cancer

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?

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

Does abortion cause breast cancer?

A friend recently posted on her Facebook profile that she saw the bumper sticker, “Abortion causes breast cancer,” and wanted to know if there was any truth in that statement. I, of course, chimed in that no, that statement is not true. Then I wondered, “Who the hell puts a bumper sticker like that on their car?” I put on my investigating hat, and I found this Zazzle store where you can buy as many “abortion causes breast cancer” stickers as you want.

You know where else you can buy this bumper sticker? Well, the Abortion Breast Cancer Coalition also sells them. Yep, there’s actually a coalition devoted to selling the myth that abortion causes cancer. Here is an example of some of their “facts”: “A first trimester miscarriage is quite a different situation from induced abortion of a normal pregnancy in its effect on the woman’s breasts. The longer a woman is pregnant before an induced abortion, the higher her risk of breast cancer. This is because high estrogen levels of the 1^st and 2^nd trimesters cause breast growth of type 1 & 2 lobules. When her pregnancy is terminated before the breast cells reach full maturity, she is left with more immature type 1 & 2 breast lobules than before her pregnancy started, and therefore is at increased risk. Her breasts never mature to type 3 & 4 lobules, which would have occurred in the 3^rd trimester and would have lowered her risk.”

Uh, say what?

You’ll notice a couple of items missing from ABC’s link, such as hyperlinks to studies or just generally, facts and science. If you click on something purporting to be scientific and it doesn’t list a single source, run, not walk, away from that website.

I also really want to know why these folks elected breast cancer as the disease you supposedly get from having an abortion. Why not ovarian or uterine cancer – the lady parts involved in getting pregnant? Why breast? Is it because in the last 20 years, all the pink-washing campaigns have made this particular cancer the tour de force of cancers, and they want to hitch this theory on the cancer with the most household recognition?

From the ABC coalition website: “One of the difficulties with anti-cancer organizations is that radical feminists took up the breast cancer cause in the 1980’s. They saw this as a means of championing women’s rights, so it must have come as a surprise to them when they learned that their dominant concern — abortion — caused breast cancer. Once it became apparent that they had a conflict between abortion ideology and protecting women’s health, abortion won hands down!”

Ah, feminism is to blame for breast cancer. Gotcha.

I wonder if those who believe abortion causes breast cancer enough to put a bumper sticker on their vehicle actually know that breast cancer isn’t just one disease either? I want to ask them, “Abortion causes what type of breast cancer?” Invasive ductal carcinoma? Invasive lobular carcinoma? Metaplastic breast cancer? Inflammatory breast cancer? Estrogen-positive, Her2-positive or triple-negative cancer?” I guess there isn’t enough room on a bumper sticker for things like facts and science, huh?

I understand that pro-life people are quite fond of their provocative bumper stickers and in-your-face posters (although, to be fair, pro-choice folks are also fans of the bumper stickers and posters). This particular bumper sticker is just so inaccurate and offensive that I’m really shocked that anyone would put this on their car. Women are the ones who have elective abortions, and women (mostly) get breast cancer, so therefore, abortion causes breast cancer? Come on, let’s be better than this – correlation does not equal causation. I mean, men have vasectomies. Men develop testicular cancer. Does that mean vasectomies cause testicular cancer? (No.)

Let’s go back to the question at hand: does abortion cause breast cancer? Does this bumper sticker mean all abortions, including spontaneous abortions (aka miscarriages) or stillborn births? When I was 28, I had a miscarriage/spontaneous abortion. Two years later, I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Which means, according to the “abortion causes breast cancer” line of thinking, my miscarriage caused me to have breast cancer?

Nope. No. Just no.

I would wager a bet that every single person who slapped that “abortion causes breast cancer” bumper sticker on their vehicle wanted to shame any woman who had an elective abortion (not a spontaneous abortion/miscarriage). If they had an abortion, “Well, you’re going to get breast cancer and probably die,” and if they had an abortion and later developed breast cancer, “Well, that’s what you get for being a slut.” If that’s the case, though, there is just so much wrong with believing that women who have had elective abortions get breast cancer as punishment, especially when the fact-based science (rather than the pseudoscience of seeking out data to prove one’s ideological beliefs) dismisses any link between the two.

