancer, screw the ta-tas, boobies or second base. The focus should be removing the cancer from the woman’s body, and oftentimes that means a single or double mastectomy. You know – not saving the breasts.

After all of my doctors recommended to me at my one-year checkup to have a double mastectomy because it looked like my cancer was attempting a come-back, I didn’t look at them and say, “No, I don’t accept your recommendations. You figure out a way to save my breasts. You hear me, doctor? Whatever it takes, and I mean whatever, you save my breasts!”

Hell no. I gave them one shot when I had an initial lumpectomy, but that turned out to not be enough. I didn’t want to have a double mastectomy (though who does?). I sobbed the night before my surgery. I asked my doctors repeatedly if this was the right decision to make. It’s a shitty situation to find yourself in, to have to decide to surgically remove a body part. I felt I had no choice but to have this surgery, and it destroyed me. If it was between me and my breasts, then of course I’m going to pick my life.

Since I had a double-mastectomy, does that mean I failed? Does that mean I am less than a woman since I technically don’t have breasts anymore, although I do have fake ones? Where’s the “It’s Okay You had a Double Mastectomy” awareness campaign? Where’s the “Free Side Hugs because you had a Double Mastectomy” campaign? Someone needs to start a “It’s okay – you’re still beautiful after a Mastectomy” campaign. I know, I know. Not catchy enough. Come on, Huffman. Think!

These cutesy or provocative slogans are offensive to me because they reduce women to a single body part – our breasts. The body part that could very well mean our death. It gives the clear message that the focus should be on saving our ability to be sexually attractive to the opposite sex. I did have a guy, some friend of a friend, ask me, “Did they save it all?” after I said that I was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

His question floored me, so of course I had to berate him for saying something so stupid and offensive. “Save it all? You mean my breasts? Wow… Wow, congratulations. You’re the first person to ask me something so incredibly offensive and just weird.” The guy sputtered and left me alone, rightfully so.

If someone is reading this and thinking, “Lighten up. If it raises awareness, then who cares how it’s done?”

Well, I care. This disease took my mother’s life, and it has left me forever scarred. Why should I have to forfeit my dignity for the sake of awareness? Breast cancer can take your breasts, your hair, your sex drive and/or your life. It’s a deadly disease that claims approximately 40,000 lives each year, but time and time again, the focus is about saving our sexual desirability. Fuck that noise.

Seriously don’t mess with me.

Also, why can’t people say breasts? It’s always boobs, ta-tas, jugs, hooters, rack, boobies, etc. Dear goodness, I had breast cancer – I did not have boobie cancer. “What type of cancer did you have, Lara?” “I had stage-one boobie cancer.” Lolwut? A family member close to The Boyfriend just died of prostate cancer. He didn’t have wiener cancer. Seriously, can we discuss a disease with a sense of integrity and maturity?

For four years now, I’ve been waiting for someone to really explain to me how shirts like these increase awareness for breast cancer in the first place. To me, they just raise awareness to the fact that women have breasts.

One of the slogans I have never understood was “save second base.” Why is it even appropriate to use a slang term for getting felt up, because that’s what second base means, and use it for breast cancer awareness campaigns? “Let’s save all the boobies so a woman can always get felt up!” After my double mastectomy, I have zero feeling in my chest, so second base has been crossed off for me. You know what, though? Screw second base – hit a triple or just run home. There, problem solved.

Besides, how is wearing a shirt that says “Save the Hooters” increasing awareness for anything? How does a men’s shirt offering to check ‘em for you fight the good fight? Oh, this one is my personal favorite – a “funny” breast cancer awareness shirt for men. (Yeah, dude. Breast cancer is a riot. I laughed all the way to the chemo ward.) Or how does a men’s shirt telling us to SAVE MOTORBOATING help a patient undergoing chemo? It doesn’t, obviously, but it apparently challenges young men to try to think of the most offensive breast cancer awareness stunts, like this one. You know, because boobs.

The reality of it is that these campaigns are the result of folks wanting to make tons of money by selling T-shirts by vaguely saying money is going to a “good cause.”

A November 26, 2012 Post-Tribune article reported that a marketing presentation from the for-profit company, Boobies Rock! (gross), put its “gross revenues for 2011 at about $1.1 million with net revenues of $400,000 and unspecified ‘total commitments’ at just over $250,000.” The following year, a July 8, 2013 9News.com article stated that Adam Shryock, used “Boobies Rock! profits to buy a BMW, subscribe to online dating service friendfinder.com, and even pay bar tabs and Molly Maids cleaning service bill.” The article also reported that “some breast cancer charities supposedly ‘partnered’ with Boobies Rock! Received donations as small as $100.”

