Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Open Letter: Is It Appropriate?

Breast cancer survivor Suzanne Somers has written an open letter to Christina Applegate, published on People.com. I'm a little dubious about this, as "Thighmaster" Somers clearly likes media attention... but she's a cancer survivor, she's been married for 31 years, and she has built a multi-million dollar empire in addition to her decades-long career as a television actress, so I suppose I can't knock her too badly. Plus, there are some good, positive thoughts here:

Dear Christina,

Cancer is scary, and lonely. You can't ask anyone to make decisions for you because it's just too heavy. There is a lot of 'rush to treatment,' when what you really need is time to research and think about how you want to approach this. Take your time Christina, there is no rush. Take your time and think it through. Use your cancer to learn and grow and as a force to work for you. You might choose to take an alternative approach. There are more options than the ones presented to you in the oncologist's office. You will make it. The success and drive you have had in your career will be the same strengths you will use to win over this nasty disease. And I am here if you want to talk to someone who was 'there.'

Sincerely,
Suzanne Somers

A nice gesture, I guess. But is this really appropriate, or is it just to get a little press? I am going to choose to believe that it's a kind, genuine gesture meant to give support from a breast cancer survivor to a newly diagnosed patient. Perhaps this letter will give hope to others as well. So... okay.

Now back to the Olympics!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would like to offer a third option...I think the goal of the letter was to push alternative treatments. Ms. Somers has been very outspoken about her believe in alternative treatments which is her choice. But if her goal was to offer heartfelt support to Ms. Applegate, why not go the Hollywood "have my people call your people" route?