According to the National Cancer Institute’s website, “the Committee on Gynecologic Practice of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists concluded that ‘more rigorous recent studies demonstrate no causal relationship between induced abortion and a subsequent increase in breast cancer risk.’”

The website also gives the following as other findings from the recent studies:

Women who have had an induced abortion have the same risk of breast cancer as other women.
Women who have had a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) have the same risk of breast cancer as other women [emphasis mine].
Cancers other than breast cancer also appear to be unrelated to a history of induced or spontaneous abortion.

Here is another study: “Induced and spontaneous abortion and incidence of breast cancer among young women: a prospective cohort study.” The conclusion of the study, which included women ages 29 to 46 years old: “Among this predominantly premenopausal population, neither induced nor spontaneous abortion was associated with the incidence of breast cancer.”

Oh look, another study (from June 2008): “Incomplete pregnancy is not associated with breast cancer risk: the California Teachers Study.” The authors provide some background on the study: “Early studies of incomplete pregnancy and development of breast cancer suggested that induced abortion might increase risk. Several large prospective studies, which eliminate recall bias [i.e., a ‘systematic error caused by differences in the accuracy or completeness of the recollections retrieved by study participants regarding events or experiences from the past’], did not detect associations, but this relationship continues to be debated.” The study concluded that “These results provide strong evidence that there is no relationship between incomplete pregnancy and breast cancer risk.”

You know what can increase your risk of developing breast cancer? Per Breastcancer.org, not having children can increase your risk (not cause – big difference): “Women who haven’t had a full-term pregnancy or have their first child after age 30 have a higher risk of breast cancer compared to women who gave birth before age 30.” That does not mean having an abortion (spontaneous or elective) causes breast cancer.

Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate and it certainly doesn’t care if you have had a spontaneous or elective abortion. Breast cancer doesn’t just happen to “bad people,” because I certainly know a lot of wonderful, loving women who have had cancer and many among those who have died from it. Your morals don’t shield you from ever having breast cancer.

Using breast cancer, a very deadly disease that approximately 40,000 people will die from in 2014, in the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate is disgusting and offensive. Women (mostly) are losing their lives, and you want to add shame (based in bias and anti-science) to their struggles? Shame on every single person who has put that bumper sticker on their car. You are not a virtuous person. You are horrible. Women undergoing breast cancer treatment need your support, not your vitriol and blame.

Update

Since the passing of The Boyfriend’s family member of cancer, I have been at a loss for something to write. Normally, I will come across something on social media, like a ridiculous and offensive campaign all in the name of “awareness,” or an ignorant comment from someone high-profile, and I’ll furiously write a blog. My righteous indignation serving as a guide to my angry typing.

After watching someone die from cancer and seeing the grief and pain the whole process inflicted on his family, I am just tired. I am at a loss. Cancer made its way into my life once again, and as it does, the disease just took, stole and destroyed.

I listened to the nonsensical words from a man, who had been praised for his sharp mind. I saw the last laboured breaths of a frail man, who had slipped into unconsciousness for the last five days of his life. I tried to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible among his family members, feeling like an interloper among grievers. I didn’t know him prior to his illness.

This period of when he was actively dying, and my life went on hold, ready to change at a phone call’s notice, really got inside my head. Instead of being the one in the hospital bed, I was the hospital visitor who unfortunately understood the cancer lingo. I watched the man I love grieve for someone he loved. I learned, as we all do, how helpless we are in the face of death.

I flash-backed to my own treatment at the sight of the tubes and the beeping machines. During this period before and after he died, I felt unfamiliar pains in my back and hip. At times, I thought in a panic, “Do I now have metastatic cancer?” My worst nightmare was the main topic of conversation for a solid month.

