What is the Pink Bus?

desertgirl947
desertgirl947 Member Posts: 653 Member
I am new here. I have figured out the "Pink Sisters" idea; but I am not at all sure about the Pink Bus: what it is, what is its purpose . . . Maybe other newbies have the same question I do.

Comments

  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    Its the bus we all get on to
    Its the bus we all get on to go and support our sisters and brothers when they are having scans, surgery or anything else. The gals get quite rowdy. Not sure if Joe still is driving, but he gets paid in bacon. Its our way of teaming together to add special support for specific events or needs. In my mind it exists sort of like santa but the thought is there and very real.
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    It's magic!
    It's able to travel everywhere to pick up anyone who wants to 'ride' it to support anyone needing support when going to appts or anywhere.
  • heart-in-hand
    heart-in-hand Member Posts: 92
    It is a virtual bus.
    It is a commitment to gather in spirit for the person for whom it was requested. And because we are a spirited bunch we often get in trouble when we gather. Our motto is: We MEET...we EAT. But always always our heart is holding close the one who is needing it, and we stay on the board watching to see the results of the test or procedure for our dear sister or brother.

    We are the only ones that can possibly hold each other's hands with such devotion and compassion. We have all been through it or are going through it. Unfortunately it is cyber space but I have real relationships that are less loving, don't you?

    Kay
  • Kat11
    Kat11 Member Posts: 1,931 Member

    It is a virtual bus.
    It is a commitment to gather in spirit for the person for whom it was requested. And because we are a spirited bunch we often get in trouble when we gather. Our motto is: We MEET...we EAT. But always always our heart is holding close the one who is needing it, and we stay on the board watching to see the results of the test or procedure for our dear sister or brother.

    We are the only ones that can possibly hold each other's hands with such devotion and compassion. We have all been through it or are going through it. Unfortunately it is cyber space but I have real relationships that are less loving, don't you?

    Kay

    Could not have said it
    Could not have said it better Kay,
    Kathy
  • sdukowitz
    sdukowitz Member Posts: 250
    The pink bus is magical
    The pink bus is magical support .... it has driven to Alaska and even over oceans and mountains to give exra support and prayers ..... just ask when you need it on this site ..... we will be on board with food and drinks! SUE D
  • Margeaux
    Margeaux Member Posts: 84
    Pink Bus
    When this old lady first got on the board and read about the Pink Bus I had this vision if it showing up in my conservative, boring and quiet neighborhood, full of rowdy ladies in pink. Pink champagne being poured, doing the cha-cha, pink boas and hips twirling, music blaring! Then I thought - odd, this bus shows up in opposite parts of the country at the same time - it finally dawned on me - we are talking virtual! Having some fun during the long bleak months of struggling with the beast! Well...I do believe in Santa Claus.
    Margeaux
    PS - Just an example of my neighborhood -New Years 2000 I emptied a whole champagne bottle by myself, ran outsite at midnight and screamed yiipppiiii yaaayeeee, whoopdeedooo! on top of my lungs - was embarrased the next day only to find out everybody was tucked safely in bed and asleep!
  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    I have never booked in for
    I have never booked in for any appt but I think my next appt (within couple weeks) i'll have your ladies join me..

    I am going to mammo, Ultrasound & bone desity test...


    LOST my pocket calender so have to call Dr office to find exact date...for everyone to ride along..

    Denise
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member

    I have never booked in for
    I have never booked in for any appt but I think my next appt (within couple weeks) i'll have your ladies join me..

    I am going to mammo, Ultrasound & bone desity test...


    LOST my pocket calender so have to call Dr office to find exact date...for everyone to ride along..

    Denise

    We'll get the pink bus out
    We'll get the pink bus out for you Denise. Just let us know when!


    Hugs, Jan
  • SIROD
    SIROD Member Posts: 2,194 Member
    The "Pink Bus" History, sort of... 12/03/2011
    http://csn.cancer.org/node/231611


    The “Pink Bus” is used by many online breast cancer support groups to help those who need buoying up in a virtual sense on their journey. I “google” the words “breast cancer “pink bus” and could not find any history. There were many busses painted pink for awareness.

    There are many groups I am certain that will claim the “Pink Bus” as their own. One site on the internet claimed introduction to the “Pink Bus” went back to the Sept/Oct 2005 article in WebMD magazine.
    In my original online breast cancer support group, it was Nancy who introduced it back in 2001 for one of our members. The “Pink Bus” was to accompany Lynne for her first treatment of Herceptin probably in early 2001.

