The Assertive Cancer Patient

How LOW Will Komen GO?: The Winners

I just sent this press release on to PRWeb for distribution. Winners, please e-mail me to claim your prizes.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2007

For further information:
Jeanne Sather
jeanne.sather@gmail.com


Seattle blogger and breast cancer activist fights pink ribbons with humor 

The Assertive Cancer Patient Announces Winners in the First Annual “How LOW Will Komen GO?” Contest

SEATTLE—Oct. 30, 2007—Local blogger and cancer patient Jeanne Sather has announced the winners in a contest she hopes will show just how absurd pink ribbon cause marketing, as practiced by the Komen Foundation, has become.

Entries in the contest have been posted to Sather’s blog, The Assertive Cancer Patient (www.assertivepatient.com) during the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Entries, all pink-ribbon products claiming to donate a share of their profits to Komen, included pink-ribbon English muffins, pink M&Ms, pink boxer shorts (which one Arizona sheriff was reportedly requiring all inmates of his jail to wear), pink wedding gowns, and more.

The winners are:

Grand Prize: to the blogger Dubutant, for her entry: Jingle Jugs for Life

Jingle Jugs sells life-size boobs, or "racks," that bounce in time to the song "Titties and Beer." Its market? Frat boys.

From the Jingle Jugs Web site: “Our newest version of Jingle Jugs comes with a pre-recorded breast cancer message. A second re-recordable chip allows the user to record a message of his or her own choice, such as a favorite song, your favorite team's fight song, a romantic message, a political commentary . . . all to which the Jugs will dance and move in synch.” (http://www.jinglejugsforlife.com/)

Debutaunt’s comment, in a letter to Komen: “... Honestly, I can't see in any good conscience how you can justify accepting money from this vulgar company. They sell a product that is so putrid and heinous, but are justifying it since they donate a ‘percentage’ to breast cancer organizations -- then show proudly their giant check to Komen.”

First Prize: to a Canadian reader named Nancy for: Pink Wedding Gowns for the Cure

This entry was an editorial feature in “Brides” magazine. ABC News had this quote:

"With this gown sale, we hope to harness the power of the wedding dress — an icon viewed around the world as a symbol of hope for the future — to impact the lives of seriously ill women in a positive way," said Millie Martini Bratten, editor in chief of “Brides.”

Judge’s Choice Award: To the Mars/M&Ms Company for: Pink M&Ms

Sather has been boycotting M&Ms and all Mars candy products for more than a year, because she feels the pink M&Ms trivialize a very serious disease.

This year, she bought several bags of pink M&Ms and made a mosaic titled, “What I See in the Mirror Every Morning (And It Ain't Pretty).” A photo of the mosaic is posted to Sather’s blog (See http://www.assertivepatient.com/2007/10/mms-cancer-the-.html).

Sather, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, and now is living with metastatic disease, has been writing about pink topics this month as part of her crusade against turning breast cancer into a marketing gimmick. According to Sather, "I have finally realized why the whole pink ribbon/pink marketing thing makes me so angry: I feel exploited."

Her blog posts this month include “Prostate Cancer Ken,” a companion to "Breast Cancer Barbie," a doll released by Mattel last October, and “Benign Girl,” who is Breast Cancer Barbie’s little sister.

Also as part of her “Boycott October” campaign, Sather has been sending free buttons to anyone who asks for one. The button (which is pink) says: “Boycott October,” and in smaller type, “Don’t buy pink products. Don’t exploit women with breast cancer.”

Sather most recently made headlines in Canada and the United States, and as far away as China, for her search for a Canadian husband, and the free medical coverage that would come with such a marriage.

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CancerMatch.com? The Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2007

For further information:
Jeanne Sather
Jeanne.sather@gmail.com


CancerMatch.com? 

Seattle Writer Living With Cancer Advertises for a Canadian Husband

SEATTLE—Aug. 30, 2007—Local blogger and cancer patient Jeanne Sather has posted a personal ad to her blog, The Assertive Cancer Patient, advertising for a Canadian husband.

“If I lived about 150 miles north, in Vancouver, B.C.,” Sather says in a recent post on www.assertivepatient.com, “I would still be financially solvent, instead of having the stress of always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. I’ve been in cancer treatment for nine years now, and I’m tired of waiting for guaranteed national health care.

