Celebrating Breast Cancer Month On A Pink Plane With Melissa Etheridge (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

When I took the job as Living editor here at the Huffington Post this past July, I did so because I wanted to provide a platform for voices of the voiceless and create a hub of important and meaningful dialogue around issues that affect our inner lives (spirituality, psychology), quality of life (relationships, health), and connection with the world (giving, service).

So it's fitting that my first blog post, after much agonizing over how to introduce myself to you, comes at the beginning of Breast Cancer Month--or as I like to call it Breast Health Month (thank you for that brilliant rewording, Dr. Christiane Northrup!).

As I write I am on a pink Delta airplane on the second half of a round trip flight from New York to Washington, D.C. where, for the first leg of the trip, I was in the midst of 60 hooting and hollering pink-swathed, bodacious, bad ass, beautiful, beautiful, breast cancer survivors--and their queen, Melissa Etheridge (scroll down to watch her perform "I Run For Life" on the flight).

Delta, HardRock, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation partnered up to christen the tower at JFK airport a glowing pink (which it will remain for the entirety of October) and treat Delta's breast cancer survivor flight attendants to a private in-flight concert by the notorious Mrs. E. before delivering them to our nation's Capitol.

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Etheridge told me she used medical marijuana, lymph massage, and acupuncture--as well as chemotherapy during her cancer treatment ("In 10 years we're going to say chemotherapy is the worst, most barbaric thing,"), but also mentioned how breast cancer affected her inner life. "Before cancer I was driven by my desire to succeed, but when I got there it caused me great stress because there was nothing there! Cancer focused me. It made me fall in love with music again. Every moment of life is to find joy. And I am in charge of that. I am in charge of my health, there's no celebrity helpline for that."

It was her message of self-reliance that permeated the evening. "We will not stop not only until there is a cure, but until there's an understanding of what health is in this country," Etheridge said among a sea of cheering pink ladies--and some lads.

J.R. Menendez, 47, a Delta flight attendant from Miami, FL was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 through a routine physical. At first, "It felt surreal, this was a woman's disease, it's not supposed to affect men," he said. Menendez is in remission and has a passionate message for men. "Men: Please, when you go to the doctor, ask him/her to check your chest," he said. "Don't be embarrassed."

But not everyone got his or her diagnosis traditionally. Karen Perry, 46, a Delta flight attendant based in Phoenix, AZ found out she had breast cancer by a fluke. "This sounds silly, but my intuition told me to get a mammogram even though my annual physical was normal," she said. Two lumpectomies (and 11 years) later she is in remission, but is opting to have her left breast removed later this year "so I don't have to be afraid anymore."

Perry told me she helped herself when she was sick by putting herself in a healing state of mind, maintaining a positive mental outlook, and pampering her body. This gave her a general feeling of being well, even though she knew she was sick.

Her advice? "Listen to your body and intuition. Be kind to yourself. We are all responsible for our own health. If you think something's wrong, it probably is. Don't put it off. Get a diagnosis and have your fears dispelled or catch the problem sooner."

Overheard in flight:
Survivor flight attendant #1: "When your hair grew back was it curly?"
Survivor flight attendant #2: "Yes, but then after a few years it straightened out"
Survivor flight attendant #1: "I will never complain about a bad hair day again"

But now the hustle and bustle is over. Now it is quiet. It's just my thoughts and me, and the reverberations of what happened here not even an hour ago.

I am in awe of the strength of the passengers tonight and the pride with which they held their pink carnations and waved them around in celebration. It makes me think about why I said "no thanks" when offered a flower as if in some way I was saying no to breast cancer, politely. Perhaps it holds more meaning for me as my doctor recently found a lump in my left breast that we're "watching".

The evening will stay with me a long time. There is life after a diagnosis. Sometimes it's a woman laughing in a pink wig, sometimes it's the pause and gratitude for a bad hair day, and sometimes it's an empowering song performed over 10,000 feet in the clouds.

Melissa, thank you for inspiring us all. This post is for you.

Let's all keep running for life!

