This breast cancer PSA raises awareness the same way that naked models for PETA raise awareness about veganism — which is to say, not at all, really. It’s a shame that “Bridemaids”‘s Chris O’Dowd lent his talents to this spoof Coppafeel PSA for male breast cancer awareness because it’s really stupid. Keep reading »
I was never that woman who dreamt of having many children or starting my own “Brady Bunch.” Babies, little booties, and bottles were always an afterthought to enjoying a successful career, one peppered with travelling the world and enjoying a range of other adult activities a childless, flexible lifestyle could provide. However, after my husband Jason was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant (which I wrote about here), it would be an understatement to say that my priorities and narrow definition of family underwent a fundamental revolution. One year post-cancer, I began to dwell on the thought of living and dying without a family of my own.
Cancer had forced mortality to become an issue that often occupied my thoughts during sleepless nights or long car rides, and in my worst nightmare, I became the modern antagonist of some sort of widowed cat lady fairy tale. I imagined myself an old hag with cracked skin in a big castle, hoarding treasure and cackling wildly all by myself, full of bitterness and regret over my own solitude. The adult lifestyle that once felt so plush suddenly transformed into a thorny horror story, and Jason and I decided to try IVF. Keep reading »
“I want to clear something up for you all, because it seems that something I said has been taken way out of context, as is often the case with quotes pulled from interviews. In a recent magazine interview, I told of how I had called a female fan who was battling cancer, and she told me how she had watched the show and seen how I had faced my own struggles, and had been inspired by how I had found the courage to change a situation that was making me unhappy.”
– Okay, so a few weeks ago, Kim Kardashian gave an interview in which she directly compared the lessons she learned from getting married on TV (and subsequently getting divorced) to the lessons learned by a little girl battling cancer. Exact quote:
“We decided to film for the wedding. And that was a decision that he and I made together. But I think that, with any decisions in life, like, I spoke to a girl today who had cancer and we were talking about how this is such a hard thing for her, but it taught her a big lesson on who her friends are and so much about life. She’s 18. And I was like, that’s how I feel.”
But now Kim is basically saying, “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. What I really meant was that this little girl with cancer was innnnnnspirrrrrrrred by my courrrrrrrage during that incredibly difficult, horrible, and lucrative period of my life in which I married a guy on TV and then divorced him 72 days later.” Oh, okay then. So much … worse? [Kim Kardashian]
Country star Kellie Pickler (right) shaved off her signature bright blond hair yesterday to show support for her childhood friend Summer Holt Miller, a 36-year-old mother of two who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and will begin chemotherapy this week. The two women appeared on “Good Morning America” this morning to discuss Pickler’s buzzed locks and raise breast cancer awareness. “If this compels even one person to change their mentality toward waiting until the age of 40 for their mammogram, then it will be worth it,” said Miller. What a brave and beautiful display of friendship. [Entertainment Weekly] Keep reading »
Oh, no! Beloved young adult author Judy Blume has revealed on her personal blog that she is currently battling breast cancer. The Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret author writes that this summer she intended to spend four weeks at an artists’ retreat at a castle in Umbria, Italy, finishing her next book. But instead Blume was diagnosed with breast cancer and hastily made plans to undergo a mastectomy and reconstruction surgery. It has been a month post-surgery and she’s back to writing and “feeling stronger every day.” Judging by her blog post, she seems to be in high spirits — she even cracked a small boobs/Are You There, God? joke with her doctor. (The doc didn’t get it.) Our thoughts and prayers are with Judy Blume and we have every hope she makes a full recovery! [Judy Blume Blog]
The doctor has prepared me for more weight loss and losing my hair. Dating isn’t the main focus here, but it’s fresh in my mind, because I just got out of a relationship. So I’m just sitting here, thinking, ‘Wow, not only am I single, but I’m about to be four pounds and bald.’
–Comedienne Tig Notaro went onstage last month in Los Angeles and opened her set by saying “Thank you, I have cancer, thank you.” The audience was shocked. In this week’s New York Times Magazine, Notaro talks about how she had a life-threatening infection, lost her mother to a freak accident days after leaving the hospital, and then was diagnosed with breast cancer. To cope, she did what she does best: got up onstage and laughed about it. It really struck me from this interview, jokes aside, that Tig Notaro is an extremely strong person. Very much hoping for she gets well soon — and stops being on the receiving end of life’s shit stick. [New York Times Magazine] [Image: NYT Magazine]
On July 15th, Mike Massé’s infant son Noah was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. As the family scrambled to find the best care for their son, and the medical bills started piling up, Mike came up with a creative way to raise some extra money: he recorded an acoustic cover of The Beatles’ song “Let It Be” and posted it on YouTube and iTunes, where people could make donations or purchase the song to support Noah’s fight against cancer. Mike’s cover is beautiful and heartbreaking, and while his efforts have been fairly successful so far (the song recently reached #1 on the Netherlands iTunes charts), let’s not forget the underlying tragedy that amidst something as earth-shattering as a child’s cancer diagnosis, a grieving father must ask for donations to help save his son’s life. As Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing pointed out, “Cancer is one tragedy. The way our country treats people with cancer, even when they’re little babies, is another.” [Let It Be For Noah]
Studies have shown that animals can help sick patients heal. But what do you do when a patient is in quarantine, unable to receive visits from the animals they love? Teenage cancer patient Maga Barzallo Sockemtickem was prohibited from seeing her pet cat Merry, so Seattle Children’s Hospital visiting artist John Blalock decided to help satisfy her kitty cravings. Blalock had helped create awesome artworks and installations for patients around the hospital, and for Maga, he made an immersive cat show. Blalock first collected cat photos from hospital workers, and then took to the Internet to get additional pictures of cute kitties. More than 3,000 images poured in, and Blalock made a cat-filled presentation for Maga, complete with purring sounds. On July 25, Maga reveled in more than 1,800 cat images, specially selected by Blalock.
“It was a big surprise, how big a response I got,” says Barzallo Sockemtickem. “But I think it was the simpleness of it all. People love cats; animals make us happy.” [NPR]
Talia Joy Castellano has makeup chops far beyond her years. The 12-year-old has over 100,000 YouTube subscribers for a reason: she’s exceptionally good at doing her face, and her clever, vivacious onscreen personality makes her step-by-step tutorials a pleasure to watch. If not for her baldness, one would never guess that Talia carries an immense and unfathomable weight that nobody, let alone a child, should have to experience. Keep reading »
A pregnant 16-year-old with leukemia was at the center of a debate over abortion in the Dominican Republic, as doctors feared repercussions of administering chemotherapy that may kill her fetus. Fortunately, hospital officials told CNN the anonymous teen began receiving chemotherapy last Tuesday after conversations between her parents, the hospital, and presumably government officials. There were initial concerns that doctors at Semma Hospital in Santo Domingo would withhold the treatment because she is 10 weeks pregnant and the DR has a strict ban on abortion, claiming life begins at the moment of conception. Keep reading »
The Frisky is a member of Spin Entertainment, a division of SpinMedia
Home | Contact SpinMedia | Contact The Frisky | About | Submissions | Frisky Friends | Advertise | Press | RSS | Terms of Use |
Privacy Policy | Mobile | 