“If I married a Canadian, I would not longer have to worry about the high cost of cancer care.”

Sather’s treatment for metastatic breast cancer costs $300,000 a year. She pays about $800 a month for health insurance through the Washington state high risk pool, WSHIP, and has out-of-pocket medical expenses of $20,000 a year, including her insurance premiums.

The personal ad, which includes a photo of Sather at the wheel of her red 1964 Corvair convertible, says, in part:

“Assertive, adventurous 52-year-old woman, living with incurable cancer, would like to meet a marriage-minded Canadian gent who is a cancer survivor or living with the disease. … You: Age 45 to about 57. Canadian citizen living in Vancouver, B.C., or willing to relocate there. Cancer patient or survivor. Open-minded. Bit of a risk taker. Warm hearted but not clinging. Bald OK.”

As a journalist and an outspoken advocate for the cancer patient's point of view, Sather began blogging in September 2006. She has written about how to avoid medical mistakes, Breast Cancer Barbie, MIA doctors (who disappear when their patients are dying) and much more.

Sather began her career as a journalist, working for newspapers, magazines and wire services, including Newsweek in Tokyo, Reuters in Seattle, MSN (also in Seattle) and a number of other publications.

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 at age 43, she started writing about cancer for the Web site OnHealth.com, which later fired her while in cancer treatment. That story made national headlines.

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Blogging 101: If I Can Blog, You Can Blog

The East-West Center Association presents

Blogging 101: If I Can Blog, You Can Blog
Wednesday, February 7th at 3:00 pm
EWC Burns Hall 2012

The Web is the Wild West of publishing.

The Web and blogging is so democratic-Anyone who has a computer and a
couple of hundred dollars a year to pay for Web hosting can reach the entire world
with his or her ideas. That is democratic, in a way that conventional publishing and
media (with all their gatekeepers) are not.

What is a blog? Jeanne Sather explains the difference between a blog and a
conventional Web site. People blog for different reasons. She'll list some of these
reasons, with examples of blogs that fall into each type. She'll also explain how to
blog: templates, hosting Web sites, how to post, how to drive traffic and promote a
blog, and how to make money with a blog.

Jeanne Sather was an EWC student in Open Grants from 1978-80. She began her
career as a journalist, working for newspapers, magazines, and wire services, including
Newsweek in Tokyo, Reuters in Seattle, MSN, and a number of other publications.
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 at age 43, she started writing
about cancer. First she wrote about her own experience, with a weekly feature on the
OnHealth Web site called "Jeanne's Diary" that chronicled the ups and downs of her first
series of cancer treatments. Then she began writing for the Web site of the cancer center
where she gets her treatment.

Jeanne has two master's degrees, one in Japanese language from the University of Hawaii,
where she studied on a grant from the East-West Center, and another in journalism from
the University of California at Berkeley. She has a B.A. in Communications from Michigan
State University in East Lansing.

For more information, contact the EWC Associates Office at 808-944-7506.

Seattle Blogger Reviews ‘Cancer Movies’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2007

For further information:
Jeanne Sather
Jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Seattle Blogger Reviews ‘Cancer Movies’
Writer Living With Cancer Says She Is Often ‘Blindsided’ at the Movie Theater

SEATTLE—Jan. 25, 2007—Local blogger and cancer patient Jeanne Sather has added a new feature to her blog, reviews of popular films about cancer.

“How many times have I gone to a movie, maybe with one of my sons, looking for a little comedic relief from my life with cancer, only to find out that the movie is ABOUT CANCER!” Sather says in a recent post on www.assertivepatient.com.

“Do I walk out? Suffer through it? Do I send my kid out for popcorn when the main character starts throwing up?
“I’m tired of being emotionally blindsided at the movie theater. That’s why I decided to start reviewing ‘cancer movies.’”

Sather, who is living with metastatic breast cancer, to date has reviewed “Pieces of April,” “Calendar Girls” and “Wit.” Future reviews will include the Japanese classic “Ikiru” (To Live), “Love Story,” “One True Thing” and more.

Some excerpts:

Pieces of April: Seventeen minutes into this “comedy” about April’s attempts to make Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family, Joy (April’s mother, played by Patricia Clarkson) throws up for the first time, in a grungy public restroom. At that point, I wondered if we should walk out.

