I did NOT know...

I realize I have been rather harsh with some of my statements and while I DO believe all of what I have said, I think I need to clarify a few things.

1. If you wear your pink stuff as a badge of honor to show the world where you have been and where you are now....GREAT!!!

I think we all need to wear some kind of badge of honor to show the world where we have been.  BUT this doesn't just go for BC...it goes for every person, in everyday life.

I find that too often we hide our bandages for fear of judgment.

Like me with depression - it took me A LONG time to admit this one to the world.
I now see this as another badge that makes it easier for people to know that I DO understand that pain.

2. I am NOT against making people feel good.

Just the opposite.  I pray everyone feels good and I have come to realize (yes after a talks with friends) that people need different ways to make them feel good.

If that way includes you baking pink cookies for a fundraiser - good for you. I an in NO place to judge you and where your heart is.

My first time around, my friends created a Renee's Rack Pack team.  It felt great to be supported and loved by all.  I need to go back to that place of love.

3. I have been the stage 1 person who was not educated.

When I was diagnosed the first time, when I was done with chemo and radiation, I thought I could wipe my hands clean of this and get on my jolly way to my life.

I did NOT know it could come back.
I did NOT know it could move to my brain.
I did NOT know being Stage 4 is actually classified as being a terminal disease.

I was happy living in my naïve little bubble.

Would me knowing all this before I became Stage 4 made a difference...I don't know. I really don't.
I think I would have looked at others with different eyes and not think - oh well, I beat - you can beat it.
Stage 4 isn't beatable.

4. My point to all this is to hopefully educate you while I am educating myself on where the money actually goes. What that money goes to.

I didn't know all this when I was stage 1. 
I think it was because I didn't want to. 
I wanted to hide from the truth. 
I wanted to hope that these companies were doing these things for good and not to make a 98% profit (I just made that % up...I have no idea what the actual % is)

5. Please check out this site: http://www.charitynavigator.org/

You can type in a charity and it breaks it all down for you.

Please don't think I am an angry person, because I am FAR, FAR from it.  I do get on my soap box - as I feel we all the right to do.  I will keep stepping on my soap box, BUT I will look out at all the sides while I am on it.