Sometimes Breast Cancer Seems to be Trivialized

  I have spent the better part of today cleaning off my desk....which I assure you  is a major task.  I've been finding receipts from 2011....so that goes to show you how long it has been since I have done a thorough shakedown.

In the pile was a flyer from the American Breast Care company which makes the current breast form I wear.  It was advertising their "Face of Inspiration" contest which closed Dec. 31, 2011..  You were to tell them about your favorite quote and how it inspired you through your breast cancer journey.  Six women were chosen, and from those six, "one lucky woman would be chosen to be the face of inspiration."  You were going to be flown to Atlanta for two days.to get a tour of the ABC home office and learn how prosthesis are made..."from start to finish."  Oh yes....and you get a photo shoot and a spa visit.

So....they were looking for a model....and they were promoting their "Inspiration Series" "This new breast form features a special imprint of an inspirational message on its back layer.  Now you can have one of our most popular breast forms, the Flowable Back Triangle, with a little something extra.  Try it today!"

Harumph.  It seems to me like this "contest" was just one way of getting a really inexpensive model...and it seemed a bit like we are being taken advantage of just a tad.....We provide them with an inspirational message, and a good storie, and MAYBE we will be picked to have a spa day and a photo shoot (which of course gives them a face for advertising).

The Inspiration series...well....heck, quite honestly, I don't look at the back of my prosthesis.  I wash it, I wear it....I don't think about it until it begins to leak or I have lost enough weight that I need to replace it.  "Try it today!"   I only "try" prosthesis if I am in the market for one....at the price they cost, we are not running out to try the latest flavor, thankyouverymuch.

I get it...they are trying to be compassionate.  They are trying to show the real face of breast cancer.....but why does this feel so wrong? As if it has been minimalized?