Yeah.

Breast cancer isn’t a joke, and what I and so many others have been through isn’t funny. It’s time we start taking a life-threatening disease seriously and showing respect and compassion to those who are currently going through or have been through treatment.

What Does “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” meant to you?

Before we all know it, Pinktober is going to rear its ugly head once again, and everywhere you look will be pink ribbons – from the grocery store, to chain restaurants and maybe a part of your downtown running path is now covered in bras (that one made me want to set the bras on fire) – all for the sake of “awareness.” I know I have gone on and on and on about breast cancer awareness month. I think pretty much everyone who knows me or who is familiar with Get Up Swinging knows how I feel about this month.

Well, I wanted to ask other folks with cancer, any cancer, the question: “What does Breast Cancer Awareness Month mean to you?” The responses mostly came from other women who have had breast cancer since that’s the disease I have, but there responses from others who have undergone treatment for cancers other than breast.

Here are responses from those who have metastatic breast cancer:

“Even before I was diagnosed with breast cancer I loathed October. No matter where you go there is a sea of pink, ribbons, t-shirts, key chains, etc. What started out as something good had morphed into a retail/marketing machine that line the pockets of those ‘bringing awareness.’ Now after living with Stage 4 breast cancer for the past year, I understand how serious this is. There isn’t a female on this planet that isn’t ‘aware’ – that doesn’t ‘feel their boobies.’ Every person diagnosed with breast cancer COULD develop metastatic disease. Early detection does not guarantee safety. What will save more of the 40,000 people that will die from breast cancer each year is research. And that means money for research – not awareness. What Komen and the others give to research is sickening. Nancy Brinkman should be ashamed of what her memorial to her precious Suzy has become. More lives could benefit from research and the clinical trials that are born of research. Until we can change the perspective of the public at large this will be an ongoing disconnect and more people will die – like me.”

“Nothing,” and then: “I have metastatic breast cancer. When I die, I will not have lost at all. Another reason October grosses me out: battle metaphors.”

“I think my stance has only grown stronger since being diagnosed stage 4 in the last 12 months. I have a really hard time going grocery shopping. I’m already getting the stupid emails about playing secret games. How does that raise awareness? I’m trying to come up with something for [metastatic breast cancer] similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. We’ve just got to come up with something good.” The same friend then said, “I still really just want to punch that Komen lady in the throat. Do you think that will bring more awareness? I bet it’d do more for mets than a pink frying pan. (I’m totally kidding…. Sort of.)”

Here are the responses from those who had breast cancer, aka the people who we’re supposed to celebrate during this month (allegedly):

“Hell.”

“Enough awareness already. Time to focus on research for those with mets. I used to like pink. Sometimes now I struggle with wearing it. Oh, and it makes me want to throat punch people.” It will shock y’all that wasn’t something I said, but damn, it’s something I truly feel.

“I cringe every October now. SGK has created an atmosphere wherein people actually resent breast cancer charities – even the good ones. It makes me very sad. I used to like pink, too. Now it just makes my butt pucker.”

“Absolutely nothing. It’s a disgusting marketing ploy.”

“It means companies profit off of a disease (mostly).”

“That I’m going to flip the fuck out the next time someone posts something about not wearing underwear or using their boobs to get out of a speeding ticket because they are playing a ‘fun’ breast cancer awareness game. And October, the month that used to be my favorite, is now the month that I won’t be able to, even for a minute, forget I had breast cancer.”

“Well, it means breast cancer awareness for everyone else, but for me, that’s every month every day.”

“Breast cancer is sadly something we’ve all heard of. We’re all aware of it each October because it’s shoved down our throats. I’m all for education of things like triple negative or IBC or mets, etc., but buying a pink frying pan isn’t going to do that either. By the way, I don’t think that pink is a vile color; I do love it, but I hate all the negative bullshit that it stands for now. Hopping off my soapbox now….”

“I guess the month is more personal to me. I got THAT phone call from the breast surgeon on October 1, 2012 telling me my biopsy was malignant. ‘Sorry for the phone call, but we need to act on this PDQ.’ So, two weeks later, I’m in surgery for seven hours, having a double mastectomy and tram flap. I’m sick of pink. I’m sick of Tamoxifen. I hate cancer.”