    Nancy listed all the items to comfort Lynne from a cashmere afghan to an Elvis cap to go around her shoulder. Sixty-one plus women traveled ... “will be right there with you in spirit. We hope this magical bus had made you smile, and give you something to think about as you start this new road. We love you so much, and I KNOW for sure that each and every one of us would be there in person if at all possible”. Love & hugs, Nancy

    This group published a small booklet titled: “Breast Cancer Online: In Our Own Words”. On page 41 “Sharing with Other Survivors” The Bus to Lynne’s Appointment” post is mentioned. It is available to download if you want to read it. The booklet was originally published in 1999. Reprinted in 2001, the bus trip was not in the original booklet as Lynne’s recurred in April of 2000.

    http://www.bcans.ca/booklets/inourown.pdf

    I don’t remember where Nancy picked up the idea of a virtual "Pink Bus" perhaps another online support group or her own vibrant imagination. The bus travelled for years, helping so many women in the support group. When I first saw a mention of the “Pink Bus” last spring on this board, my heart stopped for a second. I was totally in shock to read that the “Pink Bus” was continuing it’s journey.

    BCANS was a grass root operation, conceived by women with breast cancer who attended a support group. The internet was new when they began the support forum in 1996. I logged on in the fall of 1997, posed a question that was never answered. It was not active at all. I went back in February of ‘98 as a lurker and noticed that activity had considerably picked up. My first post was a month later. We were a small group for a long time when the internet was new. All the women became good friends, small enough of a group to know each lady’s story. Lynne was the leader of the group. By the summer of 2000, Lynne’s prognosis was not good but, she kept her Pollyanna attitude until the end. She died in January of 2005 and the next few years, so many women on the forum dealing with stage IV succumb to this disease. Those who had been there from the start and continue to do well began to post less and less.

    The BCANS lost their funding and voted to close in the fall of 2010. Many of us are on Facebook, a closed group for old members of BCANS to keep in touch. When someone had mentioned the “Pink Bus” last spring. I mentioned to the group that it was still around on another support board.

    The “Pink Bus” brought back memories of my old forum and outlasted it. The “Pink Bus” continues it’s purpose to help women with breast cancer issues who have a need of virtual support.

    Won’t it be a grand day when the “Pink Bus” is rusty from lack of usage and repairs, gathering cobwebs in some forgotten bus junkyard of a time long past? There won’t be a need, for they will have found a cure. There won’t be any woman or man, young or old who will ever need to know what it is like to request virtual support to accompany them on where they never wanted to go in the first place. A rusty, old bus with a few flakes of pink, won’t that be a grand sight!

    There were some interesting replies to that post.
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    SIROD said:

    The "Pink Bus" History, sort of... 12/03/2011
    http://csn.cancer.org/node/231611


    The “Pink Bus” is used by many online breast cancer support groups to help those who need buoying up in a virtual sense on their journey. I “google” the words “breast cancer “pink bus” and could not find any history. There were many busses painted pink for awareness.

    There are many groups I am certain that will claim the “Pink Bus” as their own. One site on the internet claimed introduction to the “Pink Bus” went back to the Sept/Oct 2005 article in WebMD magazine.
    In my original online breast cancer support group, it was Nancy who introduced it back in 2001 for one of our members. The “Pink Bus” was to accompany Lynne for her first treatment of Herceptin probably in early 2001.

    Nancy listed all the items to comfort Lynne from a cashmere afghan to an Elvis cap to go around her shoulder. Sixty-one plus women traveled ... “will be right there with you in spirit. We hope this magical bus had made you smile, and give you something to think about as you start this new road. We love you so much, and I KNOW for sure that each and every one of us would be there in person if at all possible”. Love & hugs, Nancy

    This group published a small booklet titled: “Breast Cancer Online: In Our Own Words”. On page 41 “Sharing with Other Survivors” The Bus to Lynne’s Appointment” post is mentioned. It is available to download if you want to read it. The booklet was originally published in 1999. Reprinted in 2001, the bus trip was not in the original booklet as Lynne’s recurred in April of 2000.

    http://www.bcans.ca/booklets/inourown.pdf

    I don’t remember where Nancy picked up the idea of a virtual "Pink Bus" perhaps another online support group or her own vibrant imagination. The bus travelled for years, helping so many women in the support group. When I first saw a mention of the “Pink Bus” last spring on this board, my heart stopped for a second. I was totally in shock to read that the “Pink Bus” was continuing it’s journey.

    BCANS was a grass root operation, conceived by women with breast cancer who attended a support group. The internet was new when they began the support forum in 1996. I logged on in the fall of 1997, posed a question that was never answered. It was not active at all. I went back in February of ‘98 as a lurker and noticed that activity had considerably picked up. My first post was a month later. We were a small group for a long time when the internet was new. All the women became good friends, small enough of a group to know each lady’s story. Lynne was the leader of the group. By the summer of 2000, Lynne’s prognosis was not good but, she kept her Pollyanna attitude until the end. She died in January of 2005 and the next few years, so many women on the forum dealing with stage IV succumb to this disease. Those who had been there from the start and continue to do well began to post less and less.

    The BCANS lost their funding and voted to close in the fall of 2010. Many of us are on Facebook, a closed group for old members of BCANS to keep in touch. When someone had mentioned the “Pink Bus” last spring. I mentioned to the group that it was still around on another support board.

    The “Pink Bus” brought back memories of my old forum and outlasted it. The “Pink Bus” continues it’s purpose to help women with breast cancer issues who have a need of virtual support.