Comments

[Lokita and Steve Carter - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Alana,
congratulations on your first post and thanks for your vision for the job / calling as HuffPost Living editor.

And I say YES to Breast Health! My mother died of advanced breast cancer at 63 two weeks after diagnosis. She had never ever been to a screening or early detection program.

And YES to Prostate Health, yes to HEALTH, period!

[PhillyQuaker]

Celebrating Breast Cancer? Get real! My sister has stage four breast cancer, has had chemo and double mastectomy and is facing brutal radiation treatment. She has been told she will probably die in the next year or two. My friend's daughter just died from breast cancer at age 41!

None of us find this a reason to celebrate!!!

Someone please amend that headline to celebrating breast cancer awareness, PLEASE!!!

[Alana Kornfeld - Huffpost Blogger]

The headline says celebrating breast cancer month - I am so sorry to hear about your sister and friend's daughter.

[Aabby]

I’m sorry for your loss but you know what the headline is saying is Celebrating the fight and the eventual cure.

[PhillyQuaker]

Thanks - I guess I am a little touchy. My sister's mastectomy took place on the day after my friend's daughter's memorial service so this terrible disease really tugs at my heartstrings.

[gascelebrations]

It makes me happy to know that there are some people here that are skeptical of the disease industry's continuous visibility campaign while questioning why they don't (a) contribute to alternative research, (b) preach prevention, or (c) question their own faith in the sole treatment options which, ironically, put massive amounts of money in their pockets.

[FLAdeziner]

Some of us feel assaulted by this continuous Pink Campaign.

It's all year long, where ever you turn. I don't want to buy a KitchenAid mixer in pink or a potato peeler in pink or beef jerky in a pink wrapper. STOP WITH THE PINK STUFF ALREADY!!

What the focus of the campaign should now be is how to get all the chemicals that poison our bodies out of the corporate food chain so that we can PREVENT breast cancer and get the price of a mammogram down to a reasonable amount.

Or better yet, develop a less painful technique, other than a mammography machine, to check for breast cancer.

I for one will boycott any merchandise that arrives on the store shelf in pink.

You took a good marketing concept and pushed it a bit too far.

[KIVPossum]

That. And is there any list showing how much of the profits from the Pink campaign actually goes to charity?

[greendream]

I applaud the intentions but as a BC survivor I have to say that the public is plenty 'aware' of this disease. I"m grateful for the research that led to my treatment but I honestly wish that the time and effort spent on making the public 'aware' of something they are already 'aware' of was given to other cancers that affect body parts that are not so glamorous. Pancreatic cancer, lymphoma, minimal research given to some thyroid cancers...

I appreciate the intentions...I just wish there was someway to share the love and wealth that breast cancer is getting with other cancers.

[drmvma]

I like the new name Breast Health month. I still wonder why nobody is talking about prevention, and when I say prevention I mean serious prevention, not the simple things adults can do like reducing the amount of alcohol consumption or exercise more, etc. What about educating pregnant women to reduce exposures to chemicals that mimic hormones? Or discourage teenagers to wear makeup loaded with estrogen-mimicking chemicals? these are just few examples. Fetal life and puberty are the most vulnerable stages for the development of a healthy breast. With so much evidence indicating that fetal exposures are fundamental for the development of a healthy or sick breast, I ask: what are the National Breast Cancer Coalition and many other breast organizations to promote PREVENTION; as one post said "cut and burn" seems to be the only option for 'the cure'. Let's change the strategy to avoid many more diagnosis, for the sake of our children. We don't need more reports by Ben Sherwood in this same blog about 10 year-old girls with invasive breast cancer (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-sherwood/just-a-kid-a-ten-year-old_b_204320.html)

[ChelseaC]

drmvma,
very well said.

[Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald - Huffpost Blogger]

Alana,

What a great and inspiring inaugural post! I look forward to more! Great photos and video also. I'm with you on the "Breast Health Awareness" idea. Several years ago, several colleagues and myself put together a retreat for women called the Breast Health Symposium, specifically to focus on learning how to promote health of our breasts and our entire body, mind, spirit. It was great to see women supporting women in such a positive way.