“Most people are unaware or ignorant to anything until it happens to them or someone they love. I feel like I’ve been under the breast cancer cloud since I was about 13 and my aunt, who was like my second mother, was diagnosed and had her mastectomy. I don’t know if her struggle was a warning to me, so I’d catch mine earlier because she ignored hers for a while before she got checked. . . . I try to see everything for the benefit it could or does have, but the little awareness ‘games’ piss me off because people think they are doing something when they really are not. If the month gets more women to do self-exams, check up on something suspicious, get a physical, or donate time or money who would’ve never thought to do before, I pray that is the good that comes out of it. It’s kind of a hard month, but so is every day once your life changes that little bomb of a seed has been planted in your mind and body.”

“I definitely feel the attention has to shift from awareness to cure. I think we all are aware now. However, maybe any attention to the disease is good attention? I will tell you though it pisses me right off when I see crap like … For breast cancer awareness I will be brave and post a picture of myself on Facebook without makeup…. Puuuuleeeze. Personally, those who post those self-serving pictures (oh girl, you’re gorgeous without make up, wish I could look half as great) did abso’f ing’lutely nothing to help my treatment go more smoothly – physically or mentally. If they want to see the face of bravery, I suggest they take a field trip to the waiting room of the women’s cancer center and look at the beautiful faces there with their heads covered with baseball caps, scarves, wigs or nothing. I encourage them to look into the eyes of those women, which might be brimming with tears because they were just given the news they did not want to hear, or tears of relief because they did. Regardless of age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity or any other defining factor. These women and their families and support systems have hearts full of hope. So my hope is that October brings meaningful advances in the cure and prevention of breast cancer.”

“I don’t have a lot of attachment to it. I went to a nice breast cancer fundraiser last night with all the pink bells and whistles for the cancer center that saved my life and had a good time and made some donations. But, there was a lot of ‘stuff’ there, that had I been in the throes of treatment or diagnosis, would have absolutely pushed me over the edge. So, I have awareness of the real deal! I do feel that I’ve helped shape some fundraising events so that they don’t push those buttons for others by creating awareness myself. I’m thinking it is a good month for me to keep being true about how it all is. At the same time, I can stay positive about the whole thing because my doctors told me the money that is raised truly helps patients and research and I believe that. Plus my mom with Alzheimer’s only likes to wear hot pink…which is pretty weird since my sister and I are both breast cancer survivors. She doesn’t consciously understand the significance. I think I will stay away from the pink cupcakes though; and I will definitely be remembering those we have lost who no longer can pink partake. . . . I admit, I did buy my mom a pair of breast cancer awareness sneakers because they were hot pink. I think like a penny supposedly goes to help somebody. *snark*”

Responses from people who had cancer, but not breast cancer:

“Well, I don’t have that type of cancer, but to me, it means I expect to see women without cancer showing off their boobs and bras and women with cancer not feeling great about being flooded with images of boobs.” When I read this response, I actually shouted “YES!” loudly at my desk.

“Blegh. What about the other kinds of cancer? Pinkification stinks.” I agree.

“I wish oral CA had the same publicity as breast CA.”

If those with breast cancer are expressing disgust and resentment at the very month that is supposed to celebrate them, then changes need to be made. We need to stop trivializing a deadly disease by wrapping it up in a pretty pink bow. Men also get breast cancer, and I couldn’t even fathom how horrifying Pinktober would be to a man with breast cancer. If a friend sends you an invite for the stupid annual Facebook game so many people mentioned above, respond with links from those with cancer as to why these games are offensive.

Most of the time people mean well, but I have come across so many people who want to use Pinktober as an excuse to have a girls’ night out and drink (dumb) or just say boobies or knockers or hooters. We need to take breast cancer seriously, even if deals with a body part that can reduce grown adults into immature 10-year olds.

I asked Lori Marx-Rubiner, the president of Metavivor, how can anyone help a loved one going through breast cancer treatment, and here is her response:

What can people do?

Give of themselves – run errands: dry cleaner, market, carpool

Make a meal – check first abt dietary restrictions

Keep patient company during treatment

Come by with a good movie

Check in 6-7 days after treatment, when the attention has died down

If you don’t have a specific person in mind-

Volunteer at a treatment or support center

Organize a local fundraiser

Sign up for Army of Women

No time?

