Promise Me
By Nancy Brinker
Promise Me: How a sister's love launched
the global movement to end Breast Cancer
By Nancy Brinker
Nancy Brinker is the late sister of Susan G. Koman.
Susan, known as Suzy. She was born in Peoria, Ill 1943 after came Nancy three years later.
They were raised by Jewish parents. Their parents, taught them the importance of Tzedakah", acts of kindness.
Suzy and Nancy's mother was a founding member of the Red Cross. She also was helping people in need.
She would make a meatloaf for their ill neighbor. She would bring a gift basket of diapers of a single woman without family. She would weed someone's garden if they were not able to. She had a strong sense of community. This led the way for the girls sense of community and what was yet to come for Nancy.
Nancy was the tomboy,trailblazer, outspoken and book smart. Nancy was like their mother. Where Susy was homecoming queen and interested in becoming a wife and mother. Suzy was like their father. They were as close as sisters could be. They shared everything together. They were a very close family. With good solid family values.
Once they both came into their 20's. Suzy became a wife and mother of two. Nancy moved on.
She moved to Texas to work for Neiman and Marcus. She moved up in the ranks to counter girl to marketing. She eventually met and married Norman Brinker, president of one of the bigger restaurant chains.
Suzy, at the age of 33 was diagnosed with Breast cancer. She shares with us the diagnosis and evasive treatments that she had to watch while her sister was dying. In the last days of her life Suzy asked Nancy to make a promise that would affect her life. Suzy asked Nancy to make a promise that she would never let a woman die without dignity and help find the cure.
From that time on Nancy had not stopped. Nancy started with $200 in a shoebox and invited 20 ladies to a tea. From that time on it blossomed. But there has been lots of bumps and bangs along the way.
Unfortunately back in Suzy and Nancy's early years society did not talk about breasts. It was a hush-hush under the table. Sex, was not a word you talked about. Cancer was thought of as a contagious disease. If you saw someone walking on the street with cancer, you avoided them and crossed the street to avoid that person.
Norman Brinker her husband gave her lots of support and encouragement. He helped her understand how to make a non-profit organization. How to get solicitatotors and start the funding for the research. Nancy did a enourmous research before she jumped right in.
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure® mission was to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures.
In researching the need she found a statistics. During the Viet Nam War over 58,000 service men lost their lives .During that same 10 year period of time 339,000 women in the U.S. died from breast cancer. Yet no one was talking about this silent killer.
During the 80's came a change in politics and talking about breast cancer. The first lady, Nancy Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was a spit fire and was very open about Breast Cancer. She became a advocate for breast cancer. This opened up the way for funding and grants. This changed society's view on breast cancer. Society became more opening talking about the disease.
Nancy discusses her marriage, her family and children and her divorce. After three years after her sister, Suzy died. She was given the dreaded news that she had the same tumor. But, this time Nancy beat it because of the knowledge she had about the disease. Networking with doctors and the people she already knew working with them.
While working in Texas, she became aquainted with Pres. Bush's, and the sons. She worked with Laura. Laura was the first lady as governer in Texas. She was later asked to become ambassador to Hungary. To become protocol in the White House. She has been awarded many honors in the last few years including by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Honor of Freedom. She is responsible for countries around the world becoming aware of breast cancer, and women's health. She is spreading her wings to help spread the word about breast cancer and world health.
Through out the book you will read about brave remarkable women that survived breast cancer. Or some that did not make it. The families braveries that make them continue to tell their stories.
After SGK was founded after a few years affiliates started popping up in different towns across the nation raising millions of dollars a year.
My Review: I became educated while reading this book. Nancy believed in advocacy for breast cancer. Especially for the lay person. I think she has done that. This book is awe inspiring as well.
The book taught me alot about the history and helped me reflect how science and medicine has changed. I remember how bad the treatments were.
talking about health issues. I also believe that because of SGK there are more things that being talked about now a days. Less things are pushed under the rug. There is much more advocacy for women's health than before.
There is funding for research for breast cancer by the United States. But SKG is also responsible for the funding and grants for breast cancer. There use to only be 75% cure rate after 5 years. Now, it is 95%. That is totally amazing. Cure does not mean it is gone, just means there is a remission.
I do believe SGK has opened up doors to allow for women's health issues to be heard. To allow for allowing other issues to be heard by women.
One thing that does amaze me. I just can't believe it was denied. Nancy went to the lingerie manufacturers to ask them to put on their bras tags to show women how to do a monthly breast exam. They were denied. Because, Nancy was told women come into the shop to be giddy, not unhappy thoughts. I am not sure, to this day I have not seen any tags on lingerie and bras to instruct women to do a monthly breast exam. Tsk!! Tsk!!.
I was not very interested in the business end of SGK. But I found myself drawn to it. Nancy Brinker deserves our praises all across this nation, and across the world division. She writes that she believes, that g-d put her in this mission in life. There is always a reason for things to happen. I believe that too.
SGK, is in Israel this year. Hadassah, a women's Jewish organization is helping to support and host this event. Hadassah has been a women's organization that has advocacy for women's health for years. In Israel, Hadassah Hospital is the leading hospital for research in breast cancer.