GOOD afternoon to my colleagues in media. Thank you for finding the time to be here.

I hope you weren’t dragged into this conference or felt obliged just because it’s October the breast cancer month all over the world. I know I was never excited about the topic of cancer when I was a producer for the Probe Team way back in the early ‘90s. I avoided the topic like the plague.

Way back then, no one knew what the
Probe Team was nor who Cheche Lazaro was. I had to always spell the word “Probe” and recite Cheche’s CV.

And so when Cheche told me to do a story on cancer, I responded instinctively, “It’s such a boring topic. Who will watch?” We needed the ratings and a cancer story didn’t seem to be the answer. So each time Cheche reminded me I just pretended I was planning on doing something about it. Ironically, today, it looks like I’ll be spending the rest of my life convincing my friends in media that cancer can be a sexy topic.

Cancer has been portrayed in media as bad news. It is the equal of death. And the ultimate punishment. How many teleseryes and movies have you seen where the kontrabida has to die of cancer?

And any scene of cancer patients shows them in bed, bald with dark circles, talking so weakly, and unable to get up. Not to mention looking like unmade beds.

So for those who get cancer, our tendency is to think, “Kawawa naman. Nakarma siguro.” Or perhaps, “Mabait naman siya bakit siya pa? Sana iba na lang.”

If we continue to portray cancer with dread and a dead end , then our audience won’t see the wisdom in subscribing to early breast cancer detection methods like a monthly breast self exam, an annual mammography by age 40 and clinical exams.

Women won’t see the need to take charge of their health since it seems to be a losing battle anyway. Families won’t see the need in saving for a rainy day or investing in a health insurance provider that covers cancer. They might hold back spending for a family member sick with cancer.

People in general won’t donate to the fight against breast cancer if they got the impression cancer spelled the end.

We in media have a critical role in telling the public there is no need to fear. We need your help in furthering our advocacy of early detection.

And here is a mantra I want you to remember:

There is a cure for breast cancer especially if detected early.

And this is a message that rings true for any month of the year, not just October.

Living more purposeful lives

I hope you don’t mind me giving a few unsolicited advice on how you, our friends in media can help the patient advocacy movement.

First, know all you can about breast cancer. It’s so important that factual information is reported. Today there are so many alternative ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. Sadly, not all are reliable tools. We need your help for the medical consumers to be able to discern fact from fiction from fad. This way women make informed decisions. They will know the standards of care they should expect.

And since we have the highest incidence in Southeast Asia, the likelihood of it happening to someone you know is high, and knowing all you can will surely come in handy.

Secondly, we need your help in continually featuring models of survivorship. This way, cancer patients will know that they can actually survive it and lead normal productive lives even with a terminal diagnosis. In fact I can tell you that most women given a second lease on life live more purposeful lives.

I distinctly remember my first night at home after my hospitalization. I kept trying to think of other women who had breast cancer, preferably women my age. All I could think of was a grand aunt and a family friend, but both had died. There was no one I could relate to or run to for advice.

Based on experience, I noticed that a lot of women who have suspicious lumps, talk to other survivors first, before seeing a doctor. And even after seeing a doctor, these patients call us for a second opinion! Of course we never dispense medical advice. But a lot of them stay in touch since they need moral support and information they will never hear from their doctors or read about in books. Information that only those who had a first hand experience with cancer can provide. So it’s important that women out there in search for a bridge to their doctors , or a patient advocate, find us.

And when featuring cancer survivors, the stories don’t need to revolve around the breast cancer disease. It can be incidental and subtle. The story may be about the Advertising Congress, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, a debate in Congress, the United Nations but if one of the moving forces behind the event was a breast cancer survivor, perhaps there is a way to insert it subtly just to give people the impression that this woman beat the odds and is marching on like everybody else.

This is not to say we always want attention on the fact we had cancer or that we want to be a spectacle or object of curiosity. Far from that; it’s just that when the perfect opportunity arises, please insert our advocacy.

Cancer survivors do not want to be treated like patients

I have attended a lot of forums on and off TV and the hosts are always amused when they ask, for instance, “What’s sex like after a lumpectomy or a mastectomy?” We can tell when the question posed is for shock value or if there is a genuine desire to know the answer to the question.

We don’t want to be ridiculed nor pitied. This brings me to another point. Cancer survivors do not want to be treated like patients. Neither do they want to be treated as if they were dying or already dead. No matter the diagnosis, the worst thing you can do to a patient is rob her of hope and dignity.

We also need your help in telling people that all the efforts in this advocacy is not done by individual survivors alone, but also by patient groups—whether advocacy groups or support groups. We have yet to see more stories done on patient groups.

There are more than 45 patient groups dealing with women’s cancer all over the country. To this day, many people I know think there are less than five cancer patient groups in the country. Name me at least three that you know.

When you feature a part or the whole of the patient advocacy movement in the country, newly diagnosed women will be assured there is a sisterhood out there that can make her journey easier. A sisterhood that can make, what she thinks could be the worst time in her life, the best.

Cancer stories can be fun too. I know a group of friends who make a date of doing their annual general check-ups together, mammography included. They make sure they have a glamorous, yummy lunch in between so the date is not something they dread. Then they reward themselves with an even yummier dinner. They even get dressed to the nines for this date.

Also, stories on cancer don’t have to be dramatic. If you could hang with us, you will know that one of our best coping mechanisms is our sense of humor.

