And With This the Breast Cancer Charity Officially Jumps the Shark

Behold the "Breast Cancer Awareness Bible", on sale at Ralph's Grocery.  It was right next to the "Breast Cancer Awareness Pringles" and down the aisle from the "Breast Cancer Awareness Evian Water".

Enough. Everybody's aware now.

What they're not aware of is Pulmonary Fibrosis kills as many each year as breast cancer but has no survivor stories because there is no cure or even an effective treatment.    And yet I can't seem to find any "Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness" products.

The PF people are just going to have to make their disease sexier and more politically correct.

Sent via HolyCoast.com mobile.

This Time of the Year I Really Hate Pink

Two years ago today I buried my dad after he lost his battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis. It's a terrible disease that slowly destroys the lungs and robs them of their ability to process oxygen. His doctor described it as slow-motion drowning. I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

A couple of weeks after the funeral I wrote this:

What Color Should the Cars Be for Pulmonary Fibrosis?

Last night I was watching the NASCAR race from the Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC. It's October which has been declared "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" and a number of the cars were carrying pink paint schemes as part of the fundraising effort, such as the #19 car of Elliot Sadler (photo from Jayski.com):

As I watched the pink cars go round and round I was reminded that if you're going to get a potentially deadly disease, it's good to get one that's has such popular support (even if the cars look silly).

I was also reminded that just as many people die every year from Pulmonary Fibrosis, the disease which took my dad's life on September 22, as die from Breast Cancer. There weren't any cars running last night with special colors for PF. And let's face it, boobs are a lot more popular than lungs, but that doesn't change the facts about the disease.

And one other important fact - there are no survivors of Pulmonary Fibrosis. You either have it and will die from it, or you're already dead. There are no survivors to wear ribbons or tell their stories.

Today the yogurt I had for lunch had a pink top on it. Soon a pink ribbon will be raised at the White House. Everywhere I look I see things colored pink to raise money for what has certainly become the most politically correct disease since AIDS. Even this abomination:

Please understand, if you suffered from breast cancer or have a loved one who did, I'm not mad at you or think you shouldn't get whatever help you can. It's just that when one disease gets most of the attention, other diseases that need attention and funding get forgotten...except by those who have been its victims.

You have to hand it to the folks at Susan G. Komen for making breast cancer so highly marketable.  I just wish there was a little more balance in how we look at such things.

Men's Group Wants Equal Time

Finally, the pink plague that takes over institutions from sports events to the White House every October is starting to get some blowback from men's groups that want equal time:

In the wake of the NFL’s October pink-washing in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, prostate cancer awareness advocates are calling on the NFL to give their disease equal time.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation and its ally groups in the fight against prostate cancer are asking supporters to sign onto petitions requesting that the NFL highlight prostate cancer during the month of September, as they do breast cancer in October.

“We applaud the NFL for raising breast cancer awareness during the month of October by allowing players to wear pink accessories,” the petitions reads. “As prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer is to women (and some men), we ask the NFL to allow light blue items in September for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. With your help we can raises awareness of prostate cancer, a disease that claims more than 32,000 men’s lives each year and impacts millions of families.”

According to Dan Zenka, vice president of communications for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the online petitions have gathered nearly 1,800 signatures since last Thursday. The petitions will remain online until November 1, at which point the organization will present it to the NFL.

“Many of the stadiums are flooding their stadiums with pink lights, lets get some blue lights in there,” Zenka told The Daily Caller. “We deserve healthy fathers and sons, every bit as much as we need healthy mothers and daughters. It is a family issue.”

This year, it is estimated that there will be 217,730 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed and that 32,050 men will die from the disease.

I got on this campaign a year ago after my father passed away as a result of Pulmonary Fibrosis, a disease which affects both men and women, kills as many people every year as breast cancer, but unlike breast cancer has no survivors. It's untreatable and incurable and receives barely a fraction of the funding of the politically correct diseases.  But since prostates and lungs aren't boobs, they don't get the kind of national attention that's given to breast cancer, or that was given to AIDS in the 80's and 90's (another politically correct disease).

