Skip to Content

Brace Yourself. The Pink Wave (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) Is Upon Us. Again.

Brace Yourself. The Pink Wave (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) Is Upon Us. Again.

As I’ve written before, October will always belong to my dad. This fact will never change, and I find so much comfort in it. And balance. And a lot of other things.

But, of course, October also means it’s time to brace yourself. The Pink Wave is upon us. Again.

Are you ready?

Every year, I think about how best to approach October, aka Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sometimes, I gotta admit, I don’t want to approach it at all. I mean, how many ways and how many times can we keep harping on some of these same issues, right?

As I said last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that — as many times as it takes.

Speaking only for myself, silence is not an option.

Looking back at my first BCAM month post (yikes, it’s pretty bad; it literally makes me cringe now), I realize I had a lot to learn back then.

I guess my point is just because those of us in Breast Cancer Land are too well acquainted with all the problems with BCAM and beyond (and there are many), I don’t think we can assume everyone else gets it. Clearly, they don’t.

I keep reading that everyone’s aware of breast cancer. True.

But specifically, what exactly are most people aware of?

That’s the million dollar question, and it’s why I keep pounding the keyboard writing pieces that I hope might resonate or make a small difference when someone out there sees it float by on Twitter or wherever. After all, small steps matter too.

I love this quote from the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

Real change, enduring change, happens slowly, one step at at time.

I know my friends with metastatic breast cancer are impatient, as they should be. I am too. We all want change (such as better, less harsh treatments that extend lives) to speed up. We all wonder why the same issues many of us have been talking about for years, still need talking about.

The primary one being the fact that 42,000 women and men are still dying from metastatic breast cancer every single year in the US alone.

Why hasn’t this number gone down?

And why do so many people know little or nothing about metastatic breast cancer?

I fear we’ve not been as successful as many claim we’ve been.

And there are all the other issues/questions such as:

Why is breast cancer still so often portrayed as merely a bump in the road that you can easily navigate, preferably, with a smile on your face, in about a year’s time and then simply move on?

Why is breast cancer so tied up with shopping in the first place?

I mean, really, why is it the shopping disease?

Why do pink ribbon shenanigans continue year after year too often portraying breast cancer as some pink party-like sorority?

Why so much focus on saving breasts rather than on saving lives?

Why is a still too often deadly disease still trivialized?

And on and on and on.

But this is exactly why those of us who are able and feel up to it must persevere. We must keep the #breastcancerrealitycheck narrative going. Slow change is better than no change.

So what will my approach be this October?

It’ll be the same as last year. To persevere.

I hope you’ll join me.

To get more articles from Nancy’s Point delivered weekly to your inbox, Click Here.

If you think this post has value, please share it. Thank you.

How are you feeling about BCAM this year?

What helps you persevere in advocacy, or in anything, for that matter?

Do you intend to get louder, quieter or just “hide” until November? 

 

Brace yourself. Another #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth is upon us. #breastcancer #pinkribbons #keepingitreal

Note from Nancy: I wrote about cancer language, cancer worry, survivor guilt, loss, pet grief, COVID-19, DIEP flap surgery, life as an introvert, aging, resiliency, and more in EMERGING. Available at Amazon and most other online booksellers. It’d mean a lot to me if you gave it a read.

How do you even start to emerge from a cancer diagnosis, loss, the pandemic, or any trauma? #cancer #grief #petloss #pandemic #trauma #womenshealth #familyrelationships

Donna Funkhouser

Wednesday 27th of September 2023

Hi Nancy, I want to say 1st that I have read Emerging, several times in fact, and I would recommend it to anyone who has been touched by breast cancer. And really, at this point in time we have all been touched in some way. When will people realize that wearing a pink shirt to a football game or sticking a pink magnetic ribbon on their car will not cure cancer. And they can't tell me that they are bringing awareness when we are all more than aware, thank you very much. Until they can prove to me that they have contributed to metastatic breast cancer research, with a check, not pennies from a pink ribbon, then I want none or it. Thanks for letting me jump on my Oct bandwagon!

Nancy

Friday 29th of September 2023

Donna, Thank you for reading Emerging - more than once even! You are too kind! Yeah, gearing up for another Pinktober feels like a chore. Still, chores need to get done. So, here we go again I guess. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You can jump on that bandwagon here any time!

Donna Funkhouser

Wednesday 28th of September 2022

Well Nancy, you know that October and I have never been best friends! However, I'm not going to let it get to me anymore. I also still cringe at all the pesto bismol pink but my hope is that at some point people will become more aware of MBC by giving and hoping for a cure. I've let all of the other aspects of the pink party shopping bother me for so long, especially people who think that sticking a pink ribbon on their car and wearing pink for a month will prevent or cure breast cancer, but I'm going to close my eyes to it this yr and put all my energy toward MBC.

Beth L. Gainer

Monday 12th of November 2018

Hi Nancy,

This year, I just chose to remain incognito in October. I just wanted to crawl into my shell. But I survived it, and I'm thankful it is November. BCAM being in October is nauseating because I, too, love the month. But I love November more because of Thanksgiving.

Thank you for writing this important piece. And, yes, I totally get why the message must be repeated. I've noticed much less pink hoopla in my area, but it still exists. Ugh.

Nancy

Monday 12th of November 2018

Beth, Sometimes you gotta go incognito. I get it. Believe me, I get it. Thanks for reappearing! Enjoy November and thank you for commenting.

Leslie W

Thursday 4th of October 2018

I have always loved the month of October, my favorite holiday is Halloween, for my family it was the start of the dune riding season, full of campfires, friends, riding and the start of cool weather. I decorated for Halloween all month, dressed up every year, I say all this because this was all pre-cancer. Peripherally I was aware that it was breast cancer awareness month but like many of us, it was a fleeting thought of it could happen to me but probably won't... sigh the innocence of it all. Now after bc it feels like my own freaking national PTSD month filled with triggers and anger, a vacillation of wanting to reach out and support but feeling angry and twitchy about all the attention and over-hype. I figure I spend every month fighting my own personal battle, thinking about it, talking about it, crying about it, obsessing about it that I can allow myself to reclaim October and Halloween and all the beauty and happiness it can give me.

Nancy

Friday 5th of October 2018

Leslie, I love October too. I'm glad you allow yourself to reclaim it. Enjoy every minute. Thank you for reading and sharing. Wishing you a happy Halloween a bit early!

maryellen galley

Wednesday 3rd of October 2018

I love the color pink and I will not let others steal that joy. I am in my second year of living with metastatic breast cancer and my philosophy is to advocate and educate. Do more than pink is what I challenge my family, friends and co-workers to do. I will attend the Metavivor Stampede in Washington DC and plead for more funding. I don't think we will change the "PINK" out during October but maybe we can make it more than about breasts and make it about finding a cure to save those with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Nancy

Wednesday 3rd of October 2018

MaryEllen, I love pink too! Your philosophy sounds pretty darn good. Do more than pink - that is smart advice. It's great you're attending the event in DC. Good for you. Maybe you'd like to write about your experience for a MetsMonday featured post sometime. Or about anything you want. But yes, let's definitely put our focus on what matters. Saving lives. Thank you for sharing.