Contrary to what you may think or see in the movies, when we get together di kami nag-iiyakan. We’re like everybody else, we love to chat and eat. But yes I have to admit, may mga iyakin sa amin lalo na yung mga showbiz members namin like Bibeth Orteza and Maritoni Fernandez.

I’ve seen quite a lot of patients at their death beds, or during their last days, and I can tell you in all honesty, most of them are far from depressed. In fact all of them are prepared and happy to receive their ultimate reward. I was there with (model and schoolteacher) Patricia Borromeo when she breathed her last, and I can tell you, she was smiling.

These women with terminal cancer are in an intense state of grace. They are giddy with life and grateful for any fraction of a second given them much longer to be with their loved ones. Just think of Rio Diaz and you’ll know what I mean.

Accessing the hearts, minds and wallets of donors

Everyone is aware of the support system that surrounds popular advocacies like children, the environment, housing. The names of the NGO’s supporting these causes are buzzwords. Bantay Bata, World Wildlife Fund, Gawad Kalinga.

If you, our media friends, can help do the same for the breast cancer advocacy, it would be easier for patient groups to approach donors, volunteers from the private sector, and perhaps congressional assistance .

Or this could encourage people in the private sector to be proactive in seeking out these breast cancer patient groups around the country.

Our foundation, I Can Serve, run by volunteer cancer survivors cannot survive without volunteers from the private sector. We need everyone’s help for us to succeed in our advocacy.

When we staged Silver Linings last year, the first national forum on breast cancer and homecoming for breast cancer survivors, we attracted more than a thousand persons and all we expected were 200. Our most crucial partner in making the event a success was a volunteer PR group called Bridges. They are a small group of five but a group with big ideas and big hearts.

They linked us with some of their top clients, synergized their client’s PR goals with ours and these clients became our major sponsors for the event. Bridges called on favors owed them to help promote our event in the most creative way possible. I am forever grateful to them.

We badly need professional help to elevate our advocacy. We need the help of experts at speaking today’s language to access the hearts and minds and, shall I say, the wallets of potential donors and supporters.

Two months ago, our foundation along with AVON hosted a workshop called Promoting Patient Power. We hosted some 30-plus patient groups from all over the country. It was the first time we gathered together with the sole purpose of strengthening links and elevating our advocacy.

Many groups, especially those in the province, have a difficult time graduating from a mere club to a full fledged NGO. For starters, they need a certain amount of money to register as a non-stock, non-profit organization. If they want to use the word foundation in their name, they need to have at least a million in the bank.

Besides money, the other common problems of the groups are: access to media, lack of know-how or access to experts. Few of us are registered as non-profit organizations. This makes it difficult for those who are not since they cannot issue official receipts for donations they solicit.

Cancer is not in the consciousness of our national leaders

The cancer advocacy in this country is still in its infancy stage. In the U.S. every October, every glossy magazine is filled with articles and ads on breast cancer. Every department store is filled with pink items or especially marked items to benefit patient groups and foundations. It is truly Pink October in the U.S.

Here, there is still some hesitation to be associated with the advocacy because it sounds depressing compared to causes like children and the environment.

One doctor told me the U.S. was able to measure the success of their advocacy campaign of early detection. The average size of a lump at first consultation with a doctor has been reduced. Can’t remember the exact figure. It was something like less than one half centimeter. But in the Philippines, the average lump first seen by doctors especially among the poor is 4 cm. That’s a very advanced cancer.

We have a long way to go. There is no infrastructure in the country that will make our advocacy easier. Cancer is not in the consciousness of our national leaders nor the national budget.

There is no government body nor big private organization or corporation committed to elevating our advocacy.

So we resort to our own devices and turn to fellow cancer survivors, to private institutions, organizations and media.

Cancer is not a sexy topic... but it’s getting there

I know it’s not easy since cancer may not be an enticing topic enough to raise readership and improve ratings. I myself have not been able to convince my bosses at German TV or CNN to do a story on breast cancer. I haven’t been able to convince every member of my clan to be vigilant about their health. But I’ll keep on.

However, I have seen progress through the years, no matter how slow. I think we are moving forward. Now we’re at least talking about it and acknowledging the problems. A forum like this was unheard of nine years ago.

Back then, doctors thought patient advocates simply confused patients. No one knew what to do with us. I would be invited to forums at medical conventions and no one in the audience had a question for me. The host would always have to make up a question for me. Perhaps they didn’t know what a patient advocate was.

All that has changed. Today doctors call us to refer patients. Our phone numbers are listed in their cellphones. We’ve become guests of honor at doctor’s gatherings. Even keynote speakers at medical conventions.

Whenever I attend documentary festivals abroad, regardless of the host country or the year, you can be sure there will always be a topic on the Holocaust. Year in and year out. It’s as if there was a conscious orchestrated effort to tell people not to forget the mistakes made so it doesn’t happen again.

There is a need for the breast cancer issue to be constant in people’s minds so that going for a check-up should be as natural as going to the dentist. Pardon me, in today’s setting, I should say, it should be like going to the dermatologist.

I thank you and appreciate whatever contributions you’ve done so far in promoting our patient advocacy.

We invite you to continually partner with us in preserving the country’s most prized national treasure—its women.

Hopefully one day we can stop talking and meeting like this and get over taken by the cure to breast cancer. Thank you.

If you need more information or if you want to help, visit www.icanserve.net or www.cnetwork.org.ph.
You can email I Can Serve at icanserve@yahoo.com.
Or call 632.687.3942