This weekend you'll see pink cars running in the NASCAR race at Charlotte.  As I asked a year ago, what color should the cars be for Pulmonary Fibrosis?  Or prostate cancer?  Or any number of other diseases which are as fatal as breast cancer but don't get the same attention?

And we now know that some of the funds raised through these pink campaigns are going to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion mill.  I think it's time to end the obsession with breasts and start trying to figure out how to help as many people as possible regardless of their particular malady and whether or not they can come up with cute slogans to support it.

If You're Going to Get Sick Be Sure You Get a Politically Correct Disease

The Daily Caller does a comparison between the attention given to breast cancer and prostate cancer:

For Barbie, October is a month to behold. Pink. Pink everywhere. Pink balloons, ribbons, bridges, buildings, and professional sports equipment, all to raise awareness about breast cancer.

The last 25 years have seen the boob slowly edging out the pumpkin as a symbol for fall. With breast cancer so visible, it is interesting to note that last month was prostate cancer awareness month. In September, however, the color blue did not engulf the country in any similar manner — despite claiming a comparable number of victims.

According to estimates from the National Institutes of Health, in the United States in 2010, 207,090 women and 1,970 men will get new cases of breast cancer, while 39,840 women and 390 men will likely die from the disease. The estimated new cases of prostate cancer this year — all affecting men — is 217,730, while it is predicted 32,050 will die from the disease.

Dan Zenka, the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s vice president of communications, says the similarity in numbers is hard to ignore. “Prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer is to women,” he told The Daily Caller.

Breast cancer awareness advocates have done an inspired job getting out word and excitement for their cause. Despite their success, prostate cancer has been left in the dust — both in terms of awareness and federal funding. Case in point, prostate cancer research receives less than half of the funding breast cancer does.

Last year at this time I went on a bit of a rant on the same issue after my dad passed away from Pulmonary Fibrosis, another disease that takes as many lives as breast cancer but gets almost no attention.  I'm not against treating and curing women with breast cancer, but I do think political correctness in diseases is causing unnecessary deaths.

9/11 Still Taking a Toll on First Responders

First responders to the 9/11 attacks are still paying a price for that day:

Nine years have passed since Al Qaeda orchestrated the deadliest attack ever on U.S. soil, claiming nearly 3,000 lives.

But reports from the New York State Health Department suggest the carnage may not have ended that day.

More than 800 responders to the World Trade Center ruins have died -- some, advocates say, from illnesses related to their heroic efforts. One advocate says the actual total of deaths is likely higher -- and growing.

The data is a sobering reminder of the human toll that the tragedy is still taking as the nation prepares to mark the ninth anniversary Saturday of the 9/11 attacks.

According to the New York State Health Department, 836 responders have died as of June 2009, the most recent year of data available.

But in the last year, health officials have only confirmed 813 deaths after reviewing death certificates, autopsies or medical records as of June 2010.

Health officials couldn't conclude that any of the deaths occurred as a result of their response to the attacks because the study was short-term.

Of the 836 deaths, more than 20 percent were deemed by health officials as "traumatic," including exposure to harmful substances or environments, car accidents or assaults. The other 80 percent were from illness, the study found.

I've heard that many first responders later developed pulmonary fibrosis, the lung disease which took my father almost a year ago. No one really knows what starts it, but once it develops it's 100% fatal. Exposure to the dust and debris at Ground Zero undoubtedly contributed to their disease.

Breast Cancer Suddenly Becomes Politically Incorrect

I did several posts earlier this year on the politically correct diseases like breast cancer and AIDS which gain tremendous attention and funding while a disease like pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which kills just as many as does breast cancer every year but has no survivors or cures, gets very little attention. Nobody painted their race cars a special color for IPF, or draped ribbons in honor of IPF over the White House. It is not a politically correct disease. (You can click on the "Pulmonary Fibrosis" label below to see the other posts.)

