What is your story?

I went to the opening of Cancer Connections yesterday. I was amazing. Each image was accompanied by a personal story. Some were funny. Some courageous. Others upbeat and happy. While a few where heart wrenching.

One of the speakers talked about who she was before cancer. She said she did not want cancer to define her. It is peculiar that when you ask a cancer survivor about their story they start at the diagnosis. I even did it starting this blog.

It reminded me of a chemo nurse I had. I used to call her Rhinestone Kate, because she loved to wear her glittery rhinestone encrusted glasses.

During my very first intravenous chemo treatment I watched the red drug slither through the clear tube, racing toward my fresh vein, and squeeze through the needle. I felt the initial burn as the drug bit into me and I went into a bit of a melt down.

The enormity of what was happening to me came to me in that fleeting second. Kate jumped in with, "So what is your story?" She did not mean my cancer story - that was sort of obvious - she meant my life story. It was also her way of keeping me distracted. We were laughing in no time at all.

I did have a life before cancer - a very interesting - full life. I still do. Don't forget your story.

The Training Begins

Well it is confirmed! I am nuts! I have agreed to do the Seek the Peak Relay again.

This is a run/walk or should I say stumble/gasp, that starts at Ambleside beach in West Vancouver and goes up to the top of Grouse Mountain. The whole route is 19km - all up hill.

This is the third year I am participating. I do it with two other Breast Cancer survivors and a supporter, whos Mom had Breast Cancer. This is not a walk in the park so I have to start training now. The run is on the first weekend in July.

I figure if I can beat Breast Cancer a little mountain can't stop me.

One step at a time.

We are more than breasts

I find myself thinking about what I want to say next in this blog. Personal stories come to mind, observations from my wee corner of the earth, and things in the media and news all trigger different streams of thought. I’ve decided that today I will recount a story shared at the last world conference that really touched me. It was a talk given by a doctor and a survivor from a nation in Africa.

The speakers talked about the challenges they face in changing the stereotypical view of a breast cancer diagnosis and in getting to women to encourage early detection (which we all know is a key to successful treatment). The doctor stated that when a woman inadvertently finds a lump in her breast she often would not seek medical treatment because she automatically assumes that a breast cancer diagnosis is an instant death sentence. Given the late stage that a lump is so obviously detected, treatment would often be extreme, which has other more far reaching consequences due to the cultural significance of breasts and fertility and how that defines a woman.

The tools that the developed World used to aide in early detection, like a mammography machine, are not common place in most developing nations. The expense of this equipment imposes further barriers. The doctor sited that a mammography machine could be $1 million dollars. A mosquito net is $1 dollar. When 1 in 5 people die from malaria in his country the choice is obvious. 1 million mosquito nets – not 1 mammography machine.

Education and awareness becomes the only weapon in the arsenal to fight breast cancer to ensure woman can find their cancer early and then seek rapid treatment. The cultural shift is a greater obstacle – I learned that the deep rooted views on fertility and motherhood are such an important thread in the fabric of life. Somehow, we need to weave in a new thread that reinforces that a woman is so much more and can provide the love, care and contribution to her family and society with or without breasts.