The cheap plastic yellow LiveStrong bracelets by the Lance Armstrong Foundation have raised millions for the cause, but really, who is going to wear that on a daily basis, if at all? Of course the dollar cost is no biggie and a worthwhile, inexpensive purchase, but isn’t it better to have a piece of jewelry that you can proudly wear? Vancouver jewelry designer and cancer survivor Susan Fiedler of Soul Flower has been turning heads with her elegant sterling silver bracelet engraved with the words we all feel — “Fuck Cancer.”

“I did not make the bracelet as a marketable item. I made it for myself and then other people wanted it,” Fiedler tells Samaritanmag. “I realized that it could be this great conversation starter. A lot of people felt the same way I did. The strong sentiment does scare people, but a lot of people feel really strongly about it in a way that they might not about a pink ribbon. It’s bold and it’s personal.”

In a little over a year, the sale of 710 bracelets, to date, has raised $35,500 for Vancouver’s InspireHealth, an integrated cancer care clinic where Fiedler was treated.
Jewellry designer and cancer survivor Susan Fiedler

Jewelry designer and cancer survivor Susan Fiedler

Cancer doesn’t run in Fiedler’s family, and she says there was no reason she should’ve got the potentially deadly disease. She took care of herself, ate healthily and stayed active, but cancer doesn’t discriminate. When, in October of 2007, at the age of 40, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, it was like being hit by a ton of bricks.

“The type I [had] is not necessarily based on factors like smoking or getting too much sun, the things that lead to other types of cancers. The only thing that it’s tied to is possibly toxins in the environment and I wasn’t a farmer, exposed to pesticides and toxins. Just bad luck, basically,” she explains.

“I was told that my initial diagnosis was most likely going to be stage 4 and that was most likely going to be incurable, chronic and probably fatal. I was totally shocked. When the test results came back three weeks later, it had come back as not as life threatening as the doctor had originally thought. I thought that once I recovered I wanted to show my gratitude for that and felt I had been given a real second chance.”

Fiedler, who was born in Toronto and grew up in Vancouver, spent her summers as a teen working for her friend’s family jewelry business. She eventually took over the owner’s job, which involved buying goods overseas. At the age of 21, Fiedler founded her own sterling silver jewelry company Soul Flower, which has grown from two silversmiths to employing more than a hundred people to meet production and sales demands.

FCancer-bracelet01After she beat cancer, Fiedler was visiting the home of her friend Ameen Merchant, and noticed a beautiful metal cuff covered in Arabic script, whose words were meant to protect the wearer. She was immediately inspired to create her own charmed bracelet and “Fuck Cancer” sprang to mind. She launched the silver cuff bracelet, engraved with “Fuck Cancer,” in October of 2008, and sells it worldwide through www.fcancerembracelife.com at a cost of $150 for large and $125 for small. Fifty dollars from each purchase goes to InspireHealth.

“It’s like a community centre for cancer patients, integrated cancer care free of charge to compliment the conventional care you’re getting,” Fiedler explains. “For example, if you’re getting chemotherapy, you can get complimentary acupuncture, complimentary nutritional counseling and complimentary yoga therapy. There’s a whole bunch of different therapy you can access, and doctors that are actually doctors, who have a holistic inspired practice.”

Among the Fuck Cancer bracelet customers are singer Sarah McLachlan, entrepreneur/Dragon’s Den panelist Brett Wilson and the band Barenaked Ladies. “They’re friends of mine and clients of Soul Flower,” says Fiedler. “They have all been personally touched by cancer. They got it immediately because there’s a real rock ‘n’ roll element to the bracelet. So they were happy to lend their support. Ed Robertson from Barenaked Ladies lost his mother to cancer this [past] year.”

Fuck Cancer bracelets are available online, in Vancouver store Y Yoga, and from InspireHealth. Fiedler plans to expand the line to stores in Ontario and is in talks of creating new items that are more affordable.

Fiedler says she’s really proud of the way the bracelets have touched and reached so many people with orders from the UK, Australia and U.S.

“People are starting to recognize that cancer patients need more than just conventional treatment. Where there’s a gap is between having your treatment and getting on with your life. There is a lot of unmet emotional and social needs of people who are cancer survivors or who are going through treatment,” she says. “Basically, that’s what I’m trying to address, create more community for people who’ve been through this experience.”

Inscribed on an elegantly simple silver bangle, and resembling an EEG lifeline, is the defiantly positive message: F*ck Cancer. The work of Vancouver-based Susan Fiedler, who knows firsthand what it takes to face this disease, this charmed bracelet was an expression of her own experience, but she found many cancer survivors using the same motto, and was delighted to find it expressive of a shared attitude.

“I knew a designer F*uck Cancer bracelet would be terrific fundraising item and conversation starter. I wanted to create something that felt substantial; something strong and beautiful, to make myself and anyone who wears it feel that way.”

Susan’s company, Soul Flower, is marketing the bracelet to raise funds for InspireHealth, Canada’s foremost not-for-profit integrative cancer care centre. Fifty dollars from each sale for the F*ck Cancer bracelet is donated directly to InspireHealth.

You can help. Purchase a bracelet, spread the word, join the Facebook group, tell your story.

So, in the meantime, I’ll try to enjoy each day as much as I can - and take the advice that’s inscribe on a gift from my brother Moses, the founder of this magazine. It’s a handsome silver bracelet, and he wears one exactly like it in solidarity. The engraving looks like the squiggles on a medical monitor. But if you look closely, you can read the legend: F**k Cancer!

Sure, pink ribbons and yellow wristbands send a positive message, but here’s a bracelet that doesn’t mince words. Embracing the strong and courageous spirit of many cancer patients and survivors, these bracelets by Vancouver jewellery company Soul Flower are delicate in design but strong in their message. Engraved within an ECG-like lifeline are the fighting words “F–k Cancer”—a sassy, life-affirming message juxtaposed with the tasteful design of the simple silver bangle. Moreover, designer Susan Fiedler donates $50 from the sale of each bracelet to InspireHealth, the Vancouver integrative cancer care centre. Now that’s soul, sister! Available at YYoga (yyoga.ca ) and soulflower.com . —Erica Gehrke

Soul Flower has long been a favorite jewelry line of mine because, Susan Fiedler (the socially conscious designer behind the line) is committed to creating gorgeous jewels at affordable prices. From belly rings to finger baubles my jewelry box is full of Soul Flower.

In the vein of designing with soul, check out her F*Cancer bracelet. No more of those horrible rubber wristbands - this sterling silver bracelet really makes a strong statement about kicking ass on cancer. sarah f*cancer.png

“Nothing against pink ribbons, but this bracelet tells it like it is.” Ann Powers, Pop Critic, LA Times.

A portion of each sale of a Soul Flower F* Cancer bracelet goes to fight cancer. And even celeb fans (both whom I adore) Sarah McLaughlin, and Michael Franti of Spearhead are F* Cancer friends.