Pink perspectives

The [breast-cancer] "sorority" that Jeanne Faulkner bashed in her article "Not Pretty in Pink" (Time Out, October) gets millions of other women through their fights with cancer. I am appalled at her ungratefulness and disregard for other people who have the disease.

--Rachel Willis, Southlake, Texas

As a 25-year-old cancer survivor, I can understand where the author of "Not Pretty in Pink" is coming from. The breast-cancer "sorority" is real. Those of us who are diagnosed with other cancers find little support. I can't tell you how many times I said, "But I've done the chemo thing, the radiation, I've lost my hair, and I'm having the same struggle," only to be told, "But you have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and this is for young breast-cancer survivors."

It's an unfortunate fact that the cancer community is growing. The sooner we break down the boundaries and do away with the sororitylike nature of how we support each other, the closer we'll be to getting rid of the stigmas and being able to fight this disease.

--Terri Lavelle, Brooklyn, N.Y.

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