The boyfriend needed me, so I dedicated myself to being the loving partner for him, all the while keeping inside my fears and worries. He shouldn’t, nor did he, have to console me while someone in his family was actively dying of cancer. This man was there for me during my cancer treatment, and I would be there for him to hell and back.

I have cried. I have felt anger, like deep within my belly anger. When someone is dying of cancer (not just living with metastatic cancer, but actively dying from the disease), the constant helplessness is exhausting.

I have listened. I have given countless hugs. I have reserved judgment over how someone may choose to cope with stress. I have come to accept my cancer-related fears as a constant in my life, and that new normal I have heard so much about.

Since the Boyfriend’s family member’s death was several weeks ago, now it’s the moving on portion of this process. Occasional moments of sadness flares up, but we’ll talk those out. The Boyfriend and I just scheduled our first vacation in two years. We’ll be leaving next month for a week long vacation of fun, work-free, stress-free living.

Time to re-gather the strength and passion I feel for cancer, and move on and forward. It’s not like cancer is taking a break.

Book Report: “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed

“I didn’t get to grow up and pull away from her and bitch about her with my friends and confront her about the things I’d wished she’d done differently and then get older and understand that she had done the best she could and realize that what she had done was pretty damn good and take her fully back into my arms again. Her death had obliterated that. It had obliterated me. It had cut me short at the very height of my youthful arrogance. It had forced me to instantly grow up and forgive her every motherly fault at the same time that it kept me forever a child, my life both ended and begun in that premature place where we’d left off. She was my mother, but I was motherless. I was trapped by her, but utterly alone. She would always be the empty bowl that no one could full. I’d have to fill it myself again and again and again.”

— Cheryl Strayed, “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.”

Back in February, my blog post “Don’t Disappear from the Pictures,” which I had cross-posted on The Huffington Post, was well received. Much to my surprise, it received thousands of likes, and the blog was shared more than 1,800 times. When my friend, Julia, read it, she messaged me on Facebook, and highly recommended I read the book “Wild.” She promised I would love it, and I would relate to it 100 percent. She then assigned it to me as a book report and get back to her in two weeks.

Yeah. . . it took me three months to finish, though that had nothing to do with the book itself. Sorry Julia!

Cheryl Strayed is an amazing writer. Hands-down, this is the best memoir I have ever read. (Right now, I’m reading “Orange is the New Black,” and I’m noticing a difference between showing, not telling – Piper Kerman tells and Cheryl Strayed shows.) I highly recommend everyone should read this, especially if you’ve experienced a profound loss in your life. Even though Cheryl’s situation was different than mine – her mother died of cancer when she was in her early 20s, and mine died of cancer when I was only 7 – the emotions and the ache for your mother when you need her the most is the same. I related to her anguish, sorrow and determination to figure out her life without her mother in it.

When I came across the above passage, I re-read it several times, just letting the words soak in. “She would always be the empty bowl that no one could fill. I’d have to fill it myself again and again and again.” The loss of my mother has defined me – the motherless girl. She died at an age where I never fought with her. I didn’t rebel against her or done any other teenage-angst daughter stuff that mothers endure. Since she died when I was seven years old, she was frozen in time as the Ideal Mother. She was my fantasized “what if” world. When I reached adulthood, I began viewing her as a real person, someone who was far from perfect but loved her family very much.

When I reached adulthood, the loss of my mother defined me again – I had to get annual screenings for the same disease that killed her. I didn’t have her guidance or knowledge as I navigated breast cancer myself. I never felt as alone or as empty as I did during chemotherapy. I had to keep filling my bowl, so speak, by befriending others going through this as well. I didn’t have her, but I wasn’t alone.

“Wild” inspired me. Her story made me even more determined to work on my story, and make it count. To show, not tell. To pour my heart into my story, just like Cheryl Strayed did.

@getupswinging Thanks, Lara. I'm so sorry you lost your mom so terribly young.

