History of the Pink Ribbon

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This is a short history on the use of ribbons as a symbol of rememberance and awareness.

It starts with 19th century American women who wore a yellow ribbon in their hair as a symbol of their devotion to husbands and sweethearts who were away, serving in the US Calvalry. The Calvalry's official color was yellow. The John Wayne movie "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is a direct reference to this custom.

There is also the marching song "Round Her Neck, She Wore A Yeller Ribbon," sung in the US military that was copyrighted in 1917. (and no, that's not a typo)

In 1973 "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree," sung by Tony Orlando & Dawn, was a number one hit in the USA, UK and Australia. The message of this yellow ribbon was "You Are Welcome Home."

Six years later, during the Gulf War, Penney Laingen tied yellow ribbons on the trees in her front yard, showing the world her longing for the release and return of her husband who was a hostage held in Iran. Penney's display got into the news and yellow ribbons appeared on trees all over the world, in support of loved ones away at war.

At the 1990 Tony Awards, actor Jeremy Irons wore a red ribbon. This is considered to be the first time an actor wore a red ribbon publicly to bring awareness to the serious problem of AIDS. Soon after, other actors and public figures followed suit.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in the 1991 Race for Breast Cancer in New York City.

Charlotte Hayley, who had breast cancer, handed out peach colored ribbons with cards attached that stated that the National Cancer Institute only spends 5% of their $1.8 billion on prevention. She felt prevention and early detection deserved more attention.

Alexandra Penney (editor-in-chief at Self magazine) and Evelyn Lauder (senior VP at Estee Lauder) approached Hayley about working together but Hayley declined. Penney and Lauder teamed up to create pink ribbons as the international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

Legally, in most places, the symbol of the pink ribbon is considered public domain. In Canada, the pink ribbon is the official trademark of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Arabic: شريط وردي
Spanish: Lazo Rosado
French: Ruban Rose
Italian: Nastro Rosa
Galician: Lazo Vermello
German: Rosa Schleife

Dutch: Roze Lint
Danish: Lyserøde Sløjfe
Croatian: Ružičasta vrpca
Czech: Růžová stužka
Finnish: Roosa Nauha
Hungarian: Rózsaszín szalag
Norwegian: Rosa Sløyfe
Latvian: Rozā lente
Lithuanian: Rožinis kaspinas
Persian: روبان صورتی
Polish: Różowa Wstążka
Romanian: Panglica Roz
Ukrainian: Рожева стрічка
Russian: Pозовая лента
Slovak: Ružová stužka
Swedish: Rosa Bandet
Catalan: Llaç Rosa
Turkish: Pembe Kurdele
Japanese: ピンクリボン
Chinese: 粉红丝带
Serbian: Ružičasta mašna
Slovenian: Rožnati trak

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CHEMO BRAIN

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Chemo Brain is a strange thing. Doctors don't really know what to make of it or what to do. Is it physical, psychological or imagined? It's definitely "in your head" no matter how you look at it. Is it even related to chemotherapy? It's not on any list of side effects from chemotherapy drugs.

One thing is agreed. Many chemo patients have complained about impaired thinking and assumed it had something to do with the chemo drugs. Studies are just now starting to investigate this strange complaint.

Here are some of the documented complaints in these new studies:

• Forgetting things that one shouldn't forget
• Trouble concentrating on tasks
• Forgetting names, dates, memorable events
• Difficulty multi-tasking
• Slower thinking, processing and completion of mental tasks
• Forgetting common words

Personally, after my 1st chemo treatment, back home that night, I received calls from relatives and friends wanting to see how I fared. For the life of me, I could not concentrate on their words or answer simple questions, let alone carry on a conversation. It was like I had a buzz from a drink or cold medicine. As soon as I felt my mind wandering (to nowhere) I handed to phone to my mom and said, "You take it." I felt bad brushing off my sister's call but I could not function! Luckily this only happened for that one night. I put myself to bed the other nights, not trying to socialize. I was always fine the next day.

According to recent studies, "mild cognitive impairment" ranges from a one-time-only event to long term condition. Some people complain of slight changes in ability while others are hit harder, like I was. It appears more often in patients with higher doses of chemotherapy drugs.

Experiments have linked nerve damage to some chemotherapy drugs but the effect on the brain cells is too new for results. Experts are concerned about chemotherapy treatments that are aggressive and high dosed. Possible treatment options that protect the brain are being studied as are existing medications that might also help treat chemo brain.

The causes and triggers of chemo brain are unknown at this time. Pictures of brain activity show changes in chemo patients that don't show up in non-chemo cancer patients. For some participants, these differences are still showing up 5 to 10 years after treatment ends.

