By: Maggie DellaRocco - Griffin
Hartford Modern Family Examiner
October 1, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.
In history review, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). Founded in 1985, in partnership between the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries (now part of AstraZeneca, maker of several anti-breast cancer drugs), the goal from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer.
In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There she established the pink ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first time the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer. In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October, people raise money by organizing activities such as theme parties - or a "pink day” to raise awareness. What is Breast Cancer? Breast cancer (malignant breast neoplasm) is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk.
Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas. Breast cancer is a disease of humans and other mammals; while the overwhelming majority of cases in humans are women, men can also develop breast cancer.
The size, stage, rate of growth, and other characteristics of the tumor determine the kinds of treatment. Treatment may include surgery, drugs (hormonal therapy and chemotherapy), radiation and/or immunotherapy. Surgical removal of the tumor provides the single largest benefit, with surgery alone being capable of producing a cure in many cases.
To somewhat increase the likelihood of long-term disease-free survival, several chemotherapy regimens are commonly given in addition to surgery. Most forms of chemotherapy kill cells that are dividing rapidly anywhere in the body, and as a result cause temporary hair loss and digestive disturbances. Radiation may be added to kill any cancer cells in the breast that were missed by the surgery, which usually extends survival somewhat, although radiation exposure to the heart may cause heart failure in the future. Some breast cancers are sensitive to hormones such as estrogen and/or progesterone, which make it possible to treat them by blocking the effects of these hormones.
Prognosis and survival rate varies greatly depending on cancer type, staging and treatment; 5-year relative survival varies from 98% to 23%, with an overall survival rate of 85%. Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 22.9% of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) in women.
In 2008, breast cancer caused 458,503 deaths worldwide (13.7% of cancer deaths in women). Breast cancer is more than 100 times more common in women than breast cancer in men, although males tend to have poorer outcomes due to delays in diagnosis.
Many women, who are without insurance, medical care or lack of funds, feel no hope when they detect changes that may be a symptom of breast cancer. How can they get help to be screened and/or treated?
PJ Hamel from http://www.healthcentral.com/ advises on health central:
"When you discover a change in your breast, it’s tempting to ignore it. But a lump, swelling in your armpit, overall redness and pain, or any situation that appears suddenly and doesn’t go away within a few weeks (or worsens steadily) should be seen by a doctor. Only a doctor—not your mom, your girlfriend, your partner, or this Web site—can tell you what’s happening in your breast. Whether it’s serious or not - perhaps serious enough to kill you.
So what’s a low-income/uninsured woman to do? Put your tax dollars to work, that’s what. Reach for the government’s help - which does in fact exist for women facing possible breast cancer and are in these situations.
Your very first step is to visit or call your local hospital’s social services department. Once you reach social services, explain your situation. And ask about the Federal Center for Disease Control’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), which “provides low-income, uninsured, and underserved women access to timely breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services.”
The NBCCEDP provides the following breast-related services to underserved women between the ages of 40-64:
•Clinical breast examinations
•Mammograms
•Diagnostic testing if results are abnormal
•Referrals to treatment
In addition, if you’re diagnosed with breast cancer you can get financial help for treatment via the government’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, which allows women who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify for Medicaid access to those funds for breast cancer treatment.
But here’s a critical caveat: in order to qualify for this special Medicaid, you have to have been diagnosed through the NBCCEDP, described above. So you don’t want to make any wrong moves around who you see about that lump, or when you see them.
It is important to contact your hospital’s social workers. Or, if you’re not sure what hospital to contact, access the NBCCEDP in your state via the CDC's local program locator".
My dear friend, Cindy Papale (pictured left), author of the book “The Empty Cup Runneth Over” , once asked me if she can share a statement I make when speaking to cancer patients myself, that statement is “The Eyes May Be the Windows of the Soul, But a Smile Tells Others What Your Soul Is Thinking”.
Like me, Cindy’s nature is to share with and help people. Her natural inclination to help others led to her giving lectures to high school and college students about her own experience with breast cancer. The response was overwhelming to her talks, and the questions the students asked led her to realize that a book might be helpful: She has organized this book around the answers to those questions both for the patients themselves, and for the friends and relatives of patients. How do I (or my friends/relatives) deal with this diagnosis? What kind of biopsies are there? What can I expect during chemotherapy or radiation? Visit Cindy http://www.theemptycuprunnethover.com/ to learn more.
In the months of October and every month – when you see pink, think pink – it’s breast cancer awareness. No matter what age you are, early detection is the main key to survival and reduces any type of re-occurrence of cancer. Don’t ignore the symptoms. Most of all, by going pink in October, you are also making a strong statement for those who surround you that battled, survived or loss their lives to breast cancer – a statement to show those in the battle are all a hero.
Believe me, many women, including myself, experience the darkness of being told they have breast cancer. The darkness comes in a way where a woman feels her entire being is taken away and they ask themselves a constant question: Why Me? But you know what? As a survivor I will continue to admit that there is light after the darkness....and that light is not one from a train coming head on to hit you in a dark tunnel, it's a light of new beginnings to a new world that was never seen before through a cancer patient's eyes.
Imagine - all survivors and those affected by loved ones with breast cancer will speak, run, walk and do for those who didn't survive and are currently battling or survived the battle itself. To conclude; they also do all of this and more for those who won't have to go through breast cancer - praying for The Hope To Find a Cure. We all Run For Life.