    Won’t it be a grand day when the “Pink Bus” is rusty from lack of usage and repairs, gathering cobwebs in some forgotten bus junkyard of a time long past? There won’t be a need, for they will have found a cure. There won’t be any woman or man, young or old who will ever need to know what it is like to request virtual support to accompany them on where they never wanted to go in the first place. A rusty, old bus with a few flakes of pink, won’t that be a grand sight!

    There were some interesting replies to that post.

    Thank you so much for the
    Thank you so much for the history. I never knew where the Pink Bus idea came from, but I always loved the idea. And I know that it has meant so much to so many. I remember being scared s#*&less in a PET scan and just feeling everyone with me.
  • BlownAway60
    BlownAway60 Member Posts: 851
    I love that the "Pink Bus"
    I love that the "Pink Bus" is still rolling on to comfort us all and I hope it will continue as long as there is a need.

    Thanks, SIROD for the history.

    Hugs to all,

    Donna
  • desertgirl947
    desertgirl947 Member Posts: 653 Member
    SIROD said:

    The "Pink Bus" History, sort of... 12/03/2011
    http://csn.cancer.org/node/231611


    The “Pink Bus” is used by many online breast cancer support groups to help those who need buoying up in a virtual sense on their journey. I “google” the words “breast cancer “pink bus” and could not find any history. There were many busses painted pink for awareness.

    There are many groups I am certain that will claim the “Pink Bus” as their own. One site on the internet claimed introduction to the “Pink Bus” went back to the Sept/Oct 2005 article in WebMD magazine.
    In my original online breast cancer support group, it was Nancy who introduced it back in 2001 for one of our members. The “Pink Bus” was to accompany Lynne for her first treatment of Herceptin probably in early 2001.

    Nancy listed all the items to comfort Lynne from a cashmere afghan to an Elvis cap to go around her shoulder. Sixty-one plus women traveled ... “will be right there with you in spirit. We hope this magical bus had made you smile, and give you something to think about as you start this new road. We love you so much, and I KNOW for sure that each and every one of us would be there in person if at all possible”. Love & hugs, Nancy

    This group published a small booklet titled: “Breast Cancer Online: In Our Own Words”. On page 41 “Sharing with Other Survivors” The Bus to Lynne’s Appointment” post is mentioned. It is available to download if you want to read it. The booklet was originally published in 1999. Reprinted in 2001, the bus trip was not in the original booklet as Lynne’s recurred in April of 2000.

    http://www.bcans.ca/booklets/inourown.pdf

    I don’t remember where Nancy picked up the idea of a virtual "Pink Bus" perhaps another online support group or her own vibrant imagination. The bus travelled for years, helping so many women in the support group. When I first saw a mention of the “Pink Bus” last spring on this board, my heart stopped for a second. I was totally in shock to read that the “Pink Bus” was continuing it’s journey.

    BCANS was a grass root operation, conceived by women with breast cancer who attended a support group. The internet was new when they began the support forum in 1996. I logged on in the fall of 1997, posed a question that was never answered. It was not active at all. I went back in February of ‘98 as a lurker and noticed that activity had considerably picked up. My first post was a month later. We were a small group for a long time when the internet was new. All the women became good friends, small enough of a group to know each lady’s story. Lynne was the leader of the group. By the summer of 2000, Lynne’s prognosis was not good but, she kept her Pollyanna attitude until the end. She died in January of 2005 and the next few years, so many women on the forum dealing with stage IV succumb to this disease. Those who had been there from the start and continue to do well began to post less and less.

    The BCANS lost their funding and voted to close in the fall of 2010. Many of us are on Facebook, a closed group for old members of BCANS to keep in touch. When someone had mentioned the “Pink Bus” last spring. I mentioned to the group that it was still around on another support board.

    The “Pink Bus” brought back memories of my old forum and outlasted it. The “Pink Bus” continues it’s purpose to help women with breast cancer issues who have a need of virtual support.

    Won’t it be a grand day when the “Pink Bus” is rusty from lack of usage and repairs, gathering cobwebs in some forgotten bus junkyard of a time long past? There won’t be a need, for they will have found a cure. There won’t be any woman or man, young or old who will ever need to know what it is like to request virtual support to accompany them on where they never wanted to go in the first place. A rusty, old bus with a few flakes of pink, won’t that be a grand sight!

    There were some interesting replies to that post.

    Thanks
    With all of these comments, and the one about the history, I am glad I asked the question. Thank you, all.
  • SIROD
    SIROD Member Posts: 2,194 Member

    I love that the "Pink Bus"
    I love that the "Pink Bus" is still rolling on to comfort us all and I hope it will continue as long as there is a need.

    Thanks, SIROD for the history.

    Hugs to all,

    Donna

    Pink Bus
    What I really would love, Donna is to live long enough to see the pink bus park in the bus junk yard or in the Smithsonian as something that is no longer needed. We will have a cure for all those who have the four types of breast cancer. Old timers like CC and I will remember when.... the pink bus was used.

    Best to you,

    Doris