SHARE IT, TWEET IT, LIKE IT, CLICK IT, DO IT

There's money at stake and it doesn't cost anyone a damn thing.  A click, a like, a share on Facebook, a tweet using #MBCaware.  It's October 9.  In a few days, on October 13, the metastatic breast cancer community will get their one lousy day in this entire month.  They need us today, they needed us yesterday and they will continue to need us until they don't.

I'm about to name drop because, hell, I just feel like doing that.  Last night?  Monday night tweet chat.  Generally speaking, my wrists are on ice at the end of that chat.  It's carpal tunnel hour.  It's typing at blazing fast speeds.  It's "you ain't keeping up with this no matter HOW hard you try."

Last night, it was followed by a pleasant phone call instead of the normal icing of the wrists.  It was a call from CJ..... METAvivor, CJ.  I can't even tell you what we talked about because we were all over the place.  I can tell you that I committed to helping her in whatever way I could.  Today, I am asking everyone to click their way over to MBC Aware.

Why?  For every action, there is an equal and wonderful REaction.  You click, METAvivor gets a dollar.  You tweet, METAvivor gets a dollar. You like on Facebook, METAvivor gets a dollar.  You share, METAvivor gets a dollar.  And what happens to those dollars?  They are put right into the hands of researchers.  They are the researchers whose one and only concern is unlocking the mysteries of metastatic disease.  They are the researchers who understand that pecking order. First, We Save Lives.  The rest of us can wait.

There's an elephant in the pink room and frankly, I don't know how it's possible for anyone to turn away and pretend it doesn't exist.  To pretend THEY do not exist.  That THEY are not dying.  They DO. They ARE.  And we can help by clicking.

So?  What are you waiting for???  About two minutes of your time and you can get that money to CJ so her scientific review board can put the money into the hands of the researchers.

I think I should give props to a twitter pal, too.  Here was HER challenge to all of us.  Her generosity is something worth sharing.

I have tendered $100 to METAvivor...the challenge is on for next week's chat to carry it forward. Let's go team! #bcsm
— Carmen Gonzalez (@crgonzalez) October 9, 2012

Those who can, should.  Carmen can and she is.  And that's AWESOME.  Maybe some of the rest of us aren't in that position and that's okay, too..... but NO excuses on the clicking ......  if you are reading this, you have the ability to click a few links, share with a few friends and ask them to do the same.  This stuff is important.  As noted in the blurb below, 30% of us will metastasize.  That's a fact.  Not one of us is ever free from looking over our shoulders.

Lisa Adams, who was just diagnosed with mets quite pointedly and poignantly asked if she was going to be the poster child for Metastatic Awareness Day this year.  I'm certain this was not something she expected.  It's not something any of us expects.  But it's a reality and with Lisa's announcement less than a week ago, we have a searing reminder that these statistics are not just numbers.  They are real people.  They are our friends.  They are our blog buddies.

They need US, they need their #FearlessFriends.  

MBC Aware

Simply put, 30% of patients with breast cancer are not adequately represented at any time, but during Breast Cancer Awareness Month that underrepresentation is particularly glaring. The “month of pink” continues to focus on prevention, and early detection. But in the “pink room” of the breast cancer conversation there’s an elephant being ignored -- we the 30% of patients with breast cancer who metastasize.

​Our life expectancy is only 18-24 months. In the last decade, there have been some treatment advances, but not nearly as many as there could have been. Why? According to an analysis of cancer organizations from the Western world, of all the millions of dollars going to cancer research it is estimated that only about 5% goes toward any metastatic disease. We are the elephant in the pink room. We are ignored because recognizing us accepts the reality that a large number (30%) of patients with breast cancer metastasize and that almost all of us die. You don’t like to think about it. Neither do we! But it is our reality and it could be yours. But there is hope.

CJ to the left of me, Lori to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle: fearless.