However, breast cancer, for which the color pink is now almost synonymous, has suddenly run into a bit of political opposition, at least among lefties who are upset that Joe Lieberman's wife, Hadassah, is a global ambassador for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure organization. You see, Joe Lieberman has run afoul of the lefties who desperately want socialized medicine in this country and Lieberman is refusing to cooperate. Some on the left are now calling for an end to donations to the organization until they dump Hadassah from their roster.

Don Surber has the details.

I never thought I'd see breast cancer funding used as a weapon against a liberal, but when one strays from the reservation, I guess anything is possible.

The Ultimate in Politically Correct Diseases

Without question, if you want a disease that's guaranteed to have the most politically correct support, get breast cancer:

The pink ribbon is designed to create breast cancer awareness. Is there anyone left who isn't aware? There is so much attention to this disease right now I'm guessing it will soon go the way of the red AIDS ribbon. Nobody wears them anymore.

I have no problem with this terrible disease getting much-needed attention, but there are other illnesses that kill just as many people but don't have the attention or have the happy survivor stories that breast cancer has. Those diseases could use the attention and money. Like this one.

Ann Althouse also has some thoughts about pink.

What Color Should the Cars Be for Pulmonary Fibrosis?

Last night I was watching the NASCAR race from the Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC. It's October which has been declared "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" and a number of the cars were carrying pink paint schemes as part of the fundraising effort, such as the #19 car of Elliot Sadler (photo from Jayski.com):

As I watched the pink cars go round and round I was reminded that if you're going to get a potentially deadly disease, it's good to get one that's has such popular support (even if the cars look silly).

I was also reminded that just as many people die every year from Pulmonary Fibrosis, the disease which took my dad's life on September 22, as die from Breast Cancer. There weren't any cars running last night with special colors for PF. And let's face it, boobs are a lot more popular than lungs, but that doesn't change the facts about the disease.

And one other important fact - there are no survivors of Pulmonary Fibrosis. You either have it and will die from it, or you're already dead. There are no survivors to wear ribbons or tell their stories.

That's why I will continue my fundraising effort for this disease and have raised by target goal from $1,000 to $2,500. If you would like to help, you can click on the link. Thanks!

The Walk

The Walk for Pulmonary Fibrosis that I've been writing about all week is now over. We enjoyed a beautiful, cool Mission Viejo Sunday morning as we took the 3.2 mile hike on the streets around Lake Mission Viejo. Here are some photos from the day:

Liz, daughter of Ed Kahout, the man for whom this walk is named and who passed away on this day in 2006, signs in the walkers at the registration table. Various stores had donated water, bagels and coffee for the walkers. Altogether there were a little more than 100 participants.

The missus and I doing our pre-walk warm-up - holding up a tree.

We had seven participants in the walk. My wife and I, my sister and her husband and two girls, and my mom.

Mom is greeted by Bette Kahout, Ed's wife. Unfortunately, they both share the experience of losing a husband to this terrible disease.

Liz and her daughter give words of encouragement and thanks, and some last minute instructions to the walkers.

The walk is underway as we head down Olympiad from the park.

Mom couldn't walk the 3.2 miles so she took her scooter, accompanied by granddaughter Hannah. I had my doubts the battery would hold up for that long of a trip, up and down hills, but it made it with power to spare. I had concerns that we would end up leaving Mom somewhere along the route until we could get the car back there to pick her up.

At the one mile mark we came alongside Lake Mission Viejo. The sun started to break out of the clouds and the day began to warm up.
A couple of fisherman pretty much had the lake to themselves.

Near the 2 mile mark we're heading up Marguerite Parkway. After a nice long downhill start to the walk it was time to start climbing again.

Near the 3 mile mark, and right before we got back to the park, we passed Orange County Fire Authority Station 31. The firefighters and paramedics from this station responded twice to help my dad during his final weeks. The first was on August 14th when he blacked out during a coughing spell and fell, hitting his head and opening a bad cut. He spent a week in the hospital after that and came home in a much weaker condition.

The second time was September 17th, the day he left home for the last time. He passed away just five days later. We're fortunate to live in an area served by such a highly professional and well-trained agency like the OCFA.

