MBCN board member Deb Tincher is glad Guliana Rancic shared her uplifting breast cancer story in US magazine. But she reminds us that celebrities with early stage breast cancer are not just like US. “I am so tired of celebrities putting a happy face on breast cancer,” writes Deb.
Me too.
A Letter to the Editor of US magazine:
It is wonderful that Guliana Rancic has a positive, uplifting story to tell. But unfortunately for us, it isn’t all pretty pink ribbons and cures. The celebrities that fight breast cancer and win are the public face of this disease. We need a platform to educate people about the progress that has not been made in finding a cure.
A lump in the breast does not kill anyone. When breast cancer cells travel or metastasize to another part of the body—usually bone, liver, lungs or brain—it is incurable. Those of us with metastatic breast cancer aren’t and will never be the survivors. The cure has eluded us.
Much has been done in the areas of prevention and early detection and that is wonderful. It provides women with more choices in their treatment. Although people think we have come a long way…
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ihatebreastcancer 
Thanks for sharing this. Not every celebrity with breast cancer puts a happy face on it. I well recall Elizabeth Edwards being quite honest when her breast cancer recurred in 2007 – being clear that she could not be cured. In last interview with her that I saw (summer 2010 on Larry King) she was honest, talking about her hopes that existing treatments could give her more years but knowing she could only extend her time not be cured of her cancer. Unfortunately, she died in Decmber 2010.
I am also tired of explaining to people who ask me if I am out of treatment. I have stage iv breast cancer that there is no cure or reprieve from treatment. They see celebs in the media exclaiming their cure. Komen has not helped. They have speakers with the same message and their luncheon is bombarded with messages about cures. They do not speak to me or for me. I have Stage IV Breast Cancer and it cannot be cured. I am living a very good high quality of life. It may not always be but for now it is fine.
I agree. Hopefully Komen has encouraged women to get mammograms that may not have done so before, but the harsh reality is only 2% of research money goes to fund treatments for stage IV BC. There is not enough exposure of stage IV BC in the media and some people don’t even KNOW that a stage IV BC exists!
I think it’s time to take the “pretty pink mask” off of breast cancer’s face and see it for what it really is.
Thanks for the post.
Talking to other Metsters, I found it shocking that with so much ‘awareness’ and ‘education’ happening, so many of the gals were former ‘survivors’ who had had no idea after their initial diagnosis and treatment that 30% of them were going to go on to develop the terminal version of the disease. Most of them hadn’t even known what stage IV *meant*.
When we short-change services and resources and research on stage IV BC, we not only do a disservice to those of us already dealing with metastatic breast cancer, we do a disservice to those who will develop it – and die from it – in the future. We need to turn around and acknowledge the not-so-pretty side of breast cancer; to avoid doing so is to quietly collaborate in the torture and death of tens of thousands every year, out into the indefinite future. That’s not a heritage I want to pass down to my granddaughter.
All so true. Think before you pink.