Open your eyes

Yesterday evening I was a guest speaker at an event ‘Women at the Brink’ hosted by Jennifer Hartstone of the Shabby-Chic Clothes Agency. Jen organised this event to promote her business and also raise money for the UK charity Yes to Life who help cancer patients (and who helped me during my treatment), and she invited me to speak at the event. Thank you Jen for the opportunity.

I talked about ‘What do you really know about breast cancer?’ Based on my increasing knowledge of the subject, I wanted to raise ‘awareness’ of some truths about breast cancer that we don’t always get to hear. Although yes sometimes I am bored of the subject too, and wondered whether my specialist subject could be gardening or knitting instead. However I still enjoy talking about my opinions and changing people’s perceptions about breast cancer. For the event I produced a limited edition of a small book – The little book of BIG FACTS about breast cancer.

Wonderful though the internet is I’m not able to share the book in the delightful book format, including pink ‘ribbon’ closure detail – which can be ripped or slipped of depending on the feeling of the recipient –  however the text of the booklet is reproduced here:

Awareness?

You’re aware of breast cancer, right? You know someone who’s been treated. Your friend, your mother, your sister, your aunt, your daughter… too many women, and small though increasing numbers of men.

There are factors associated with increasing risk of breast cancer and certain factors that decrease the risk of breast cancer, but we do not know how to prevent breast cancer.

In the UK in 2008 nearly 48,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 12,000 died from the disease.

Slipping off the fence

Today’s post is from a fellow blogger, Philippa Ramsden, who writes a blog called Feisty Blue Gecko. Another cyber friend who I have been delighted to get to know. She is Scottish and currently lives in Yangon in Myanmar. She works in International Development and Humanitarian work, particularly in the education sector. She has worked in France and Belarus, she then met and married her husband in Nepal, stayed there for five years and then moved to Mongolia. Another move followed, and after working in South India after the tsunami she moved to Sri Lanka and finally landed in Myanmar glad to be able to settle a bit. Then she discovered a lump in her breast, and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. When, as those of us who have experienced that know, everything changes.

Philippa shares my love of nature and photography, except of course her photos are completely exotic compared to mine! She also a keen swimmer and general lover of life – her posts reflect that and I often feel I am transported to a totally different place by her descriptions of monsoons and flowers and plants.

The post today was originally published on Philippa’s blog last month as we headed into October. It’s about those ‘annoying’ Facebook ‘awareness’ games for breast cancer – well I think they’re annoying and have written about them as well – Say something real. Here Philippa sensitively writes about why they might appear to be a bit of fun, for many of us they aren’t funny at all.

“Geckos have very sticky feet apparently.  That is why they can scuttle up and down walls, along the ceilings and in and out of corners without regularly falling onto the floor.  I must have some of that stickiness when I write because I quite like to sit snugly on the fence during many of the lively discussions which we have online.

I find myself losing my grip and sliding off the fence just a little this weekend, following a bit of an altercation with Facebook.

I am in the excruciating situation of having been taken in by the latest awareness raising game or activity on Facebook. A couple of years ago women put their bra colours on their status updates and watched as comments of puzzlement came from the male membership of Facebook. The idea behind it was to make people stop and think and with the reference being to bras, there was a link to breast cancer. Hence raising awareness. I guess.

Last night I saw a Facebook status update posted by a recently married friend, referring to a number of weeks, and craving a certain food.  There was a string of comments, sending warm congratulations and expressing delight at the prospect of her being x weeks pregnant.  Thinking this was a lovely piece of news, I added my own warm wishes, preparing to tell the great news to hubby J.  It was not long before my friend posted very quickly that this was not about pregnancy and had to issue a very direct update to put folks right.  I was mortified.  I might as well have put my red face right up there on Facebook too, as that is the side bonus of the misunderstanding – it is VERY public. They should add a “cringe” button, as I would certainly have clicked it beside my comment.

Usually I step back from these campaigns a bit.

I want more

Nearly October. Autumn is here.

I was looking back through my recent blog posts and thinking that it actually looks like I’ve been having a good time lately. And yes, I suppose I have. But I recognise that they are good times. There’s plenty of other times when I’m worrying or being annoyed about the admin of sorting out medical appointments – yes, still. But on the whole, mostly, this summer has been good for me. And I’m glad.

And now it’s autumn. The evenings are noticeably shorter and cooler now, the curtains drawn before 8pm. The leaves are turning. And soon it will be October.

Ah, October. Breast cancer awareness month. You’d think I’d like that wouldn’t you? What with wanting us to eradicate breast cancer forever. Well, yes awareness is good. But awareness of what? That there are so many pink charities and pink events out there that if you contribute to one of them then you’re helping us, people like me. That we’re nearly there – winning the war on breast cancer. Well, actually, we’re not.