— Cheryl Strayed (@CherylStrayed) June 13, 2014

Ignorance is not Bliss

Look at this gem I came across Facebook awhile ago courtesy of Live Love Fruit, and I came the closest I have ever to that elusive rage stroke. (It’ll happen, my friends. It. Will. Happen.)

One of the many infuriating things about this graphic, disguised as health advice, is the fact that cancer isn’t just one disease. My breast cancer isn’t the same as the skin cancer that my dad had a handful of years ago. Hell, my breast cancer isn’t even like my friend N’s breast cancer (estrogen positive versus Her-2 positive). When these healthy living proselytizers start sticking their heads into serious, life and death, topics they know nothing about, that’s when my blood pressure wants to reach meteoric heights.

(Also, if you learn to love, you’ll prevent cancer? Seriously, what the actual fuck? So if you’re shooting figurative rainbows out your eyes and pooping bouquet of roses, you’ll prevent cancer? Oi. The stupid is strong with this one.)

Cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, is defined as: “a term used for abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can be spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start – for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in melanocytes of the skin is called melanoma.”

When I see graphics like this one, my first thought: what cancer are we talking about, ye ole wise Internet oncologists? Hmm, are we talking about carcinomas, sarcomas, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, or central nervous system cancers? Tell me, lady who juices and who believes Dr. Mercola is the best thing to happen to the Internet since cat videos, what cancer are you talking about? While we are at it, please show me all your diplomas from all the medical schools you attended.

I did a quick search for natural treatments to see just how effective they are. Here’s an abstract for a study entitled: “Alternative Therapy Used as Primary Treatment for Breast Cancer Negatively Impacts Outcomes.” Another study: “Effect of complementary and alternative medicine on the survival and health-related quality of life among terminally ill cancer patients: a prospective cohort study.” There are more studies out there, and this should go without saying for anyone diagnosed with cancer: discuss health plans with your team of doctors and for the love of pete, don’t take advice from people on the Internet.

I am not against alternative treatments in general. Not at all. I am against alternative treatments being used in place of the standard and tried-and-true treatments. I have heard and read that yoga, acupuncture, things of that nature, have helped loads in dealing with symptoms from treatment. I wholeheartedly believe those who are sick and want to try different ways to lessen their pain should try to find whatever works, and I hope you are successful.

The other main issue I take with the above graphic is the use of “prevention.” You can’t prevent cancer. You know what you can do, though? You can reduce your risk of certain cancers. When these Internet oncologists (who, I presume, received their Internet degree after successfully completing the course: “I read one article, and now I’m an expert”) throw around the word prevent, they perpetuate the false notion that if you just follow the Healthy Living Rules, you’ll never be sick.

A very gifted blogger, Stacey, explained exactly why the distinction of “prevention vs. risk reduction vs. screening” needs to be made in this fantastic CoffeeMommy blog post:

Why is the terminology distinction important? Three reason bubble to the top for me:

Continued Diligence: Individuals must remain diligent in personal and professional screening even when they “do everything right” on the risk reduction list. Mammograms don’t “Save the ta-tas” they simply alert people as to whether or not their breasts are trying to kill them. I can personally attest to the fact that people who follow all the published rules for how to prevent breast cancer, and get a mammogram at 40, still get breast cancer.

Removing Stigma and Eradicating Blame & Shame: According to anecdotal data, the most common question lung cancer patients field is, “How long did you smoke?” If you advertise risk reduction as prevention you are perpetuating a falsehood. Perpetuating the idea that cancers are preventable implies that, when a diagnosis is given, somebody did something WRONG.

Redirecting Research Focus: While a list of ways to reduce risk for disease is helpful, such a list is not a magic bullet. Already genomic research is leading to personalized treatments. We need to expand efforts in this area. When the general public finally realizes that no one is “immune” to a cancer diagnosis, more focus can be applied in the appropriate areas.

