Another Loss, A Renewed Commitment
We have all lost another woman from metastatic breast cancer. In this case it's a well-known woman whose breast cancer journey was made public and whose access to quality care was a given. And yet Elizabeth Edwards died of breast cancer six years after her initial diagnosis and three years after the disease spread to other parts of her body. We all know that access to quality care can make a difference; that sometimes if the disease is detected in an early stage, that might make a difference; that often we don't really know what makes the difference...why some women can live with metastatic disease for a long time and others cannot. What we do know is that this has to stop.
We must find a way for women diagnosed with advanced disease to not die from it; we must understand how this disease can be prevented...period. The National Breast Cancer Coalition announced The Breast Cancer Deadline 2020 to demand that those two results take place within the next 10 years; we must sign on to that goal and participate in helping to make it happen. We can't afford to be skeptical or require that all specifics be in place before we buy into it. We need to proclaim that this is a worthy goal...one we all want to reach. This is a New Year's resolution worth making. Once you make it, please let NBCC (www.stopbreastcancer.org) and SHARE (www.sharecancersupport.org) know that you want to participate in this process and help achieve this result.
Our condolences to the Edwards family as we reaffirm our commitment to end this disease in our lifetime.
Posted December 8, 2010.
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