Patricia

[Alana Kornfeld - Huffpost Blogger]

Patricia! Thanks for your comments - it's women like you and Dr. Northrup who are changing the way women view health. So fun working together!

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

Wow! Alana- thank you for your gifts in Editing the Living pages, your gifts as a writer, and a woman with a huge heart.
Thank you for sharing such an incredible experience with us. ... I was right there with you in that plane, and it makes me love Melissa Ethridge even more.
I am now at an age, in my 40's where more and more friends are 'getting diagnosed.' It is so frightening to watch friends you love go through it, and makes every woman scared she might be next.

I just read that breast cancer cases have actually declined slightly, thanks to new treatments and detections. And awareness. The girl's are lighting it up PINK this year like never before.
Beautiful post.
Kari

[Alana Kornfeld - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Kari - thanks so much for your sweet remarks. Yes, breast cancer deaths are down - this is good news!

[jneems]

My heart goes out to all those who have had to deal with breast cancer. But things like this drive me crazy. For the life of me I do not understand why women keep throwing money at these cancer organizations. They have billions. In over 50 years, they have not come up with any new answer except cut and burn. In fact, they seem to actively discourage any cancer research by independent researchers. Not just discourage, but threaten, harass, and drive out of the country on occasion. If these cancer researchers ever found a cure for cancer, it would put an end to their dynasty. It would probably even throw the US economy into a tailspin. Don't hold your breath.

And I absolutely loathe the corporate connection - how these big companies use breast cancer awareness as a means to sell their (often toxic) products to women.

[k-ram]

There's a new approach to biomedical research and drug discovery that puts consumers/patients in the driver's seat. See http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/324/5933/1394

[SonofLiberty1]

One way of limiting your chance of getting Breast Cancer is to make sure that outside light does not pour through you windows or that you have any light in your bedroom as you sleep.

What happens is that the extra light fools your body into not producing enough melatonin which inhibits cancer.

[Bluerainbow]

Really?

[SonofLiberty1]

Google "Light Pollution and Breast Cancer"

[RightWingMarine]

great story! I'm raising money for the Susan G. Komen foundation because I love boobs and how they look on women. As a man it is doubtful that I will ever develop breast cancer but I still find inspiration in women like Etheridge. I truly believe/hope that we will find a cure to this insidious cancer in my lifetime. My page is: http://08.the3day.org/goto/mcintosh

[Disdain]

Breast cancer is a cause close to my heart and I am always grateful for anything that raises awareness of it I simply wish that the support for pancreatic cancer research was as great. A dear friend is a rare survivor and despite being one of the deadliest and less survivable cancers not enough is being done to find a cure and improve diagnostic.

[amyvek]

How proud of you I am, Miss Alana!!!! Your first article for Huffpo, and using using the principle of self-honor. I felt as if I, too, was part of the happening aboard the plane..your descriptions, your experience came alive within the pensiveness you palpated within my own Self. Melissa's message was so poignant stating that us, women, all too often, forget about ourSelves first, and give it up for everyone else. So Run for Life, for your own and for all those who can't. That is why we are here. The voiceless got heard today, and you gave them their voice. Again, I am proud. You are a woman of great worth to share the pink budding blossoms of ALL women to awaken to their own self-care and honor.

[Alana Kornfeld - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, mama! I love you and thank you for raising me with a sensitivity to all human beings. xo

[k-ram]

Celebrity Diagnosis is running a special series in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Health Literacy Month. Actress Emma Bates guest-blogs about the Pilates for Pink program. Health Literacy expert and cancer survivor Helen Osborne tells us "how to communicate when naked." See www.CelebrityDiagnosis.com

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Awesome! I love that you were on that flight and got immersed in the incredible vibes of these "thrivers". Thanks so much for sharing the photos here.

Congrats on your first blog too!

Blessings,
Judith

[Alana Kornfeld - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, Judith. Your posts always inspire me and I love what you're writing about for Breast Cancer Month--and that you use the word 'boobies' in your headlines!