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ok i cant be the only one

nanamo
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i am all for breast cancer awareness dont get me wrong but i wnat to see in payless a charm braclet i can buy to help support heart awareness in women i want to see the red dress pin on logos on milk cookies and so forth why arent we out there more why arent we on signs why arent doing more......i saw a bracelt you could buy to help support breast cancer on the tv and thats what got me to thinking i told my son who is a tattoo atrist that if i could i would love for him to put the red dress emblem on my hand so all could see it i wear one on my jackest purse and all but i know it would get seen more on my hand but i cant have a tattoo so he is going to put one on himself to represent me and you and all women who suffer from heart disease but come one what do we need to do to ge the red dress out there more i know feb is heart month which is also my birthday but i dont see so much red as i see pink every where you go we need to be out there more some how some way

heart disease is still the number 1 killer in women and yet we are so overlooked WHY....................
i edcuate all i can on heart disease and women and the risk factors and warning signs but we need our logos on milk and chips and towels and socks and so forth come on ladies lets see what we can do to make it more aware of this deadly disease




live life love life
god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

Explore topics in this discussion:

Metamucil Heart disease Cancer Heart attack Stroke Breast cancer

12 replies

Barb0261

I am so right there with you. I am for Breast Cancer support but I would also like to see little red dresses as much as pink ribbons.

Kennarina

I agree!!!!

I wrote about this recently on my 'Heart Sisters' blog:

****
WHAT'S THAT LITTLE RED DRESS ALL ABOUT?

"I’ve worked in public relations for decades, and I have to say that, from a PR perspective, those folks over in Breast Cancer are doing a fabulous job of raising awareness about their cause. It’s a world of pink out there!

"Yet the same women who are raising awareness and funds in support of breast cancer research may be unaware that heart disease – not breast cancer – is actually our biggest health threat. This year, heart disease will kill six times more women than breast cancer will. In fact, heart disease will kill more women than all forms of cancer combined.

"These frightening stats are just one of the reasons I’m so glad that our Heart and Stroke Foundation has launched The Heart Truth, a campaign to help fund research about women’s heart disease, and to educate women about the risk factors, symptoms and most of all prevention of our #1 health threat.

"The Red Dress is the official symbol of this campaign. As the Heart and Stroke Foundation describes it: “It’s feminine, strong and confident, capturing the spirit of the cause in a symbol that women across Canada can identify with and feel proud of. The Red Dress represents women’s courage and passion as they raise awareness about our heart health.”

"And the Red Dress symbol already has a proven ability to reach women. The 2008 inaugural Heart Truth campaign launch nearly doubled Canadians’ awareness (from 13% to over 23%) that heart disease is the #1 killer of Canadian women.

"Please show your own support for this important cause by wearing a Red Dress lapel pin, available at your local Heart and Stroke Foundation Office, or through their online order form.

(AMERICANS: you can order your Red Dress pins at http://emall.nhlbihin.net/product2.asp?sku=56-075N ).

"Red Dress lapel pins are striking conversation-starters and 100% of net proceeds go directly to The Heart Truth campaign."

****
I'd also like to suggest that we all follow Sternum (Gloria)'s advice here: she says she has several red dress pins, wears them all the time, and says she usually ends up giving out a free pin from time to time. A super idea! We should all follow her lead: never leave the house without a little red dress pin on your lapel!!!

I noticed that WomenHeart is now partnering with a jewelry designer to sell a beautiful silver heart bracelet as a fundraiser. It is lovely, but unless you take out your magnifying glass, nobody except the wearer would see the teeny tiny engraved hearts on the silver beads, so as an awareness builder, it's not what Nanamo is looking for.

The thing to remember about all that PINK breast cancer stuff out there is that it is mostly corporate-driven. As more and more companies get onboard the pink sponsorship bandwagon, we see more pink out there. And let's not forget: corporate involvement is ALL about driving up sales. Some breast cancer partnerships (e.g. "Buy this product and we'll make a donation to breast cancer research") actually donate as little as one cent (!) to the cause, yet the company enjoys increased sales and good press because they're such good corporate citizens.

WomenHeart is doing a great job as advocates for women's heart disease awareness - part of that job involves attracting big corporate sponsors like Cheerios and Metamucil to help make it a world of RED DRESSES out there!

We can't do it alone - we need the same money that's paying for all those glossy full-page PINK magazine ads and billboards and big celebrity events out there.
More at: http://myheartsisters.org/2009/10/18/red-dress

XOXOXO

Linda_RS

I feel the same fustration. I don't discount the hard work and effort that is going into breast cancer. I have walked the Komen Race for years. As a recent heart disease survivor, I am anxious to see the same rigor put into this horrible disease. It changed my life and the lives of so many others.

I recently registered at the American Heart Associateon website. They sent me a red dress pin. I proceeded to buy a larger one. When people ask me what I am wearing, it gives me the opportunity to tell them about the movement.

I am trying to promote a Wear Red Day at work in February. I would like to find similar efforts that I can participate in during the year. Obviously, we need to expand our network and become more mainstream.

Here is the website that I used to make my purchase. If you have other suggestions, please share them. Thanks.

http://myportal.americanheart.org/sorp/registration/registration/goRed/regi stration_1.jsp?campaignId=3

Twndd

Boy can I relate to all of what you are saying. No one knows what the red dress is about. It isn't promoted like pink ribbons for breast cancer. Red ribbons now mean that you support AIDS.

It isn't promoted all year long like the Breast Cancer ribbons are on the tv, news, papers etc.

It makes my blood pressure rise for sure.

PEOPLE DON'T realize that HEART DISEASE IS THE NO. ONE KILLER OF WOMAN.

