Weekly Round-Up
Hi everyone, and welcome to this week’s blog roundup! Grab a cuppa and settle down for your Sunday read.
I’m currently in the US and so for the first time got to see the famed Super Bowl on TV. I was utterly appalled by the Novartis and Pfizer cancer commercials. In Europe we don’t have direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, so when I visit the States, the sheer volume of these ads on TV is always jarring, but the Super Bowl was a new low. Like Abigail, I was horrified by the blatant disconnect between these companies’ exorbitant advertising spending and their simultaneous cuts to crucial patient assistance programs. Abigail’s post powerfully articulates the issue: these commercials not only exploit the sexualization of breast cancer, minimizing its severity and erasing male patients, but also perpetuate the misleading ‘early detection’ myth. The fact that these companies prioritize profit-driven spectacle over tangible patient support is deeply disturbing.
Carolyn highlights concerns about the erosion of public trust in physicians, arguing that restoring trust requires physicians to be transparent, vocal about healthcare injustices, and willing to acknowledge medicine’s limitations.
Barbara emphasizes the importance of seeking a second opinion after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Terri’s latest Diep C Journey podcast episode features Lacey, a young nurse diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer at 33, who shares her journey from diagnosis to DIEP flap reconstruction.
Julia discusses her experience decluttering cancer-related items after a move, which brought her a sense of relief and freedom. She was surprised by how much she had accumulated and realized she had been unintentionally holding onto these items which prompted her to consider emotional and psychological “decluttering” as well, wondering if she’s still holding onto unnecessary cancer-related burdens.
In Nancy‘s reflective Substack post, she shares her observations and tips after one year on the platform, and the challenges of growing a Substack, including getting noticed and building a community.
Also on Substack, Beth is finding comfort in creativity, gratitude, and kindness as coping mechanisms, during this turbulent time in American politics.
JoAnn‘s latest post connects her personal struggles to the resilience of her 100-year-old cousin, Evie, who survived the Blitz during WWII.
Connie reflects on her upcoming 70th birthday and a look back at the last decade of her life, contrasting her planned future with the unexpected turns life took, including divorce and grandmotherhood, and emphasizes the importance of “trusting the process.”
There’s so much to explore this week! Click the links above to read the full posts and connect with these amazing writers.
Until next week,
Much love
Marie xxx
Hi Marie,
I hope you’ve been having a good experience while in the US. It’s a distressing time for many of us right now… I didn’t see that Super Bowl ad, but jeez. Appalling indeed.
Thank you for putting together this week’s roundup. I am going to take a few minutes and explore right now. And thank you for including my Substack piece. Have a good week. x
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Hi Nancy, it is very sad to watch the news here – distressing for sure. I am lost for words to be honest. We will just have to wait this awful time out and try to be a light in this dark madness
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Thank you so much for including my post Marie! For some reason I didn’t get any notification about it so it was a pleasant surprise to see you had included it and your summary is perfect too. I’ve really got a lot out of reading these. I’m so thankful we don’t have the advertising mentioned here, there are enough pressures without that too and I am pleased people feel able to share the tough news that needs to be said. It’s all life, isn’t it? X
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Hi Julia, it’s been so lovely to see new posts from you and to be able to share them on the round-up.
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