Breast Cancer Awareness Month Isn’t Always “Pink and Pretty”

For many, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a time to raise funds, wear pink, and promote screenings; however, for survivors like Maureen Green, it can be a stark reminder of everything the disease has taken. “A lot of people think it’s cute to stick a pink ribbon on everything,” breast cancer survivor, Maureen Green says, “but it’s not so cute when it’s your life that’s at stake.”

Maureen’s honesty highlights the often-overlooked realities of survivorship. Alongside her, Silvia Davis and Stephanie Wachtel, both breast cancer survivors and advocates, themselves, share personal journeys marked by fertility preservation and reconstructive surgery. Their stories emphasize not only the physical challenges of breast cancer but also the emotional and long-term impacts that awareness campaigns rarely capture.

Transcript

What role do you think Breast Cancer Awareness Month plays in educating and empowering patients like you?

Introduction: Breast Cancer Awareness Month means something different to everyone. For some, it's a time to educate, connect and advocate for others, it can be a difficult reminder of everything this disease has changed. We spoke with three survivors who shared what this month truly represents to them.

Green: I think it's important. I think it's a good reminder that every woman should, well, every person, not just women. Everyone is affected by breast cancer, but everyone should know their bodies and speak to their doctor if they're concerned about something. I think the awareness is important that a lot of people are under the misconception that people who get breast cancer often have a family history or a genetic mutation, and that's not necessarily true.

I also think it's important for people to recognize that October can also be a very difficult month for breast cancer survivors and breast cancer patients. People like to stick a pink ribbon on everything and make it cute, and it's not so cute when it's your life that's at stake.

Davis: I didn't think it could happen to me. I was the first person in my family to have any kind of cancer. About a year and a half later, my sister had breast cancer, and a totally different kind, and neither one of ours were genetic. I remember saying to [my doctor], “I just don't really understand how this happens,” and she said, “You know, cells go crazy.” I think the prevalence and probably randomness of it is understood, but not really. It never crossed my mind that this could ever happen to me. Now, I'm pretty much a jerk about telling everybody I know, “You have to go get a mammogram, you have to do this, and you have to pay attention to them.”

I think that people probably also just don't consider how many people they might know that it has touched, whether themselves or a family member. And I think that the other piece that I try to take from it all is I try to just really consider that I can do hard things. I did something pretty hard. I can do hard things, and that kind of informs the way I live my life in general. Everything else is just not that big of a deal. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, people just don't consider how long-lasting and continued it all is.

When I was preparing for this event, I was talking to a friend and a coworker, just trying to get it all out, because I probably have not talked about it a lot, and though I don't focus on it, there's still so much in my life that is due to it. I still have neuropathy. I still take a ton of medication. There are still all these little things. That is why, and it's from that, that it changed my life permanently. People just don't consider it, and it's either you get better, or you don't get better, and they kind of move on. But the impact is long-lasting.

Wachtel: I think it helps a lot with those people who don't have a sense of getting checked regularly, people who are of my age, where mammograms aren't a routine thing that we get when we are in our 20s and our 30s. I think it plays a role in someone being able to check their body often and see if they feel anything abnormal and speak up for themselves and advocate for themselves if they feel off and go to the doctor, and really just take care and take charge of their own health.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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