Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness
This morning I received an email from a friend who has breast cancer. I am sure that like millions of women the world over, she would do anything to try to make sure that other women do not go through what she is currently eduring: a mastectomy, a second operation to remove lymph nodes and now chemotherapy.
Not to mention having to face her own mortality head on and cope with the worries and fears of her parents, partner and children.
I am also sure that she would desperately like to find an answer to the question:
Why me? What caused my cancer?
In big red letters, which certainly made me sit up and take notice, the email said:
No matter how many times you get this E-mail, Please send it on!!!! Bottled water in your car is very dangerous!
I immediately thought of the bottles of water that are always in my car. The ones that my daughters and I drink from all the time. But did I panic? No. Because I am always cautious when I get emails like this.
I carefully read the email through. Oh gosh! Sheryl Crow was on the Ellen Show and said that bottled water is what caused her breast cancer? And it must be true because her Oncologist said so? Dioxins in plastic bottles cause cancer?
Now wait a minute! I am no science specialist (I leave that to my Hubby) but I do know that no Oncologist can categorically pin down the specific cause of cancer in an individual. Even if they have suspicions they are not going to make such definite statements.
So I did what I often do when I get an email like this. Tootle off to Google and do a search. This search was:
Sheryl Crow plastic bottle dioxin hoax
BINGO!
My fav hoax slayer site came up with the goods: Plastics Cancer Link Email – Freezing Plastic Bottles – Plastics In the Microwave or Car
Various versions of this e-mail are examined and reassuringly Hoax-Slayer says:
An earlier variant of this hoax referred only to the freezing of plastic water bottles. This later version has added on spurious information about using plastics in microwave ovens as well. Both versions contain false and misleading information.
The site then goes on to debunk the hoax, point by point, with links to scientific references to back it up.
Sorted! No need to worry then. Phew!
But I remained very angry. These emails are horrible. They are preying on millions of vulnerable people who either have or who have had cancer. People who are often raw with worry or grief. People who care enough about their friends and family to want to keep them safe from harm.
These emails are sick!
And it is particularly sick during Breast Cancer Awareness month, when for many of us our thoughts are about people we know or have lost through cancer. My hubby lost his Mother, my ex lost his Mother too – both to cancer. I know four women who have been treated or who are currently being treated for cancer.
Lensmaster Lakeerieartists has recently published a lens: Pink October : The New Color of Fall .
There’s links to companies that are donating to various campaigns and why not Donate a Dollar yourself? Michael’s Way is a charity that helps the families of children with cancer to cope with the extraordinary non-medical expenses that come about as a direct result of the child’s illness.
If you want to do something positive and genuinely useful for Breast Cancer awareness then circulate Paula’s lens, NOT that email.
AJ