Actors who are in the best shapes of their lives are diagnosed with cancer and die. Athletes get cancer. Never-Smokers get lung cancer and die. Vegetarians also get cancer. Oftentimes biology and/or environmental factors are too big of obstacles for a healthy lifestyle to shield you from anything bad, and you can get sick. You cannot prevent cancer. You can reduce your risk. I am sorry to burst any bubble, but bad things can happen to good people, including healthy people.

Oftentimes you see these graphics, like the one above, being shared and posted by those who have never had cancer or faced any medical hardship (as a result of that, they seem to think they have the human body all figured out). Frankly, I think it’s irresponsible and downright dangerous to be advocating for a “natural cancer treatment” when it’s not YOUR life at stake. People have said to me, “Man, I don’t know if I could do chemo if I had cancer. That just seems really drastic, all that poison.”

My response: “Oh yeah, total poison. Nothing good or easy about it, but man, when the doctor told me I had breast cancer, I couldn’t get hooked up to that IV quick enough.” Let’s make a deal, internet oncologists. If YOU come down with cancer, then you should try the natural cancer treatments, and report on how that worked out for you. In the meantime, I’m going to listen to those in the medical field who actually do know what they are talking about.

You also see a lot of this line of thinking in social media land after you have become a sickie:

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To the folks who subscribe to this paranoid Big Brother attitude, I applaud you for the privilege of not ever having been sick and needing medicine to actually stay alive or to function. I’m not exaggerating either – needing real medicine, and not some essential oil or some fruit that people in South America supposedly do instead of chemo, to stay alive. It must be nice. If it wasn’t for big Pharma, I’d either have advanced disease or I’d be dead. Who knows? I wouldn’t be living a No Evidence of Disease life right now, and I certainly wouldn’t have run a half marathon not even a month ago. If this makes me a so-called Big Pharma pawn or whatever it is that these theorists think I am, so be it. I know I’ll rest easy tonight.

Half marathon…. check

I did it. I freaking did it.

Pre-race selfie and post-race selfie

I ran 13.1 miles today, and I didn’t stop to walk. (I did stop for water breaks, but I’m not counting that.) I’ve been training for this day for months, basically since last October. This time last year, I was still recovering from five surgeries over the period of two years. I was 10 to 15 pounds heavier, and I lacked direction. I didn’t know how to change my life and bounce back from all the crap done to me during breast cancer. I hated what cancer had done to me physically with all my scars, weight gain and the reconstruction.

I’m now in the best freaking shape of my life. I have never looked and felt like this, even before cancer. I have a feeling of purpose with running. During all my treatment, I remember how absurd it felt to hear people say to me, “Oh, you’re so strong. You’re a fighter.” That always struck me as odd because I had never felt so physically weak and just beat up. Like, seriously, who was I fighting and winning? Cancer treatment puts the patient in a very passive role. I didn’t do anything – rather, treatment was done to me.

I feel strong now, and I have realized that I’m not strong nor was I ever strong because I had cancer. I am now strong even though I had cancer.

During the last three or four miles of the race today, I actually started getting flashbacks to my time in the chemo ward. I could see myself in the chair, looking out at the other patient. I remembered that feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. I’d snap out of that flashback and just ran harder. Then I flashed to my hospitalization after my double mastectomy, and how much pain I felt. I’d snap out of that, too, and ran harder. It was like Runner Lara was running like hell away from Sick Lara, like I am finally able to put that period of life behind me (knowing damn well that it can always come back).

Nothing I can do will prevent breast cancer from ever coming back, either local or distant. What I do today, like putting on a pair of shoes and running, is what i can do. That’s the only control I have – this very moment.

This race was such a huge deal to me. It was to see if I could even do it and a big fuck you to cancer. Now it’s done and in the (Lara) record books, it’s time to move on. I’m definitely not cancer girl anymore.

I am a runner.

Get Up Running – Kerry

I recently just “met” Kerry through another friend of mine, Michele, who has had breast cancer and runs races. I am meeting a lot of women who’ve had breast cancer and who are also runners – awesome! Anyway, here’s Kerry’s story.