Send a gift card – Jamba Juice, bookstore, Netflix subscription, local restaurant that delivers

Donate to research or directly

Race for the Agenda

(Originally posted on Get Up Swinging on February 2, 2012.)

I have spent the last two days really thinking about the decision of Komen to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. It’s taken me that long to really think about what I want to say to the Komen foundation, and here it goes:

Shame on you. You have let me down, and you have forever lost me as a supporter for your organization.

I had been participating in Race for the Cure races since 2000 in honor of my mother. Several of those years, I walked in the Race by myself because it didn’t matter that I was alone. I was racing in memory of my mother. Mother’s Day used to be painful for me because my mom was gone. Race for the Cure helped me feel close to her on a day that used to bring me pain. I go to sleep in nights in Race for the Cure T-shirts. All those years, I believed that I was doing good and something that mattered. My mom was a social worker and worked for the United Way before she died. My mom cared about others and wanted to help. I don’t know much about the woman, but I know that.When I participated in last year’s Race for the Cure, I felt a sense of community and pride. I looked around and took in all the other pink shirts. I saw the various signs proclaiming SURVIVOR. I loved it. I felt that one word they say a lot to cancer patients: “Hope.” I felt it and believed it. I saw women who were decades-long survivor and it gave me faith that I’m not going to die in the near future.

Komen made a cowardly decision by using a lame excuse, “Oh well, we’re not going to fund organizations that are under investigation.” I think I would actually respect their decision more if they just outright said, “We no longer want to be associated with an organization that provides abortions. This is our stance.” Okay then. Fair enough. Don’t hide behind a lame excuse – own up to it. However, my first question: why partner up with Planned Parenthood in the first place? It’s not like they all of a sudden became a place for women to go to for abortion. If it wasn’t political when the partnership started, then why make it political now?

I’ve spent way too much time on Komen’s Facebook page and have engaged with some lovely trolls, who had horrible literacy skills and scientific know-how. In the last two days, I have learned the following:

1.) Abortions cause cancer

Apparently there’s a website called abortionbreastcancer.com which, shocker, tells folks that abortion causes breast cancer. Yeah, that website seems really unbiased. Was the domain “BullshitMumboJumbo.com” not available?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that ACS’ website is devoted to helping fight cancer, not some political agenda.

The topic of abortion and breast cancer highlights many of the most challenging aspects of studies of people and how those studies do or do not translate into public health guidelines. The issue of abortion generates passionate viewpoints in many people. Breast cancer is the most common cancer, and it is the second leading cancer killer in women. Still, the public is not well-served by false alarms. At this time, the scientific evidence does not support the notion that abortion of any kind raises the risk of breast cancer or any other type of cancer.

2.) Birth control causes cancer

Let me refer you to the National Cancer Institute’s take on that.
3.) Women with no health insurance should just research harder for help if they are sick.

4.) By cutting ties with Planned Parenthood and taking away funding for screening, Komen now supports a pro-life agenda.

So by cutting off women’s access to cancer screenings and possibly delaying a cancer diagnosis…. that’s pro life? Whose life are we for here?

5) Poor women wanting free mammograms have this sense of entitlement.

Komen and Planned Parenthood are both charities. They are not the government. Implying that these people are trying to take advantage of the system is inaccurate and offensive. When folks give to charity, that implies they want to help others. When people in need go to charity for help, there should not be strings attached to that help.
6.) Breast cancer is a side effect of birth control.

Breast cancer is a disease. It’s not a side effect. It’s not punishment for being a slutty mcslut who sluts around. It’s a disease. It’s a disease that does not discriminate. It likes young women, old women, Democrats, Republicans, junk-food lovers, vegans, skinny women, overweight women. When you are a bald, sick individual fighting for your life, cancer does not care whether or not you donated to Planned Parenthood or stood outside its clinic showing pictures of aborted fetuses.

When a woman feels a lump in her breast, it is the scariest thing in the world. It’s the boogie man under your bed and hiding in your closet. When you have that mammogram and the doctor tells you that you have to come in for a follow-up, all the hairs on your neck stand up.

Women, no matter their socioeconomic status, should be able to get that lump checked out. By limiting their access to finding that help, I don’t find anything pro-life about that.

There are other charities out there, waiting for your help and donation. I suggest you find them.