Eighteen months after her diagnosis with breast cancer, Lauren John became an activist for the cause. Twelve years into her survival, she is more committed than ever to finding a cure and empowering other women.
Now, Breast Cancer Action, a national organization, has named Ms. John, a Menlo Park resident, for a Breast Cancer Hero award. Lifetime Television honored Ms. John and other survivors as a part of screenings for the movie, “Why I Wore Lipstick to my Mastectomy,” that aired Oct. 23.
Ms. John got her start with activism after her cousin, Ronni Shapiro, died in the middle of stem cell research to cure Ms. Shapiro’s own metastatic breast cancer. Ms. Shapiro had also lobbied her insurance company to cover the experimental treatment. “She lobbied for what ultimately killed her,” says Ms. John in an interview.
At the time of her diagnosis in 1994, Ms. John was a journalism student in Boston and was able to complete a master’s degree program. In 1996, she moved to the Bay Area and joined Breast Cancer Action.
For the past 10 years she has been writing for the organization’s newsletter on such topics as politics, the environment, and women’s choices for treatment.
Women’s diet and exercise also are hot topics. An inactive lifestyle can lead to the over-production of estrogen in the body, a possible link to breast cancer, she says.
Since 2000 she has traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
“The coalition taught people enough science to review grant proposals from institutions to do breast cancer research,” says Ms. John. “From 2001 to 2003 I was the breast cancer activist on a panel with 10 scientists.”
There are many research questions, she says, such as how to tailor chemotherapy to patients, whether there is such a thing as a breast cancer personality, and why more black than white women die from the disease.
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