Name: Kerry

Type of cancer and treatment:

Dx Oct 2008 @ 42 yrs, IDC, Stage IIIa, Grade 3 [ed note: breast cancer, for those who don’t know what IDC means – invasive ductal carcinoma]
Right Mx, no recon
FEC-T x 6
25 rads
Tamoxifen
Ooph
Arimidex (still taking)
3 years of Zometa, 2 x a year

Were you a runner before cancer?

No. I was always really active; I walked everywhere, hiked, canoed, gardened, etc, but hadn’t run since high school.

While I was in the middle of chemo, I decided I wanted to work hard at getting physically strong after I was done. Running seemed like an obvious choice. Chemo hit me quite hard. FEC made me throw up, and Taxotere gave me terrible bone pain, from which I was basically bedridden for a couple of days each round. I remember lying in bed feeling so terrible, so weak, and just wishing that I could feel strong again. I ended up hospitalized after my 5th round of Chemo (febrile neutropenia) and remember being taken from the ER up to a ward. There I was in a hospital gown, bald, IV pole, in a wheelchair, and I’ll never forget the look of pity and fear on the faces of people we passed. I never wanted people to look at me that way again.

I also did a lot of research about what I could do to increase my odds of survival, and time and time again I read that exercise would lower my risk of recurrence. It seemed like a no – brainer to prioritize exercise after active treatment ended.

I am also on an AI, one of the most common side effects is joint pain. I read one of the best ways to prevent this is, again, exercise. I do feel a difference in my body if I go a couple of days without running. I went through early menopause right after radiation, when I had my ovaries removed. I hope that running helps counter some of the negative long term cardiac effects of that, and some of the long term effects of chemo.

Did you run during treatment? How long after did you take it up?

I didn’t start running until after treatment ended. I walked during chemo, as much as I could, which towards the end was often just walking my kids to school and back. After chemo I started walking longer distances, and about 6 months after I finished up everything I started running a bit. (I live in Canada and had to wait for the snow to melt) I started off running small distances during my walks, and slowly increased how much I ran, until I was comfortably running 3 miles at a time. On a whim I decided to try and run 6 miles, which I did! Not long after that I decided to train for a half marathon, and about 7 months after starting running, (about 2 years after diagnosis) I ran my first half marathon. I have since run 2 more half marathons, and next month will run my 4th full marathon.

How has running helped you during and/or after treatment, both physically and mentally.

Physically and mentally it has made me so much stronger. I truly think running is saving my life, and my sanity. I came out of treatment with some extra steroid weight, feeling pretty weak and hammered by everything. Emotionally I felt quite vulnerable, it is such a shocking thing to happen, and I was not particularly hopeful about my long term survival. I think that when you are in the midst of active treatment you are in fight mode, but afterwards I think running gave me something positive to focus on, like I was still doing something to fight the cancer.

I also think that having gone through some pretty aggressive treatment, that cancer has helped me as a runner. I have often thought during a hard run, if I can get through chemo, I can get through this. I think it has given me the strength to not quit when the going gets tough.

What did your doctor say about your running?

My onc says it’s the reason I am doing so well. He is totally supportive.

What is your biggest challenge running after cancer?

Ha, well, I didn’t have recon, and sweat and a silicone prosthesis don’t mix! I had a couple of near embarrassing situations before switching to a foam prosthesis. It makes me look a bit lopsided if you looked closely, but I really don’t care.

I have had bursitis twice in my heels which I blame (possibly unfairly) on Arimidex.

I also have had occasional hand lymphedema after very long runs.

What would you say to someone just out of treatment who may be intimidated to take up running?

Well, I would say to start slow. You don’t have to be out running marathons. There is a huge benefit of just exercising for 30 minutes a day. Consistency is the most important thing. Start out with an easy, non-threatening plan, something like couch to 5k. Don’t worry about speed, don’t be afraid to walk. Just get out there and do something. Think of exercise as a key part of your treatment plan, the survival benefit is similar to chemo. And it’s far more fun 😉