Right now the best guesses as to the cause of chemo brain include the cancer itself, chemotherapy drugs, medication used to manage side effects of chemo drugs, patient age, stress, low blood counts (chemo kills off blood cells), depression, fatigue (chemo makes one anemic), and hormonal changes. Both men and women complain of chemo brain. About 25% of chemo patients report having thinking problems.

Personally, I think my chemo brain was a combination of things:

• I had to suck down 5 bags of drugs.


• I was in a strange place with people I didn't know fussing over me - poking a needle into my chest for the IV hookup, all of which was overwhelming and stressful.
  
• I definitely think depression is a part - surgery, tests, poking and prodding, chemo...it's a sudden loss of control over one's life.


• Fatigue - chemo kills off the red blood cells and makes you anemic and tired. After my subsequent chemo's I pretty much slept for a week, getting out of bed for meals and helping my daughter with schoolwork only.


• Hormonal changes were definitely part of my experience. Ladies' ovaries are shut down by the chemo. Younger ladies bounce back after the treatments are over. I was old enough to be thrown into permanant menopause. I don't know about guys' hormones. I am relatively young so I don't think advanced age is on my list of possible causes. Most of my "mates" were old enough to be my parents or grandparents. The nurses called me "The Kid."

So what do us foggy-headed people do about this? Well, here is a list of what might help out:

• Write down your schedule rather than try to remember everything


• Make to-do lists
  
• Do puzzles and other thinking games or exercizes


• Get lots of rest


• Exercise to help improve mood and decrease fatigue


• Eat vegetables (studies show it helps the brain)


• Create routines and rituals


• Forget trying to multi-task for awhile


• Keep a diary of times you have trouble thinking (times, food, meds, activity etc)


• Accept the problem as temporary and have a sense of humor about it. Give yourself permission to be a little kooky.


• Tell friends and family about it so they are aware of what you are going through

If chemo brain gets too severe, meet with a neurologist, psychoneurologist, or psychologist. These experts can test brain function and suggest mental activities to help you overcome or lessen the effect of chemo brain. Hopefully in the next few years, more will be known and more can be done to avoid or treat chemo brain.
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Breast Cancer Awareness

I would love to be un-aware for just one day, please!

Ever since I was diagnosed with cancer, my ears now perk up whenever I hear or see anything about the subject and this reminds me about my own health and it makes me sad. Enough encounters with these demonic reminders and I go into a depression. I would love to go one whole day without someone or something reminding me of my cancer.

It's bad enough that I am reminded every time I get dressed, take a shower, or apply Mederma to the scars. I also see one of my 3 doctors quarterly and have to get mammo's and MRI's just as often. That's enough reminding for me.

Imagine, if you can, people popping out of bushes or from behind corners shouting "You have cancer!" several times a day, every day. That's what it's like! I wish I could shut these annoying people up. (I know they mean well...)

Here are some examples of what my overexposure to breast cancer awareness is like:

Last year a friend made a donation to the Susan G. Komen fund in my name. SGK sent me a little card. It was a nice gesture by my friend but I really didn't need SGK to tell me.

After I was diagnosed, I received multiple visits from Teleflora and 1-800-Flowers. My surgeries coincided with the month of my birthday so I also received flowers from my brother-in-law who didn't know yet. I treasured this bouquet because these were not pity flowers.

This year two friends went on fundraiser walks/marathons and asked me to join them. I wasn't emotionally strong enough for this. I needed to distance myself.

The last time I replaced my latex dishwashing gloves my only choice was pink "breast cancer awareness" gloves from Playtex.

This past summer I buried a friend who died from breast cancer. She had been my "big sister" who held my hand and answered my questions when I "joined the club." She handed down her scarves to me, not knowing that a year later her own cancer would return. I was an emotional wreck at the funeral. I felt like Scrooge did when he met up with the Ghost of Christmas Future at the cemetary. Someone saw me loosing it and rescued me into her hug.

Every once in awhile I receive phone calls asking me to donate money to find a cure. I tell them I donated almost $3000 last year and this year looks like it's going to be about $1000.

The entire month of October the grocery store I shop at had a huge display of pink stuff for sale - scarves, mittens, vacuum cleaners, cupcakes, cakes, ice scrapers... I recently visited Linens'n'Things to take advantage of their going-out-of-business sale - there was a big display of pink M&Ms and Tic Tacs at the entry. I think I've developed an adversion to things pink.

I used to have long hair- half way down to my elbows. Maybe once or twice a month I'll run into someone I haven't seen in awhile and they always comment on why on earth did I cut my hair. Do I tell them the truth or lie?

At the cash register area of the local arts & crafts store last week, there was a huge display of silk flowers and grave markers - giant pink ribbon symbols. This little event just screamed DEATH as well as Breast Cancer to me.

I hear about breast cancer on tv, on the radio, on the internet, on magazine covers...it's everywhere and I am feeling a little too exposed to it. Yes, I am very aware, so let's please change the subject and talk about something else!