Cancer – Good News, Monaco

Many years ago, Natasha Frost-Savio took part in a Pink Ribbon awareness walk in LA. “This was way more than a pretty stroll in pink clothes,” she says. “It was a day of women’s empowerment, women supporting women and joyful sisterhood.”

Natasha decided then and there to bring “some of that positive vibe” back to her beloved Monaco. Since she set up Pink Ribbon Monaco back in 2011, the non-profit’s annual 5km Pink Ribbon Port-to-Palace walk (this year on February 12) has become one of the biggest events for the community with participation over the years from Prince Albert and government officials. Pink Ribbon Monaco importantly included English-language and actions, to involve the British and anglophone community.

As it strives to promote early detection and awareness, it is also the first association in the region to celebrate Pink October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month – and to illuminate buildings in the Principality in pink. In close collaboration with the Prince’s government, the National Council, the Ministry of Health and Social Services and in partnership with the Princess Grace Hospital Centre, Pink Ribbon Monaco has been promoting awareness, health and solidarity for more than a decade.

Natasha’s tireless campaigning effort was recognised on National Day last year when she was knighted the Order of Saint Charles by Prince Albert on November 17, 2022, for her services to the State.

Never one rest on her laurels, Anglo-American Natasha is organising Pink Ribbon Monaco’s first gala and charity auction on February 10 to raise funds for a scientific study of new screening methods for lobular breast cancer at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre. The “Dare to Bear” event at the Hotel Hermitage’s Salle Belle Epoque will include special guest American actor of TV’s ER fame Noah Wyle, who recently had a relative diagnosed with breast cancer, will also participate in the Pink Ribbon Walk on February 12.

“Playing on the double meaning of the English word bare and bear, Pink Ribbon Monaco hopes to de-dramatize breast cancer screening,” explains Natasha. “Dare To Bear – bare your breasts – is a pun encouraging women to get routine screenings. By replacing bare with bear, a familiar and beloved object becomes the rallying call of all women, encouraging them to arrange a screening appointment.”

The February 10 charity auction will include a variety of lots, ranging from five photo prints and rare Technicolour 35mm slides from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window of Grace Kelly and James Stewart to unique experiences, including VIP terrace access for the Sunday of the Monaco Grand Prix.

“The Hitchcock film elements are sections of dye transfer prints that Technicolor Hollywood produced for James Katz and Robert Harris in the 1990s,” describes Natasha, whose father was an American film producer with United Artists then VP at Universal before founding and heading the Classics Division (he worked with the Beatles, Bowie, Scorsese, Kubrick and Mohamed Ali).

“These original camera negatives of cinematographic history were inter-positively duplicated from the deteriorated original prints to create a ‘duplicated negative’, fully restoring Hitchcock’s original masterpieces.”

Certified technicolour 35mm slides of Grace Kelly will be up for auction.

Also up for auction: Two exclusive passes for the Hotel Hermitage’s Midi Terrace VIP Formula One all-inclusive package for Sunday race day, an FB AURA Patriot tourbillon watch, an XL Dare to Bear sculpture donated by Segraeti, a bespoke pink quartz and diamond ring by VITALE 1913, a Momma’s Blues custom-made Pink Ribbon jacket, a sitting with artist Toby Wright for a charcoal portrait and two donations by J&T Concierge Monaco – a limited edition Mont Blanc Grace Kelly pen and (TBC) two nights for two in a luxury hotel in London along with a donation from Aero for two one-way tickets on a semi-private jet.

“You can buy tickets for our Dare to Bear gala online until February 8th,” says Natasha, “but to purchase on the 9th and 10th, you’ll need to contact Pink Ribbon directly.”

All images courtesy of Natasha Frost-Savio.

Photo: Manuel Vitali/Direction de la Communication

In October, the Princess Grace Hospital Centre launched its BreastDay Centre devoting a single day to screening, diagnosis and pre-therapeutic support for breast cancer – with having results the same day.

Cancer support is something Valérie Barilaro knows all about. “My father, who left too soon and too young, died of cancer 25 years ago. And as a beautician, which is about wellbeing, touch and listening, I naturally leaned towards helping and supporting others, in particular with Ecoute Cancer Réconfort.”

For the past seven years, Valérie has been president of Ecoute Cancer Réconfort, which on November 29 will celebrate its 30-year anniversary at the Monaco Yacht Club in the presence of Prince Albert and the association’s honorary president, Princess Stephanie.

