A dear friend was suffering through her really hard experience of treatment a few years ago, and, powerless, I just wanted to DO something. So I joined BCAQc’s social media committee, while in its planning stages for a social media blitz about endocrine disruptors. Step one for me: what the hell is an endocrine disruptor and – back that up – um, what does our endocrine system do again?

Fast forward to me learning a whole lot in a very short time about how our endocrine system regulates our hormones, and how so many of our personal care and consumer products have ingredients that affect our bodies in ways we can’t imagine. (Some of these products have a pink ribbon slapped on them every October!)

I believe I was the only woman on that committee who had not had breast cancer. The ages around the table spanned from 20s to 70s. Everyone had their own different perspectives, experiences, backgrounds and beliefs. But our common thread was the infuriating and heart-breaking knowledge that we still have made so little progress in beating down the prevalence of breast cancer that continues to explode the lives of 1 in 9 women and the people who love them.

So on the occasion of BCAQc’s 25th anniversary, my wishes are for more people to ask more questions and demand answers. Where is the research money going? Why do we not yet have more effective preventative research? Do we need better regulations about the ingredients in our consumer products that are linked to cancer? When will we have less torturous treatment for breast cancer than “slash, burn and poison” (surgery, radiation and chemo)?

1 in 9 women, and their families and friends need to know, and that’s all of us.

So thank you, BCAQc, for 25 years of being on that journey, of asking the hard questions and sharing the knowledge. There is no way for me to tie these words up happily with a tidy little bow (and certainly not a pink ribbon), while so many women continue to suffer. So I will just leave it there, for now: thank you, BCAQc.