My View of Breast Cancer According to Brinker

Title: My View of Breast Cancer According to Brinker

Author: Anna Rachnel

Publication:  The Cancer Culture Chronicles

Publication Date: February 25, 2011

Whenever I set about writing a blog post, I have in mind that I will try to be as objective as possible, particularly if I am discussing a subject that I know to be contentious.  The trouble is, it’s getting harder and harder for me to  be fully objective when I am discussing issues related to breast cancer fundraising and research.  After all, as a person living with Stage IV breast cancer,  research is tantamount to my hopes for recovery and a long life.

Today’s post is a prime example.  Recently a reader sent me a link to a televised interview between Tavis Smiley of PBS and  Nancy Brinker, the CEO and founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.  The interview aired on October 1, 2010 to mark the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month, and to promote the launch of Brinker’s book,  Promise Me: How a Sister’s Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer.

Click here for a link to the interview and a full transcript.

I started watching the full 13-minute interview with an open mind.  But as I continued to watch the interplay between Brinker and Smiley it dawned on me that my goal of remaining objective was going to be an impossible task.   I run my fingers through my newly short hairdo and am reminded that soon there will be no hair  to run my fingers through. As I write down notes during the interview,  I realize how difficult it is becoming for me to write with a pen.  Tumors are now pressing on vital nerves,  and my writing arm is rapidly losing strength, and certain fingers are numb.  Writing by hand has become a laborious task with the end result looking like something akin to chicken scratchings.  In addition, I’m so tired from my new chemotherapy regimen that concentrating for any length of time seems a monumental feat.  Finding the energy to blog is getting harder.  I’m sure chemo-brain is becoming a factor as well as I struggle to  find and, indeed, spell common words as I construct my sentences.  Yes, objectivity was being replaced with the difficult realities of metastatic breast cancer and treatment.

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