I have to offer special thanks to those of you who contributed to the fundraiser. Altogether nearly $10,000 was raised for research into pulmonary fibrosis, a disease which needs far more support. It kills as many people each year as breast cancer, but isn't one of those politically correct diseases that get all the research support. Unlike breast cancer, there are no survivors of this disease walking around.

And thanks to you donations, it turned out that I was the top fundraiser for this event (outside of the host family) and ended up being awarded a couple of very nice prizes. That was a pleasant surprise since I didn't even know there were awards for the top 3 fundraisers. Thank you very much. (And thanks for the $125 in donations that showed up after the Walk.) You can still donate using the widget below:

We hope to be involved with this organization even more in the future as other events take place. For the first time out, I think this turned out very well and hopefully more people will be involved next time.

The Long Walk

This morning my wife, my sister's family of four, my mom (on her scooter), and I will all take part in the Walk for Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mission Viejo, CA. I've never done one of these walks before. I've never done an AIDS walk, breast cancer walk, toe fungus walk, or any walks for any of the diseases or afflictions for which people are inclined to walk. In fact, when I think of these kinds of walks I'm instantly reminded of the AIDS Walk episode from Seinfeld, which I located on YouTube (please ignore the foreign subtitles - it was the only one I could find):

I don't think we'll run into the problem with the "ree-bon" today, and thankfully it's supposed to be the coolest day we've had here in weeks. The forecast high is only 67 and we'll be walking at 9am, so it should be even cooler. We'll be going a total of 3.2 miles (or 5K for you Europeans) around Lake Mission Viejo. You can see a map of the route here.

I learned of this event a day or so before my dad died of this disease, so I decided that it was something I needed to do. I also set up a fundraising page for the event and am glad that we were able to raise $1,136 from many generous donors. When you add in the additional $175 in registration fees which also go to the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, $1,311 was added to PF research.

It's not too late for you to contribute. Click here and you can add your sponsorship to the day's event.

I'll report back later with photos and info from today's walk.

Walk for Pulmonary Fibrosis

UPDATE: Photos from the Walk for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

UPDATED and bumped to the top: $1,261 in donations so far - thanks! We're over the top of the $1,000 goal with two days to go. Do you think there's another $500 out there for this cause? Let's not stop now!

Thank you John Schroeder, Ron & Linda Comingdeer, Robert Fanning, Carolyn Hesson, Mary Stuart, Timothy Kaufman, Josie Mazzone, Ruth Ann DeForest, The Baesel Family, Ella Grisso, Pat Jardine, Clyde Botzner, Dr. Bruce Tammelin, Norman Lynde, Elizabeth Mitchell, Bob Hughes, Vicki Claudio, Jeanette Hildebrand, Elizabeth Roudebush, and Jeanne Miles for your generosity!
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A couple of years ago I had never heard of Pulmonary Fibrosis, but now I've lost an uncle and my dad to it. It's a terrible disease and the most depressing thing we learned along the way is the doctors basically have no idea what causes it or how to treat it. The disease takes the pink, spongy healthy lung tissue and turns it into gray, thick scar tissue, thus robbing the lungs of oxygen capacity. The patient effectively suffocates over a lengthy period of time. Our doctor described it as "drowning, but taking months instead of minutes".

On October 4th there will be a fundraising 5K walk for Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mission Viejo just a short distance from my parent's home. My wife and I will be participating, the first time I've ever taken part in one of these type of events. I've set up a fundraising page for those of you who would like to help me honor his memory by contributing to fund research into this disease. I'd love to raise $1,000 for the cause, and anything you can contribute will be very much appreciated.

I'm going to post this item every day until the walk, and in the sidebar I've put a link to the contribution page.

Thanks!

Celebration of Life

HolyCoast.com will be quiet today as we attend the memorial services for my dad.

I'll leave you with a video of his final public performance, December 5, 2008. He was asked to play the Angel Gabriel in a children's musical at Coast Hills Church in Laguna Niguel, CA. Two of his granddaughters performed with him and you'll see them at the end.