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S & S 4.0

the freedom of choice....

Cancer n. Any of various malignant neoplasms characterized by the proliferation of anaplastic cells that tend to invade surrounding tissue and metastasize to new body sites.
Re·search n. Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry

Cure n. Restoration of health; recovery from disease.

Propagandist n : a person who disseminates messages calculated to assist some cause

Proliferation v. To increase or spread at a rapid rate:

My company is entering a Relay for Life team to raise money for cancer research. They want employees to participate and I was asked by a colleague what I would do…would I run, just raise money etc. The assumption was that I, of course, would do something but my response to him was that I didn’t want to raise money for cancer research (besides what do we need research for, doesn’t eating veggies keep cancer at bay? Or is it red wine or staying away from tanning beds…or is it the sun…) – anyways I asked my colleague where exactly does my donated money go? Why isn’t there a cure? And frankly I’m not interested. He looked at me with disbelief – at which point I told him I had to go have a smoke and left irritated b/c I had to explain why I don’t want to donate to a cause that I choose not to.

Do we as a society feel we NEED to donate to the cancer society b/c the propagandists say so…b/c that’s the cause du jour… b/c – jeez, uhmm, why?? B/c we all want to wear the pink ribbon...b/c it may help? Yes I’m a cynic and I think we might possibly, I know this will be a stretch for some, but we might just be part of a systematic proliferation of a doctrine. Given a choice, how many people will donate to the black ribbon campaign vs. the pink ribbon campaign.

Oh sorry – you don’t know what the black ribbon campaign is…it’s not one of the 45 plastic bracelets you are wearing? Shhh FYI – the black ribbon is for Melanoma (alterative colour is orange), mourning, primary bilary cirrhosis and/or gang prevention – your choice.

But I digress…where does my money go and why isn’t there a cure?

How much money has the Society raised and where does it go?
During its last fiscal year, the Canadian Cancer Society raised $155 million. More than $44 million was directed to fund excellent research across Canada. The money raised also supports services for people with cancer and their families, programs and activities to spread important risk reduction and prevention messages, and advocacy efforts for healthy public policy.
http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_15306__langId-en,00.html

p.s. did you know that $44M of $155M is only 28%?

Canadian Cancer Society-funded research has led to major advances in our knowledge about this disease. This knowledge has led to improved treatments for cancer with fewer side effects, to more sophisticated methods of detecting cancer earlier and to information about how to prevent cancer. The foundation is now in place for the current generation of researchers to do more for cancer research than any other generation before it. The next 10 to 20 years of cancer research hold great promise. http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_15306__langId-en,00.html

p.s. Let’s be honest, after receiving $155M why do I need to wait 10 to 20 years just for “great promise”…and improving treatments for cancer so that they have fewer side effects is a relative thing.

Quick facts on cancer
- Two in 5 Canadians will develop some form of cancer in his/her lifetime.
- An estimated 149,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2005 and an estimated 69,500 people died from the disease.
- Given current trends, as a result of our growing and aging population the number of new cancer cases will increase by an estimated 60 per cent over the next 20 years. . http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_15306__langId-en,00.html
p.s. refer to the above p.s.’

I know I know advancements have been made, people can live longer who previously would have died, greater care is apparently available and this is all great…but have YOU lived with cancer to really know how great this is or are you part of the population that assumes living longer w/ cancer is a better alternative to quickly dying…cure the damn thing...isn’t cancer just bad cells multiplying? We can travel to space, we have unravelled the human gene sequence (i.e., DNA), women can give birth in their 60’s to healthy babies…but we can’t cure the big C.

About 2 years ago, I had a friend say this very same thing to me – that she wasn’t going to donate b/c after all of the donations why haven’t they found a cure. I was mortified that I actually knew someone that would think like this…but now I’m not so sure she is wrong.

I wonder if it is so far out of the realm of possibility to imagine why there is no cure…is it so hard to believe that if they found a cure…well then who would donate to the cause?

If you do give to the cause – good for you…and I’ll pray to all of the gods that you never need to benefit from your donation…but remember just because it’s your choice don’t assume it’s mine.