Stacey Tinianov: If you feel compelled to show your support in this breast cancer awareness month, please consider the following…

Erika Hamilton, Chair of Breast Executive Committee and Breast Program lead for Sarah Cannon Research Institute, shared a post by Stacey Tinianov, the Founder of Advocates for Collaborative Education on LinkedIn, adding:

“Yep, she said it, eloquently as always!

We love breast cancer awareness and increased funding for this disease. Please be aware, however, of the language used around this month and disease for those who have (or have had) breast cancer. To many people, October doesn’t represent the “good cancer”, a catchy slogan and pink insert at a restuarant chain, or a “cool” topic for a month to support. It’s a painful and tough reality that’s anything but a party.”

Quoting Stacey Tinianov’s post:

“As the first moon of Breast Cancer Awareness Month rises, I want to take the time to pre-emptively THANK all of you who will turn your attention to a disease that irrevocably changes the physical, mental, social, and emotional reality for the nearly 300,000 who are diagnosed each year in the US alone.

Thank you for your solidarity.
Thank you for contributing time and money to research and support programs.
But, most of all, thank you for not looking away. Cancer isn’t pretty and cancer is a thief. Beyond stealing a sense of wholeness, a sense of healthiness, a sense of time, and a sense of blissful ignorance to the indignities of a cancer diagnosis, breast cancer steals over 43,000 people every year in the US alone.

Please don’t look away from those facts and please don’t look away from those who are living that reality. If you feel compelled to show your support in this breast cancer awareness month, please consider the following:

·      Verify your financial donations are actually going to support a 501c3, and not simply lining the pockets of a company who decided to turn their products pink for a month. (See some good 501c3 options below)
·      Respectfully celebrate everyone’s victories, but also be mindful that many individuals will never “beat” their disease (despite all the positive thinking, an excess of blueberries, and/or coffee enemas that you’ve read about in social media). In fact, for our friends with metastatic disease, breast cancer will kill them – in most cases, very prematurely and after significant suffering.
·      Refrain from engaging in campaigns that sexualize breast cancer. The disease that forced the amputation of my breasts does not deserve pink pom poms and “Save the Ta Tas” as a slogan. It has not been a party.
·      Remember (or learn) that breast cancer is not simply a “woman’s disease.” While not as frequently, men get breast cancer too.

And, most importantly, please know that, while October is dominated by breast cancer awareness, all cancers, and individuals with a diagnosis or history of cancer, need ACTION not simply awareness.”

Source: Erika Hamilton/LinkedIn and Stacey Tinianov/LinkedIn.