Saturday, October 6, 2012

Pinktober Pictorial Perspective - Unfurling the Pink Ribbon

******
******
Test your Pinktober I.Q. - Which picture raises your AWARENESS of the disease that has been killing women (and yes, men too) at a rate of 40,000 per year since our grandmothers were being diagnosed? 
 
(Caution: Contains graphic content. Only scroll down if you really want to know what breast cancer looks like unwrapped from the pink trappings.) 
 
 
Barbie does Breast Cancer, for 6+ years of age.
Indoctrinating a younger audience that breast cancer is Pretty & Pink.
Soon every 6 year old will want to be a member of our
ever-expanding "club"!
Prepping for the Sentinel Node Biopsy.
First step is  to be injected with nuclear matter. Yes it does hurt.


Hard Rock's 2012 edition is a double-necked
blinged out guitar. Last year was single-necked.
Maybe this is for the double-mastectomy crowd?


To the left is one of the potential side-effects of radiation treatment.
Yes, the skin can get that damaged.
To the right is a potential side-effect of the Sentinel Node Biopsy - lymphedema.
Lymphedema can be debilitating, and a life-long issue.  Granted, "life-long" for a breast cancer journeyer carries a different meaning than for the non-journeying population.
 
 
 

There is actually a contest for the
most inspirational quote. You too can
have your words pressed against the
scarred bosom of a breast cancer journeyer.
The surgical search for those pesky lymph nodes that
can indiscriminately carry cancer cells throughout a person's body.



 
While I appreciate the efforts of the NFL. And, admittedly, a buff athlete in
tight stretch pants, flexing his "guns", may give me pause to rethink my abhorrence of pink. On the other-hand, I think the NFL should stick to trying to ameliorate the traumatic brain injuries their own players are incurring. BTW, the full add said a whole 10 cents on the dollar went to breast cancer research. Guess the NFL learned nothing after the recent referee strike.

 
 
 
Pinkwashing Retail Awareness. Enough said.
Yes, this is what a mastectomy scar looks like 2-3 weeks after the surgery. The drainage tubes have been removed. Thank goodness, otherwise this reality would really be scary looking!
 
Yes, ladies and gentlemen - THIS IS BREAST CANCER!
Not pretty, but maybe a little pinkish.


 
 
 
 
Awareness for breast cancer?  or an ad to save
the local strip joint, "Tatas," from closing down?
 
 
 

Smith & Wesson...and your thought was what?
If breast cancer and its progeny doesn't kill you,
try this????
 
Chemo. It sucks.
No matter what your opinion as to this poison-filled, conventional treatment.
 
 
 






Damn...I like penguins.
Not sure I want one squishing my "boobs", however. Oh, forgot I don't have real "boobs" anymore. How about we just squish the Boob who thought this was clever??
 
 








Double mastectomy, approximately
two months after surgery. I don't think Pinkwashing
Retail Awareness is going to help.
 
 


Chicken should not be pretty or pink. Even fake chicken.
Petrol containers for Breast Cancer!
How apropos. After all, we slather ourselves in petrol each and every day. Its in our soaps, shampoos, cosmetics...and we pay top dollar for these carcinogens. Read your labels: paraffin; sodium lauryl sulphate, ammonium lauryl sulphate, dibutyl, phthalate, butyl benzl phthalate, parabens (butyl, ethyl, propyl isobutyl), benzoates, tolune, methlybenzene, dimethicone, propylene glycol .... to name a few.


Chicken should not be pretty or pink, or canned, or sodium filled...
 
 
 
 
 


Cardiac Pre-Tamponade in Metastatic Breast. In other words, the breast cancer has spread to the cardiac structure.
 

 
I reiterate, in the event the point is still not apparent. Breast Cancer is NOT pretty and pink!
 
 
 
Actually, this IS a t-shirt I might wear to Trader Joe's
during the weekly shopping trip!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Related PINKTOBER Posts:
 



Kindly...STOP Waving the Pink Ribbon in My Face - http://boo-bee-trap.blogspot.com/2010/09/dichotomy-of-breast-cancer.html

 


9 comments:

  1. My sentiments, exactly...said much better than I could have said it. I HATE pink October!
    Dee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dee - good to hear from you again. Hope you are doing well, or at least well enough. This is my 3rd pinktober since I was diagnosed and started blog-o-graphing. I have ranted in the prior two years. This year, yes, I thought visual messaging seemed more appropriate. Next year, it will be bricks...till SOMEONE with the dollars and the influence starts to hear our voices.

      ~ TC

      Delete
  2. Pictures say a thousand words, don't they? Thank you for this post on Pinktober vs. Reality Check.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth, thank you for stopping by. Where I sit 3 yrs after diagnosis is that all the rest is just fluff and commentary.

      Stay well ~ TC

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi TC,

    Surprised you remembered me. I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place with treatment. Right now am taking Femara which is wrecking havoc on my bones...one more year of that. Would like to just stop it all and forget about it but how do you do that? I am my husband's caregiver. He had a major stroke one week after I completed my first chemotherapy treatment. What a time that was, with him in the hospital for one month and me here at home, doing it all, including more rounds of chemo. We made it a little worse for the wear. I feel that I don't have a choice; I have to stay well.
    Keep getting your message out there. You're doing a wonderful job in making people aware of what all this 'pink October' is about.
    Dee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dee! of course I remember you. You have the double whammy going on with your's and your husband's health, and still had the time to remind me to "unapologetic" for the what, when, why and how I expressed myself in MY blog-o-graphy. Your support has been very meaningful to me. Thank you. I am gladdened that, although you are worse for wear, you are still here fighting the good fight. Much love, TC

      Delete
  5. TC, You bet we are still here and we will continue fighting that good fight, too. We have things to do! I want to see my 30 year old son settle down and get married and I want to live to see grandchildren. You have things to do, too. Keep fighting. I always say I don't have the 'luxury' of not fighting. And, I hope we are both around here for a long time.
    Dee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dee, neither time nor "fight" are luxuries. Both are ever-present necessities. xxoo

      Delete