Debs Daily Deliberations 240

3 minute read time.

Asking Awkward Questions

Yesterday Tony and I took Lara shoe shopping, many normal women LOVE shoe shopping, as do I but having ickle feet I usually end up empty handed or disappointed.  Lara wanted some lace up plimsoles cos they are still kinda trendy (apparently) but her normal shoe size came up too big in plimmies and the size under was too small.  This was my fault (of course) and mother and daughter being of similar genetics......clashed.  We stomped around a few shops and she settled on a pair - after me keep saying, you sure they fit OK, I don't wanna get home and you won't wear them!  She also conned me into buying a pair of gold gladiator sandles and a new pair of black patent school shoes.  Me I got a new pair of brown cropped linen trousers - in the same size as my old black ones, but these fit, so now I can assure myself that my old trousers had shrunk and not me got fatter LOL

We then headed into Chavsda because thats the supermarket in town to get some food for the evening, now Eurovision is on, yes its cheese on cheese and rubbish and we are cr@p at it......but I grew up on Eurovision, we would all watch together with lots of snacks and lots of laughter.  The same tradition holds in our house, even Jack watches with us.  I digress slightly, as we enter the store, there are lots of people dressed in pink representing our local hospice, trying to drum up support for their midnight walk.

Now I don't want to alienate all the breast cancer patients on here, many of you are me mates and all....and I applaud the way your cause has been championed and really 'marketed' for want of a better word with its association with all things pink.  What I kinda objected to, is the fact our local hospice looks after people with ALL sorts of cancer's and terminal illness's so why did they choose Pink for their midnight walk? After all, Race for Life etc is already Pink.  A lot of people associate Pink with BC now and thats fab, fair dues to all the hard work the BC charities and research groups have put in to raising awareness.......but for a hospice I needed to know why (cos like everyone with cancer, I want to champion my own cause).  So I went right up and asked.

I was told that they chose pink because its vibrant and attracts attention.  Yeah yeah ok I can live with that........and they did say if I wanted to do the walk I could it in grey for Brain Tumours.  She then cleverly deflected my attention and said how fab I look considering (considering what Indifferent) which I wasn't going to disagree with he he.  Oh and I am free to go and look around anytime as they will more than likely "meet further down the line".........OK time to go, thanks for the chat......toodles......sheesh I was up the escalators in double time!

I hope I haven't offended anyone here with BC because that would upset me, I didn't set out with that agenda, I just needed answers for myself.  I wish the BT community could liaise with your publicity and awareness people, because they know their stuff!

So awkward question asked and I left thinking more about my own journey and knowing I will probably need a hospice, I don't ever want to be a burden to my husband and kids  or for them to have to take care of my 'personal needs'.........shudder at the thought.

So anyways, Eurovision!  I did have some rollmops as I like to get some food from the country thats hosting it eats .... but the Norwegians eat a lot of fish and I don't do fish apart from smoked salmon or fresh tuna.  The kids passed on the rollmops and went straight to popcorn!  So poor little Josh (Essex boy) came last, unsurprisingly.....what the feck were we thinking with the Pete Waterman song!  Graham was mildly amusing, still not a patch on Sir Terry but he'll have to do.

Right, gonna sign off before I put my ickle size 2.5-3 feet in with any other types of cancer on here. 

 

dunno what this is, but it was growing under my eucalyptus tree and I think its pretty!


Thought for today:
Courage is as often the outcome of despair as hope; in the one case we have nothing to lose, in the other, all to gain.
Diane DePoiters

Anonymous
  • No offence taken, Debs! I suppose BC gets a lot of publicity because I believe, second to lung cancer, more women die with BC. I know the survival rate continues to increase so perhaps we will drop down the fatality ratings.

    Shoe shopping with children - I could write a book. My daughters would drag me around every shoe shop in Bristol and then end up at the first shop we visited AND we argued every step of the way.  "No, darling, strappy high heels are NOT suitable for school." Argh!

    Best wishes,

    KateG

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    I know exactly where you're coming from Debs.  My mates took the hump with me last year, cos I wanted to run the race for life wearing black!  If only other cancers had the same publicity, eh?  Do you know more people will die from melanoma this year than are diagnosed with cervical cancer.

    And ditto on the shoe shopping, Kate, in my case it was black patent stilletoes, from about the age of 5!  

    Marsha x

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Wow Marsha I didn't know that and just goes to prove our case eh  

    •Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of UK children

    •More people under 40 die of a brain tumour than from any other cancer

    •Only 12% of males diagnosed with a brain tumour and 15% of females survive beyond 5 years (compared with 50% for all cancers)

    Just doing my bit for awareness ;) Not trying to say my cancer is worse than yours, or more important.  No one wants cancer, everybody wants to be cured.

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    You've got a very good point Debs. I had breast cancer myself, but I agree with you that other cancers do get put in the background publicity wise.

    Don't envy you on the shopping front. My favourites are good old trainers these days, couldn't walk in a high heel if you paid me lol.

    Christine xx

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Good to see you blogging again Debs.

    As usual you have hit the nail on the head.  

    Awareness  of all cancers needs to be raised.

    It is a scandal that cancer research in the UK is still largely dependant on charitable donations.

    Naturally, the most common cancers  attreact the greatest share of donations.  The rarer cancers get far less public support.  We need more equitable treatment for ALL cancer suffers.