Internet_Validation

I was hoping someone would ask a question about Constable Bob! I'm still hoping he gets his own spinoff.

easy there...

Thank you so much for doing an AMA! I’ve been a fan of yours since reading Nickel and Dimed shortly after it came out, but the biggest impact your work had on me was when I read Bright-Sided after I was diagnosed with breast cancer in my late 20s. It was perfect timing—I hadn’t been able to articulate what irritated me so much about people telling me to think positively or that they were praying for me. As an atheist and a sarcastic and cynical person, I wanted to address that I thought most people were coming from a good place, but that I found their comments obnoxious. By making trite statements, people get to feel like they’ve done something good, without addressing the shitty reality of what cancer treatment is like. Your book coalesced all those feelings for me, and I can’t thank you enough.

My question is: in what direction you’d like to see future cancer research and fundraising move? I struggled with cancer guilt about having been diagnosed with a cancer with high awareness and comparatively better funding, even though it came with all the infuriating pinkwashing.

I've got stage IV breast cancer, too. Mine came 7 years after an initial diagnosis of stage II breast cancer, chemo, and a bilateral mastectomy. Thought I was out of the woods, breast cancer-wise, but it came back. My PET scan was lit up with tumors all over my body: vertebrae, liver, legs, pelvis, shoulders, ovary, etc. I went in to an annual checkup with my oncologist and that's when she suggested I get a PET scan--I was having pain walking and standing up. Luckily for me, I've been responding pretty well to treatment and hey, I'm still here, 2.5 years after diagnosis.

Just chiming in: I think the poster meant "main" goal.