Bunch Family

And why you need a whole box of kleenex

We run the 5ks and we buy the pink m&m’s, but do we young women give enough thought to breast cancer? Maybe if our mothers or grandmothers or aunts had it, but really, isn’t it something you mostly worry about after or around menopause?

Thing is, breast cancer does affect women in their 20s, 30s and 40s. And the sort of breast cancer that gets you when you’re young is particularly nasty and aggressive. It’s called HER2+ and it means tougher treatments and lower survival rates.

You might have read about HER2+ when a young Toronto mom, Jill Anzarut, was diagnosed with it, but her tumor was too small to quality for the Herception treatment. (And then the media and the people got involved.)  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. Moms of twins may live longer than other moms, according to researchers out of the University of Utah.

2. A North Carolina mom with breast cancer has lost custody of her kids. Her ex got a great job in Chicago and the judge ordered the kids must move there by mid-June.

3. In positive breast cancer news, the government of Ontario is expanding its funding for drugs like Herceptin. Now patients like Jill Anzarut can receive the drug whereas before Anzarut had been told her tumor was too small to qualify.

4. What do your kids call your parents? The grandparent set generally being healthier, more youthful and with more access to products with alpha hydroxies than previous generations of grandparents, names like “Grandma” and “Grandpa” just sound too old. (And no, we’re not talking about the 32-year-old grandmother from MTV’s 16 and Pregnant. Think more Helen Mirren) Goldie Hawn likes to go by “Glam-Ma” by Kate Hudson’s son and Gwyneth’s Apple and Moses call Blythe Danner “Lalo.”  Read more...

Meri Perra blogs about the challenges she and her partner face in trying to raise their girls with feminist values

Two young mothers with breast cancer make the news on Wednesday and the universe shouted two lessons my way. They were reminders of what my mother taught me. Be grateful for what we have. All we have is now.

Wednesday started with a healthy dose of outrage. It always does; I read the news. But this story was personal. You likely heard, OHIP is denying crucial drug therapy to a woman with breast cancer. Jill Anzarut, a mother of my age, with two kids my kids’ ages, has a tumour too small to qualify for OHIP coverage of the drug Herceptin. The cost is $40, 000 for treatment at a private clinic. The benefit more than pays back. The drug cuts the chance of re-occurrence within four years by half for the type of cancer Anzarut has. Odds a young mother needs, since Anzarut’s cancer is, unfortunately, aggressive.  Read more...