Somehow it is already late October (how is this possible?) and I haven't yet posted about products for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Truthfully, each year I get more anxious doing so since I keep hearing about the "pinkwashing" of breast cancer in the retail industry, all while I continue to receive endless pitches about "pink" products from companies whose backgrounds I'm not sure about. And while I wholeheartedly support marketing efforts to help any disease that devastates so many (particularly since I have a background in health grant-making and a master's degree in public health), I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing by posting about each and every one of these products. I could probably write several posts about this dilemma, but I'm sure others have done so far more eloquently. In fact, I know that they have. Today I want to refer you to two other blogs that have given me more "awareness" about breast cancer than any marketing campaign has. Like most of you, I have very little free time to read blogs (and thank you for reading mine), but these are two that have moved and inspired me, and I check in on them regularly. Things are not easy for either of the authors right now--and they are young moms just like (most of) my readers:
Toddler Planet is written by Susan Niebur, a four time cancer survivor, brilliant astrophysicist, and mom to two little boys. She is fighting bravely against metastatic breast cancer in her spine, neck, ribs, and hips. Read Susan's post about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which informed me that only 3% of breast cancer research goes towards patients with metastatic cancer.
Family Bonding Time is a blog written by Nathan and Elisa Bond, a young couple from New York City. They are actually both fighting cancer--Nathan has colon cancer and Elisa has metastatic breast cancer. They also have a toddler-aged daughter, Sadie. Like Susan, Nathan and Elisa are real life examples of brave people fighting breast cancer, and the fights are ugly and horrifying to read about. No "pinkwashing" here.
Yes, please continue to "buy pink," but please also remember the faces and stories of those who are really in the trenches.
Wishing Susan, Nathan, and Elisa good health and good cheer this October, and always.
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