So this is something that I have to get off of my chest. It has been a long time coming, and about every October, it starts to build again. At the end of the month, it gets to where I cant take it anymore. A lot of people who know me probably know what this is about, and are probably rolling their eyes right now. Let me just say, this is probably going to piss people off. I dont mean for it to, but I just have to say it publicly, and this is the best avenue I know how at this particular moment. I battled cancer for 4 years. It sucked. It took its toll on me, it got pretty bad, and you could say I shouldnt be here right now. Not to try to pull any trump cards, but I know what Im talking about here. There are a lot of shitty things about cancer, too many to count. Some I had to deal with, some I was lucky enough to dodge. The single worst thing that I had to deal with - worse than any actual physical battle - was the realization that there are people - a lot of people - who have absolutely no compunctions at all about trying to make money off of your illness or the illness of a loved one. There is a lot of desperation involved with any serious illness, Im sure. I know there is with cancer. People feed off of it like maggots. There are plenty in the area where I live. You could probably make a circle 30 miles in radius and find hundreds of pricks who have no problem selling bullshit crystals or miracle contraptions or some other unproven, unlikely to work bullshit to people desperate to find any answer they can so that they or their loved one can live just a little longer. A lot of charities are the same way. When I got over my cancer and treatments and started to feel better, I tried getting involved with a number of charities. You would not believe the jealousy, pettiness, and downright evil nature of some of these places. You start to get the feeling that these people have much less concern about taking care of cancer patients and survivors as they do protecting their little fiefdoms. This is not just pointed at Komen or breast cancer, btw - a lot of cancer organizations seemed this way. The best thing to do, if youre looking for a cancer charity to donate to, is to research them and find what ones do what you want your money to go to. There are a lot of smaller ones that do great work locally instead of nationally. My particular problem with breast cancer month is that it is way too much time and way too much publicity directed at one particular disease. Cancer is not restricted to breasts, or to women. I saw something the other day about Colorectal Cancer Day. One day. I dont know the stats and I dont care to spend the time looking it up, but one day compared to one month? Something tells me that breast cancer doesnt affect 31x more people than colorectal cancer, otherwise you probably wouldnt see everyone getting a colonoscopy every few years. Im very happy that there is so much support for breast cancer patients, survivors, and their families. Im also very happy that there have been such great strides in breast cancer treatment, life expectancy and survival rates. Theres nothing better than a survivor. But every time I see pink in a grocery store display, or a tv newscast, or yes, on a football field, I have to wonder, what about everyone else? How much money is given to the Susan Komen machine that could be given to someone who is in dire need of it? Maybe that pisses people off, but it is what it is.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 19:07:49 +0000