I had the genuine pleasure to meet Valérie and learn about Ecoute Cancer Réconfort at a MonacoUSA event at Before back in March. The Monegasque association was created in 1992. “Thirty years ago, supportive did not really exist for cancer patients,” explains Valérie. “Our first president, Martine Vacarezza, realised there is an emptiness when you come out of heavy treatments after spending months going to the hospital almost daily. Overnight there is nothing left, no more appointments for three months for that first post-cancer assessment. On the outside everything seems great but for a cancer patient a deep anxiety sets in with the loss of those reassuring hospital landmarks – meeting doctors, routine tests – even if you just want to take your life back.”

Martine had the idea of setting up a support hotline but quickly Ecoute Cancer Réconfort’s founding members understood that more was needed. In the days before VLS (Véhicule Sanitaire Léger/Light Medical Vehicle) taxis that were reimbursed drove people to the hospital, the association offered a car service driven by volunteers to get cancer patients to their treatments. Over time, with a few succeeding presidents, the association evolved with volunteers keeping cancer patients company during chemotherapy.

In 2009, the life-changing Espace Mieux Etre opened its doors at l’Atalante in Fontvieille. This non-medical day care center specialises in free cancer support care provided by seasoned professionals, from psychologists who also practice art therapy through drawing, writing or painting to naturopaths (energy, plantar reflexology, mindfulness meditation, advice on nutrition). Socio-aesthetics (social and aesthetic care) is also on the menu to help manage self-image and confidence in a post-cancer world with treatment side-effects on the skin and nails, as well as alopecia and scarring. Espace Mieux Etre likewise offers sport activities essential to rehabilitation, including tai chi, yoga and hiking, as well as various workshops throughout of the year, in particular, a “self-esteem weekend”.

For anyone like me who has witnessed a family member or friend undergo cancer treatment , this association hits home. Espace Mieux Etre is open to anyone affected by cancer, undergoing treatment or in remission, as well as their families and loved ones, in Monaco and its surroundings.

One cancer patient shares, “There is no way to absorb the news of a doctor announcing face-to-face: ‘You have cancer.’ Time stops and quickly you enter into another world. You do what you have to do but it is not enough. Ecoute Cancer Réconfort is the beginning of mental recovery, a new way of absorbing your sickness. Providing all the various help you need, physical and psychological, in parallel to the treatments, they help you to regain your self-esteem, your strength and advance in your new life. They are not an option, they are an absolute necessity to your full recovery.”

Another expresses, “Ecoute Cancer Réconfort offers us a life despite the disease. We are pampered, like in a cocoon, and this allows us to face everyday life with greater ease. Psychologists, energy treatments, socio-beautician, meditation, conferences, hikes, various and varied workshops punctuate our daily lives and contribute to our wellbeing. The psychological support from each therapist, as well as the benevolence of the volunteers, allows us to go through this period as calmly as possible but also to prepare our future solidly.

“The association is a refuge, a bubble of oxygen and sometimes happiness in our daily lives, and helps us to grow, evolve and come out stronger than before the disease. We can confide without a filter, share our doubts and our fears, which we try to spare our loved ones. It is also very comforting to know that spouses or family can benefit from this support because they need it as much as we do. I am grateful to Ecoute Cancer Réconfort, I wouldn’t be who I am without their help.”

Valérie adds, “A supported patient is a patient who is doing better, who can express his or her fears, talk, exchange with a professional or another patient, or quite simply find an attentive ear, which may not necessarily be the case at home with family or friends. What we see is the evolution of patients over their time with us. Their evolution, their dynamism, their way of bouncing back from the disease when they are accompanied along their journey. We are not concerned only with statistics. ”

This year, Valérie approached Natasha Frost-Savio, president of Pink Ribbon Monaco to help them spread their message during breast cancer month and on Valérie’s initiative, all civil servants in the Principality wore a pink ribbon as a gesture of support and solidarity on October 6. “Even though Pink Ribbon specialises in breast cancer prevention and Ecoute Cancer Réconfort wears several hats, we are partners, like a sorority, and very complementary. Prevention is essential so that we have fewer serious cases on our end.”

The association organises a members’ dinner during the winter and lunch in the summer. “This year for Pink October we had a pink hike where patients could bring whoever they wanted. It gave us the idea to offer it to members for next year. Otherwise, there is the galette des rois in January and the general assembly which allows us to meet our members.”

Valérie says that Ecoute Cancer Réconfort has invited members, sponsors and partners to the anniversary event on November 29, we to says thanks to those who have supported us all these years and without whom this would not be possible. “But we always need new sponsors, donors, members and volunteers to continue our actions because more and more people are becoming sick.”

To donate, volunteer, become a member or learn more, see the Ecoute Cancer Réconfort website.

CHPG’s BreastDay Centre is open Monday to Thursday 9 to 12 and 1 to 5 and Friday to 3:30. For more info, contact +377 97 98 99 55 or contact.sein@chpg.mc