Breast Cancer Awareness Month is right around the corner which means an array of pink ribbon packaging on your grocery shelves and seemingly insensitive “save the tatas” campaigns on social media. It was not until I learned from my mom how negligent this “pinkwashing” can be to the real pain this disease brings to so many. Raising awareness is not inherently a bad thing, but it can be simply performative, so it is time to focus on reality and research. Breast cancer is not the experience filled with all the pink and positives as the media portrays. It is real, hard, and can happen to anyone, women or men, at any age. My mother was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer when she was 38 years old and continues to fight this battle today.
“It’s fine to have a month for cancer awareness, but don’t glamorize it,” stated 10-year metastatic breast cancer patient, Cindy Padley. “It’s a terrible disease that affects not only the person that has it but also their family. They don’t show the bad side.”
I used to buy into the pink packaging, the infamous rubber bracelets, and any other campaign out there to raise awareness for breast cancer. I was blind to the fact that my money was not going to where I thought it was. A quick look into some of the most notable breast cancer charities shows that the majority of money gets funneled into awareness. That would be fine if the majority of the population knew that breast cancer exists.
Take the time to research where your money goes and support companies who are openly transparent about funding research. Spoiler alert! It is not the big-name organization that may come to mind.
There is an extreme lack of funding for research for stage four breast cancer (also known as metastatic breast cancer), the kind of breast cancer that kills a patient.
“These companies forget about us who are fighting stage four metastatic breast cancer,” states Ms. Padley. “I didn’t even know what it was until I was diagnosed.”
People are aware that breast cancer exists, but very few people are aware of the kind of breast cancer that ends up killing someone. Only one day of October (the 13th) gets dedicated to Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness. There must be a shift within October towards more worthwhile initiatives about metastatic breast cancer and education, as well as more emphasis on signs to look for to spot breast cancer and how to cope when you are diagnosed with the disease.
The first step to education is becoming familiar with your own body. On the first of every month, I can guarantee to receive a text from my mom saying “Feel on the first!” accompanied by various heart emojis. This, as well as reminder on my phone, reminds me to perform my monthly self-exam on my breasts. It is common to get this done yearly at a doctor’s appointment but is important to do regularly at all ages.
When doing a breast exam, look for any differences in their physical appearance, including any puckering, dimpling, or changes in size and shape. You can do a self-exam either lying down or in the shower. To do a proper exam, raise your arm on the side of the breast you are examining and use your opposite hand to conduct the examination. Use the pads of your three middle fingers to apply different levels of pressure to all breast tissue and move your three fingers in a circular motion. Be certain to cover all areas of your breast, whether you move up and down the area or circle around it.
Doing this regularly will allow you to notice any changes in your breasts. Ms. Padley notes, “If you feel like something isn’t right, ask your doctor. If you don’t feel right about the answer, get a second or third opinion.” Her type of breast cancer appeared very different than the typical diagnosis. More education and research are still necessary for people to understand the disease. We know what it is, but we hardly know anything about it except the pink ribbons associated with it. Let us stop the glamorizing and monetizing of this disease and instead take a moment to think before buying pink this October.