BCO/Wisdo Video Shoot

I also just wanted to share the following post that I made to my personal Facebook page this morning on behalf of all of us Stage 4 lifers. In case this link doesn't work: BecsBreastEfforts , it is a public post, so it should be easy to find and share under my personal hashtag of #BecsBreastEfforts. If you would like to share it or edit the post to fit your own story, please feel free!!

I know this post is pretty long, but since I took the time to write it, please take the time to actually read it:

With my next monthly chemo cycle beginning tonight, and October, aka Breast Cancer Awareness month, starting this weekend, this#metsmonday, please remember that breast cancer is not something that should ever be sexualized, humorized, juvenilized, or marginalized. It is not a party or event to be celebrated, a team to be cheered on, a sorority or sisterhood to be joined, or a marketing opportunity to be taken advantage of. It is an extremely serious, body changing, life altering, and deadly disease.

This is especially true for those of us with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). Metastatic means that the cancer has left its origin site, spread through the blood stream, and the malignant cells have set up shop in distant sites around the body. In my case, since my diagnosis 2.5 years ago, breast cancer cells have popped up in my lymph nodes, sternum, lungs, and brain. While treatable, there is no cure, and for most, will eventually become terminal. I, along with the other estimated 155K people in the US living with MBC, will be on some kind of cancer related treatment for the rest of my life. Over 40K men and women die of my disease each year in the USA alone.That equates to, on average,110 people losing their lives in our country each and every day to breast cancer.

As of right now, we, as MBC sufferers, will never be able to live our lives as anything but cancer patients. We are the pink party poopers, a community who, throughout the month of October, are told we "need to fight like a girl", "win the battle", or "save the ta-tas". Nobody fights harder to live each day, or understands that not every "battle" is winnable, or that it is more important to save lives, than the body part the cancer stemmed from, than we do. We are the asterisks, footnotes and/or tiny statistics in the bottom corner next to all the "positive" survival information spun by the media and businesses seeking to profit from usage of the pink ribbon (which is not trademarked and therefore can be used by anybody).

However, I refuse to be seen as just a insignificant statistic, a medical id number, or an insurance file (the official insurance term for someone like me is catastrophic longevity, which, for some reason I find hilarious). I am an actual living, breathing person who is more than just an MBC patient: I am usually goofy, fairly klutzy, generally quick-witted, insanely smart, stunningly gorgeous, extremely loyal to my family, friends, and New York Rangers, a sucker for "bad" TV, tourist traps, and high levels of tackiness and kitsch. I am a collector and lover of funny stories; whether it's reading them, watching them, hearing them, telling them, or most importantly, living them. In addition, I'm clearly very humble (Somewhere along the way this turned into a really bad online dating profile).

I am also eternally grateful for, and appreciative of, my extensive (and ever growing) support system for continuing to STAND UP next to me (or sometimes for me when I am too tired and need to sit) and refuse to let me, and other MBC patients, continue to get swept under the pink ribbon covered rug!!

Posting or sharing an 'inspiring' photo, quote, wearing a meaningless pink ribbon, or doing something in the name of awareness is not enough. We are all AWARE. What we need is a CURE. Donate whatever you can to help: your time, your blood, your hair, your money (https://give.bcrfcure.org/fundraise?fcid=354692). It will all make a significant difference to somebody living with cancer.

Please also SHARE this post to continue to educate others about the reality of breast cancer: #BecsBreastEfforts; #Stage4Lifer; #StageIVneedsmore;#BeTheEnd