Mary, I am with you and I understood you perfectly that is why I initially
didn't respond.  I think when you have a breast cancer diagnose you look at
things in a different way. When Suzanne Somers got diagnosed, she became an
instant expert on breast cancer. She also got offered many tests like a bone
marrow aspiration because of her celebrity status. While it is unfortunate
that any woman has to deal with breast cancer, a celebrity has many more
resources to deal with the whole experience.

I don't know who we is. I suspect that lots of women in their 30s don't
take the cancer threat seriously enough. People are floored to find out
that I was diagnosed at 34 and then tend to look uncomfortable and
confess their laxness at breast self exams, etc.

On the other hand, yes yes yes, I would love any perks although not the
publicity of being a public person! There are very few perks to cancer
for us regular folks!

Chris

Have to admit it kinda gets under my skin to read a "poor celebrity
poochie, she has stage 0 breast cancer, let us feel sad for her
tribulations and admire her stalwart bravery" kind of story.

Bunches of us got BC, many without celebrities' money, easy access to
the ultimate in health care that that money can buy, legions of support
staff to hand us a soothing beverage or mind the kiddies while various
sycophants stand by to hold our hand and comfort us in our hour of need,
etc.

On the other hand:

1.  There are probably a few celebrity heroine-worshipping idiots out
there who'll think "golly, if it can happen to celebrity golden girl
so-and-so, maybe it can happen to me" and submit to better screening.
Even celebrity heroine-worshiping idiots shouldn't die from breast
cancer if we can avoid it (sigh), so anything that builds awareness is
probably good, however much it annoys me.

2.  Somewhere behind the press stupidity, Kylie Minogue is a real person
who
* didn't ask for BC, didn't ask for stupid publicity about it,
* probably feels as cranky as many of us do when treated like we've
achieved some special personal accomplishment by being lucky enough to
live through it,
*has friends and family who truly love her and are shaken at the
possibility of losing her, and
* generally behind it all is just another woman like us with breast
cancer who may need support at a personal level.

On the *other* other hand, some of these stories (and maybe their eager
readers) seem analogous to the crowds that stand around at the site of
automobile accidents hoping to see something grisly, without ever cluing
to the fact that this could happen to them (and they might not want an
audience if/when it did).

Humans!  Sometimes I despair of us!

(Can you tell I'm feeling cranky today <grin>?)

Ann T.
Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email