Pink Fatigue

 

Today was a beautiful fall day up here. Sunny and high 70's.

I went to the "Beer Store" (in Ontario, beer is sold at the Beer Store, mostly. Not at a corner store). There was a lady out front with a "Breast Cancer Awareness Kit", a donation box and pink ribbons....and they have a "Bowling for Boobs" promotion going on as part of their campaign.

I made a donation and when she went to hand me my pink ribbon...I pointed to my GFMPH NY #3 baseball cap from Sonny with the Blue Tie Ribbon pin Bronson gave me at mini-GFMPH in Niagara and said "I'm a blue ribbon survivor".

It took her a second to realize (uh-huh) and we talked briefly.

I looked around the store and the demographics were not surprising. Just about every customer was a male with a median age of 40...about 50 customers at the time (1 woman). 

In the few minutes we talked, I saw about 20 guys put in anything from a couple bucks to 20 bucks...probably close to $100 bucks, total. Mind you it was "busy time" at the store, but I've never seen a blue ribbon campaign at any beer store...and this is primarily a man's domain here.

Maybe I can start something. If they offer the space for breast cancer awareness, they certainly can for PCa.

The unfortunate thing in my mind is, not many guys would be willing to stand out front of this large chain of stores with a similar PCa donation box.

That has to change. The gals got us beat hands down in awareness and fundraising activities. Maybe I'll approach the PCCN up here as Bronson suggested and try and get some awareness going.

The Beer Stores in Ontario could be gold-mine for raising awareness and funds for PCa.

I don't have Pink Fatigue...but am getting "Lack of Blue" fatigue.

We'll see.

Mike 

 posted edited...double words. Oh-no!

 

Post Edited (mikey1955) : 10/7/2011 4:30:56 PM (GMT-6)

For Immediate Release

August 31, 2010

                                                                                                                         Presidential Proclamation--National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

A PROCLAMATION

Although its mortality rate has steadily fallen in the last decade, prostate cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States. This year alone, nearly 218,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 32,000 men will die from this disease. National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month gives us the opportunity to renew our commitment to fight this disease by finding better ways to prevent, detect, and treat it.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/31/presidential-proclamation-national-prostate-cancer-awareness-month

There really wasn't much publicity regarding this proclamation.  When a celebrity dies from PCa, there is awareness for a brief period of time.  I agree a sports' team should do promotion and arenas should be decorated in blue.  There are Breast Cancer Christmas/Holiday ornaments for sale.  These are beautiful pink ribbons.  Some how I don't think 2 blue balls will look good on our tree!  (Or a blue penis.)

BDCyclist, you asked about SU2C (Stand Up to Cancer).  When Ron received his diagnosis, I sent in a $10 donation.  They mailed a huge packet of information.  There was a cancer log which the patient would use for their journey with Cancer.  Ron was just too blue to do the writing.  I took the packets of information and the log to our church.  Yes, once you join you will continue to get mailings from them.

 

 

Post Edited (Aimzee) : 10/8/2011 7:07:34 AM (GMT-6)

In my pink ribbon filled Sunday newspaper I noticed a large article on breast cancer. The last sentence read as follows:

"We have to change it from awareness and pink ribbons to let's focus on ending this."

My heart goes out to victims of every color ribbon.

Ever since being diagnosed in July 2011 and now just went through Robotic Surgery this week 10/4/11, I have had the same feelings as many of you on this post. I also have noticed there is a large support for Breast Cancer awareness but never really hear much about PCa. As I am recovering I look back on my journey and found other men will talk about there PCa but are discrete about it unless approached directly, they are all then very open to assist and answer questions. To obtain more public support we all should try to also become more public and open to talk about PCa.

I plan on discussing the same with my Urologist to see how I can help gain more awareness and get more men tested as well as getting involved. Finding HW has been a great support tool for myself and all others that visit. 

Keep up the great job everyone, spread the word.   

Casey -Thanks for the link to that list. Think we'll just have to get one with a spectrum on it!
I don't wear a braclet. I'd rather try and forget about the PCa as much as possible rather than be reminded about it constantly by a braclet.

Good point Aimzee. Mets is how PCa kills, not nice at all. I guess you have investigated what it can be like so I am hoping it does not upset you or Ron (or others) to mention things like mets in the spine leaving you paralysed or even mets in the skull causing brain damage, and blindness. My treatment choice was all about avoiding things like that, the odds were not good enough for me to take no action.

Alf

I saw a car in a parking lot this morning with a blue sticker and thought I may have actually discovered my first prostate cancer ribbon on an automobile.

When I got close enough to read the message on the ribbon, I discovered it said "Spay and Neuter."

Not prostate cancer.  Kind of related, though.

My issue has never been the amount of Pink, its about the lack of Blue. BC is a terrible scourge also, and I am all for all our sisters that have to deal with it around the world. As far as the lack of Blue, no one has ever said that the world would be fair.

Here is an interesting viewpoint from a breast cancer survivor.   This is an excerpt from her letter to the editor.   “Am I the only breast cancer survivor who is turned off by the proliferation of bras on our bridges, in our newspapers, in the local media, in contests?   With or without bling?   Maybe I'm becoming a curmudgeon in my golden years.   Why not breast prostheses to market breast cancer awareness?   Purple jock straps could be used to market awareness for testicular cancer.    .....beyond bad taste is the picture in Sunday's News Journal of the man wearing a bra. Maybe for that testicular cancer marketing campaign we could get a woman to wear a jock strap”.   Read her letter at the link below: http://www.pnj.com/article/20111028/OPINION/110280313/?odyssey=obinsite .  

I look at it like this....what does it matter whether its prostate or breast cancer. Im sure if they ever find the cure for breast cancer...it will apply to most all cancers as they are all basically the same. Sure they all start somewhere...but once it spreads..its the same.

I would think they should just pool it all for just a cure for cancer....and not separate it.

Im not so sure....My sister passed from breast cancer and she was also on Hormone therapy....she took Lupron. Its the same concept as men....except it targets estrogen instead off testosteroine....and the chemotherapy and radiation are basically the same. I believe a cancer cell is a cancer cell...just named where it originated from.

But I think if they ever find a way to totally kill a cancer cell....they will have cured most if not all cancer. I'd like to see more awareness of Prostate cnacer too...as much of the money can also go to treating the symptoms and not the cure.

Hormone therapy is used for several types of cancers derived from hormonally responsive tissues, including the breast, prostate, endometrium, and adrenal cortex.

There are specialists for all sorts of cancers. I have to believe that each cancer is different. We surely know that even cancer within the same type of cancer is different. Meaning...not all PC is the same.

But I'm all for finding a cure for all of the different types.