Ignore April (Katie Holmes). But if you’re in the mood for some black cancer humor—and to see someone else throw up for a change—choose this film to see Clarkson in action, showing off photos of her chest pre- and post-mastectomy, rescuing her damp wig from the toilet after yet another bout over the bowl, and leading the family in a graveside service for road-kill that she insists they stop and bury.

Calendar Girls: Don’t watch it for what it says or doesn’t say about cancer, watch it for the fun of seeing 11 women “of a certain age"—the members of the Rylstone Women’s Institute of North Yorkshire—toy with the idea of taking their clothes off to be photographed for a nude calendar. And watch the extra features for interviews with the real women whose story is told in the film.

Wit: This film, which stars Emma Thompson as a friendless scholar with advanced ovarian cancer who undergoes experimental therapy in a clinical trial, should be required viewing for all oncologists, cancer researchers, oncology nurses and others who work with cancer patients. If you are undergoing cancer treatment, you may want to give it a miss. Guaranteed to leave you with rug burns on your soul.

As a journalist and an outspoken advocate for the cancer patient's point of view, Sather began blogging in September 2006. She has written about how to avoid medical mistakes, Breast Cancer Barbie, MIA doctors, who disappear when their patients are dying, and much more.

Sather began her career as a journalist, working for newspapers, magazines and wire services, including Newsweek in Tokyo, Reuters in Seattle, MSN (also in Seattle) and a number of other publications.

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 at age 43, she started writing about cancer for the Web site OnHealth.com, which later fired her while in cancer treatment. That story made national headlines.
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Boycott October Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2006

For further information:
Tina Christiansen
tina@writeasrain.com

or:

Jeanne Sather
jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Seattle Blogger Calls for a Boycott of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Seattle Writer Living With Cancer Feels Exploited by Marketing Campaign

SEATTLE — Oct. 31, 2006 — With the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, local blogger and cancer patient Jeanne Sather says she will be glad to see the end of the sea of pink.

"Boycott October," Sather says in a recent blog post at www.assertivepatient.com. "Most of the women I know who are living with breast cancer dislike the whole pink ribbon thing. Some are extremely distressed by the pink marketing effort and even by Breast Cancer Awareness Month."

Sather, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, has been writing about pink topics this month as part of her crusade against turning breast cancer into a marketing gimmick. According to Sather, retailers jump on the pink marketing bandwagon by offering pink merchandise in October, then donate a tiny part of the proceeds to breast cancer programs.

"I have finally realized why the whole pink ribbon/pink marketing thing makes me so angry," she writes. "I feel exploited."

Her blog posts this month include "Breast Cancer Barbie," "Pink Soup" and "The Pink for October” campaign.

As a journalist and an outspoken advocate for the cancer patient's point of view, Sather first wrote about pink ribbons two years ago, in "Gag Me With a Pink Ribbon," launching her crusade against what she calls the Pinking of October.

"If you want to support people with cancer, forget the ribbon and lobby for national health insurance," she wrote in 2004. "Or for a state health insurance plan that is open to everyone, rich and poor, sick and well."

As part of her “Boycott October” campaign, Sather will send a free button to anyone who asks for it. The button (which will be pink) will say: “Boycott October,” and in smaller type, “Don’t buy pink products, Don’t exploit women with breast cancer.” To receive a button, which will be shipped next September, e-mail Sather at jeanne.sather@gmail.com

For more commentary on boycotting Breast Cancer Awareness month, go to the October posts at The Assertive Cancer Patient. (http://www.assertivepatient.com/2006/10/boycott_october.html)

Sather plans to spend next October hiking the centuries-old pilgrim trail on the Japanese island of Shikoku.

Jeanne Sather has written about how to avoid medical mistakes, taking part in clinical trials, living with incurable cancer, how to help when a friend has cancer and much more. Sather began her career as a journalist, working for newspapers, magazines and wire services, including Newsweek in Tokyo, Reuters in Seattle, MSN (also in Seattle) and a number of other publications.

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 at age 43, she started writing about cancer for the Web site OnHealth.com, which later fired her while in cancer treatment. That story made national headlines.

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