Continue reading on Examiner.com October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month - do you have breast cancer? - Hartford Modern Family | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/modern-family-in-hartford/october-is-national-breast-cancer-awareness-month-do-you-have-breast-cancer#ixzz1ZavhXrOq
In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There she established the pink ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first time the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer. In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October, people raise money by organizing activities such as theme parties - or a "pink day” to raise awareness. What is Breast Cancer? Breast cancer (malignant breast neoplasm) is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk.
Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas. Breast cancer is a disease of humans and other mammals; while the overwhelming majority of cases in humans are women, men can also develop breast cancer.
The size, stage, rate of growth, and other characteristics of the tumor determine the kinds of treatment. Treatment may include surgery, drugs (hormonal therapy and chemotherapy), radiation and/or immunotherapy. Surgical removal of the tumor provides the single largest benefit, with surgery alone being capable of producing a cure in many cases.
To somewhat increase the likelihood of long-term disease-free survival, several chemotherapy regimens are commonly given in addition to surgery. Most forms of chemotherapy kill cells that are dividing rapidly anywhere in the body, and as a result cause temporary hair loss and digestive disturbances. Radiation may be added to kill any cancer cells in the breast that were missed by the surgery, which usually extends survival somewhat, although radiation exposure to the heart may cause heart failure in the future. Some breast cancers are sensitive to hormones such as estrogen and/or progesterone, which make it possible to treat them by blocking the effects of these hormones.
Prognosis and survival rate varies greatly depending on cancer type, staging and treatment; 5-year relative survival varies from 98% to 23%, with an overall survival rate of 85%. Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 22.9% of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) in women.
In 2008, breast cancer caused 458,503 deaths worldwide (13.7% of cancer deaths in women). Breast cancer is more than 100 times more common in women than breast cancer in men, although males tend to have poorer outcomes due to delays in diagnosis.
Many women, who are without insurance, medical care or lack of funds, feel no hope when they detect changes that may be a symptom of breast cancer. How can they get help to be screened and/or treated?
PJ Hamel from http://www.healthcentral.com/ advises on health central:
"When you discover a change in your breast, it’s tempting to ignore it. But a lump, swelling in your armpit, overall redness and pain, or any situation that appears suddenly and doesn’t go away within a few weeks (or worsens steadily) should be seen by a doctor. Only a doctor—not your mom, your girlfriend, your partner, or this Web site—can tell you what’s happening in your breast. Whether it’s serious or not - perhaps serious enough to kill you.
So what’s a low-income/uninsured woman to do? Put your tax dollars to work, that’s what. Reach for the government’s help - which does in fact exist for women facing possible breast cancer and are in these situations.
Your very first step is to visit or call your local hospital’s social services department. Once you reach social services, explain your situation. And ask about the Federal Center for Disease Control’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), which “provides low-income, uninsured, and underserved women access to timely breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services.”
The NBCCEDP provides the following breast-related services to underserved women between the ages of 40-64:
•Clinical breast examinations
•Mammograms
•Diagnostic testing if results are abnormal
•Referrals to treatment
In addition, if you’re diagnosed with breast cancer you can get financial help for treatment via the government’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, which allows women who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify for Medicaid access to those funds for breast cancer treatment.
But here’s a critical caveat: in order to qualify for this special Medicaid, you have to have been diagnosed through the NBCCEDP, described above. So you don’t want to make any wrong moves around who you see about that lump, or when you see them.
It is important to contact your hospital’s social workers. Or, if you’re not sure what hospital to contact, access the NBCCEDP in your state via the CDC's local program locator".
My dear friend, Cindy Papale (pictured left), author of the book “The Empty Cup Runneth Over” , once asked me if she can share a statement I make when speaking to cancer patients myself, that statement is “The Eyes May Be the Windows of the Soul, But a Smile Tells Others What Your Soul Is Thinking”.Like me, Cindy’s nature is to share with and help people. Her natural inclination to help others led to her giving lectures to high school and college students about her own experience with breast cancer. The response was overwhelming to her talks, and the questions the students asked led her to realize that a book might be helpful: She has organized this book around the answers to those questions both for the patients themselves, and for the friends and relatives of patients. How do I (or my friends/relatives) deal with this diagnosis? What kind of biopsies are there? What can I expect during chemotherapy or radiation? Visit Cindy http://www.theemptycuprunnethover.com/ to learn more.
In the months of October and every month – when you see pink, think pink – it’s breast cancer awareness. No matter what age you are, early detection is the main key to survival and reduces any type of re-occurrence of cancer. Don’t ignore the symptoms. Most of all, by going pink in October, you are also making a strong statement for those who surround you that battled, survived or loss their lives to breast cancer – a statement to show those in the battle are all a hero.
Believe me, many women, including myself, experience the darkness of being told they have breast cancer. The darkness comes in a way where a woman feels her entire being is taken away and they ask themselves a constant question: Why Me? But you know what? As a survivor I will continue to admit that there is light after the darkness....and that light is not one from a train coming head on to hit you in a dark tunnel, it's a light of new beginnings to a new world that was never seen before through a cancer patient's eyes.
Imagine - all survivors and those affected by loved ones with breast cancer will speak, run, walk and do for those who didn't survive and are currently battling or survived the battle itself. To conclude; they also do all of this and more for those who won't have to go through breast cancer - praying for The Hope To Find a Cure. We all Run For Life.
Maggie DellaRocco-Griffin
Continue reading on Examiner.com October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month - do you have breast cancer? - Hartford Modern Family | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/modern-family-in-hartford/october-is-national-breast-cancer-awareness-month-do-you-have-breast-cancer#ixzz1ZavhXrOq