The AHA is a joke as far as I am concerned. They have NEVER HELPED ME ONCE IN 9 yrs of having DCM. All they ever do is send me an envelope asking for a donation. WHAT A JOKE. We don't even have a local chapter of the AHA. It is two hours away. I have contacted them with no response.

Thanks for letting me vent...
Donna

sternum

I brought this topic to the fore when we had our Sept. Regional meeting for the Heart & Stroke Foundation in Courtenay. Our group "womanned" a table in an Oct. community display centering on aging and what programs are in the community to help our population with it's " Aging With Dignity"
I not only didn't get our display pamplets until the fair had been open for an hour, there was precious little in the box when it did come. I spent the afternoon and night before digging through the internet for Heart & Stroke Foundation web sites downloading as much as I could and copying articles for the display table.
We received nothing about the Red Dress campaign or the pins. I keep a supply of them here at home to give to women when my own starts a conversation. Two dollars is a small donation to the cause if you can reach another with a piece of knowledge that was completely unknown to her before. I am still working on it and don't believe the Red Dress campaign should be confined to February. With some initiative and GOOD PR there could be lead up fundraisers held throughout the year. There seems to be a set routinue and the powers that be do not want to deviate from it. So many of the women I meet want to have one for themselves and don't know where to get them it is shameful. Ordering them on line means buying them in lots of 20 at $2.00 a piece. Women want to be able to buy one or two and I believe if we had them in Ladies dress shops and the like they would be sold quickly and if given with the warning signs card, we would be educating our women on the most basic level.

primetimelady

We had this same topic here about three weeks ago. I have no anomosity towards the Breast Foundation. They are doing their job of promoting breast cancer awareness. It is the American Heart Association who is slacking. It is their job to get the word out and they aren't doing it. I never heard of the Red Dress until I saw it played on "All My Children" an ABC soap opera either last year or the year before. We as heart sisters are responsible to educate others but we do not have the resources or the power that the AHA has.

Yesterday I tried to promote AHA GO RED. I went on Facebook and joined the GO RED FOR WOMEN cause and my comment with it stated, "Truth is, starting at the age of 35, heart disease is the leading killer of women. Even though heart disease is the leading killer of women they are still less likely to receive aggressive treatment for either the disease or a heart attack."

I went even further by joining the AHA cause with the comment, "Because heart disease is the number one cause of death and more women die from heart disease than men."

If any of you use Facebook then maybe we ought to bombard it with the GO RED cause. We also need to get onto AHA and demand that they spend more time and money getting the word out and if they can't do it then they need to fire whoever is the director of promotions and hire somebody who will get the job done.

After talking to my co-workers ((well over 100 people) it appears to me that the general public is ignorant about heart disease. It is almost as if they think heart disease is a natural part of the aging process and they still believe it is a man's disease or it only happens to old people. My place of employment is a heart attack waiting to happen... we sit in cubicles all day long in front of computers. I think about half of the employees are obese and probably a quarter to a third of the employees are grossly obese. Grant it we can make changes in our lifestyle for healthy heart living but we can't change genetics. However, even if we do carry some bad cardiac genes we can do things to try to slim the chances of progressive heart disease.

Lynnedz56

I'm with the rest of you. I work for American Express and they are ALL about Pink this month and cancer in general. They are doing all kinds of promotions. And just like some of you, I mentioned that heart disease was the number one killer and nobody had a clue. I mentioned it at cardiac rehab and they tell me Phoenix does a few things in February. I too want to get more involved and will be mentioning it at work. Yes, cancer is a very worthy cause; but heart disease is what is affecting me and I never dreamed I'd have this problem at 53.

DebBar

I agree with ya'll completely, I'm all for cancer research, but enough with the PINK EVERYWHERE!!!
When my father-in-law died 5 yrs. ago from brain cancer, we promoted a Hospice (made sure it was a non-profit hospice) at our Christmas tree farm during selling season. We had a "dove tree." When people made a donation, they could honor or remember a loved one with a dove on the tree and had literature about hospice. We raised about $700. Hospice helped my father-in-law and our family so much, we wanted to give something back.
This year I plan to have a "heart tree" and want to emphasize the Red Dress campaign. I've visited with the closest AHA office (30 mi. from here) and they have big red hearts to go on the tree for a donation and have several promotional items I can use. I really hope I can get someone from there to come to the farm on weekends to visit with people.
I also wear my Red Dress pin nearly every day!

Deb

LeahS

I am so glad to see that the issue the the AHA is not just me !! I was afraid I was just being bitter and difficult. As a recent heart attach survivor, I went on the AHA website to check on anything I could find, like support groups, literature, and even recipes (the whole no salt this is really throwing me off, and I'm not even a big salter!). All they wanted was money, and for me to purchase their cookbook. When I went to my 1st post attack Dr. appt, I told them how disappointing the heart association website was, and they looked surprised and shocked. Since I just recently got out of the hospital and have tried to find more info than the pamphlets they gave me when I was released, I have realized you have to find it on your own which is scary since it seems like everyone has an opinion on heart disease. Its a shame the AHA has not put the information out there like the breast cancer folks have. It seems like they need new people running the show, along with some good old fashioned marketing.

primetimelady

AMEN!!! to LeaS

"It seems like they need new people running the show, along with some good old fashioned marketing."

DebBar

Leah, you are so right! It's like we get out of the hospital and are thrown to the wolves.
Now I'm having second thoughts about taking donations to fight heart disease during selling season. I want the money to be used for research and education, not "administrative costs."

blondie16

I agree!!! Especially when heart disease is still the number 1 killer of women. I wear my red dress pin where ever I go. It amazes me that people do not know what it is, they think it is just a cute little pin that I like to wear.
God bless your son for his support. Heart disease affects us all.

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