2 Breast Cancer Survivors and a generation of hope.

Pace has beaten Breast Cancer and is taking proactive measures to eliminate the risks of the BRCA 1 genetic mutation to her health.

France has beaten Breast Cancer that is believed to be a long term effect of the radiotherapy she recieved to beat Hogkins Disease.

The wee one is a decendent of the Amazons. Fortunately by the time she's 20, medicine will be as different from today as it is in comparison to 1986.

Merry Christmas, God Bless Everyone!

My best Christmas present this year: life.

Pace beat her Breast Cancer and we have a very good idea of the steps required to protect her from further incidences of Cancer.

Beats getting an iPod.

Love to all from Robert, Pace and the wee one.

God's blessings to all who've helped us on this trip and to any other families going through similar circumstances.

Great Advertising and Brand Reinforcement

Working in Marketing I've seen good, bad and ugly advertising.

This ad hits all of the keys of a great ad. The message is aligned with the brand, its funny (or scary and funny depending on how you feel about your children playing with scissors) there's a twist that make it aspirational and its memorable.

Click this link to watch it on YouTube.com 

Alert! Breast Cancer Hoax E-mail canular de cancer de sein

With all good intentions, my good friend Craig forwarded a message his wife had recieved. Usually I ignore these types of emails but this is good food for the blog. (There have been a few questions due to translation issues, so let me stress that the following is text from a hoax/"canular" email.)

This comes from someone who works in the breast cancer unit at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Dr. N. Neman.

Recently a lipstick brand, called "Red Earth", decreased their prices from $67 to $9.90. It contained lead. Lead is a chemical which causes cancer. The lipstick brands that contain lead are:
1. CHRISTIAN DIOR
2. LANCOME
3. CLINIQUE
4. Y.S.L
5. ESTEE LAUDER
6. SHISEIDO
7. RED EARTH (Lip Gloss)
8. CHANEL (Lip Conditioner)
9. MARKET AMERICA-MOTNES LIPSTICK.

The higher the lead content, the greater the chance of causing cancer. After doing a test on lipsticks, it was found that the Y.S.L. Lipstick contained the most amount of lead. Watch out for those lipsticks which are supposed to stay longer. If your lipstick stays longer, it is because of the higher content of lead. Here is the test you can do
yourself:
1. Put some lipstick on your hand.
2. Use a Gold ring to scratch on the lipstick.
3. If the lipstick color changes to black, then you know the lipstick contains lead.

Please send this information to all your girlfriends and female family members. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dioxin Carcinogens cause cancer, especially breast cancer.

Lead is dangerous compound that wreaks havoc in the nervous system and lead is a suspected carcinogen. However, Dioxin is a Human carcinogen.

I never understand why people write things like this but there are plenty of them out there; from the improbable Wal-Mart Contributes 5% of Sales to Homosexual Group to the strange Live Frog Found in Packaged Salad (but it's in the picture!) and there are so many more listed on sites dedicated to hoaxes and urban legends; you'll find more here and here.

If the message contains the phrase 'Forward this to everyone you know!' Don't do it please it's killing the economy.

Halo Effect Marketing of the Pink Ribbon

I am happy to see that there are companies that are putting their corporate resources behind raising funds for research.

However, some of this "halo effect" marketing feels more like a symbol being co-opted for fast buck rather than an altruistic fund raising campaign.

Yoplait Source gives 10 cents from each $2.99 container to breast cancer research. That's less than 3% of the retail price.

So Good didn't even say how much they'd contributed to the cause, just that they support it.

I spent $2.95 at 7-11 for these Breast Cancer Awareness Mints 50% of after tax profit goes to research. I've seen a lot of companies whose expenses eliminate any pre-profits pre tax.

There is an urban legend that one of the oil companies said it would donate a penny a litre to Breast Cancer Research, the fine print reading only on the premium/super grade of gas.

More clarity would be in order.

My scarist genetical term: Autosomal Dominant Chromosomes

In genetics, our DNA is made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes. An autosomal gene is on one of the 22 pairs of chromosomes that are not sex chromosomes. The implications of Dominant Autosomal Chromosomes means that only one parent has to have that specific genetic sequence to pass on a genetic condition.

In the case of BRCA1 and the wee one's future health; Pace had a 50% chance of passing that genetic mutation.

If the wee one carries the BRCA1 mutation her risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer in her lifetime is estimated to be 36-87%.

So do we test her? If she does carry that gene and we confirm it through genetic testing, her chance of getting insured is probably zero.

Would you get the test conducted if the wee one was your child?

Click the comment button below and tell me what you think.

Pace's Zoladex Side Effects

The doctors tell you that side effects cannot be anticipated, some are common and some are not.

Pace had few side effects to the Abraxane but the Zoladex seems to be something else

The bold faced side effects are the ones we've encountered so far. We just need to keep the doctor informed.

A list of the more common side effects of Zoladex may include:

Acne, application site reactions, breast development in men or enlargement in women, breast tenderness or pain, change in sex-drive, depression, dizziness, emotional problems, flu symptoms, fluid retention and swelling, hair growth in women, headache, hot flashes, infection, insomnia, lethargy, loss of appetite, loss of breast tissue in women, lung problems, nausea, nervousness, pain, rash, sexual impairment, sore throat, sweating, urinary problems, vaginal dryness vaginal inflammation, voice changes, weak heart, weakness, weight gain

A list of the less common side effects of Zoladex may include:

Abnormal thinking, allergic reactions, anemia, anxiety, blood in the urine, bronchitis, bruising, chest pain, chills, constipation, coughing, diabetes, diarrhea, drowsiness, dry mouth, dry eyes or skin, fever, gout, heart attack, high blood pressure, increased appetite, indigestion and gas, internal bleeding, irregular or rapid heartbeat, itching, joint problems, leg cramps, nasal inflammation, osteoporosis, painful menstruation, stroke, tingling sensation, ulcers, vaginal bleeding, varicose veins, vision problems, vomiting

Imagine the length of the television ad to cover this grocery list.