First of all, let me emphasize–my health is good. This has been an intense year in so many ways, and one of them was going through the process a lot of us have been through, where the screening mammogram is followed up by a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, which is followed up by a biopsy. There were two main saving graces during those hurry-up-and-wait weeks. One, I was writing a poem every day about the process. Two, I was distracting myself with Heated Rivalry (which I’ve already written about some, here.) O.k., more than two saving graces: I also have an amazing husband and very good friends.
The results of my biopsy are that I have LCIS/classic (still called “carcinoma” BUT IS NOT CANCER). Because of that (it does put me in a higher risk of developing cancer) and my family history (mother and grandmother had breast cancer), I’ll be following up at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Breast Clinic. The results were a relief and I’m very happy to be in good hands at Carbone.
The beautiful men in my poem are two of the stars of Heated Rivalry, François Arnaud & Hudson Williams. (Also in my cartoon–I edited a screen cap & I very much hope THAT DIDN’T MEAN I USED AI BECAUSE AS HUDSON WILLIAMS SAYS IN THIS VIDEO, FUCK AI.)
Here is an Instagram reel of them grabbing each other’s pecs.
Why were they doing that? Well, Novartis has an awareness campaign called Your Attention Please, about getting screened for breast cancer. The site features clever videos with lots of images of how we typically view women’s breasts, including lots of cheerleaders’ chests, then cuts to black with this box:
The first video features Wanda Sykes at the end, and was shown (I’m guessing) on Super Bowl Sunday. The second one is the same idea, same black box, but features women on the red carpet because it was shown during the Oscars. It features Hailee Steinfeld at the end.
At one of the many, many pre-Oscars parties, Hudson Williams and François Arnaud took their turn in a photo booth sponsored by Novartis, People magazine, and The Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF).
I appreciate that those two busy guys lent themselves (albeit briefly) to the campaign, and I also appreciate that they’ve been using their Instagram feeds to promote miscellaneous good books.
I suppose I am sharing this poem to do my small part to say do all the screening you can. I have been doing my yearly mammos for a lot of years, and I will happily do more and even MRIs as part of my ongoing care.
I suppose I am also sharing this poem to be a little more public about what I’ve been going through.
And also to let my friends know LISTEN JUST BECAUSE I NO LONGER TALK ABOUT HEATED RIVALRY ALL THE TIME DOESN’T MEAN I’M DONE.
Oh, and also, I haven’t yet scheduled my next colonoscopy and I need to. I wonder if there’s a photo booth somewhere for beautiful people to grab other body parts, those more germane to colonoscopy. . . . JUST TO RAISE AWARENESS OF COURSE.
marniere 