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TT TITRE ERIN EEN RIN TNO NEN ASNT INN NC ISOS : Myrick introduces breast cancer act Recognizing the increasing risk of breast cancer, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick (NC-9) introduced the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act that will provide funds to study the link between breast cancer and the environment. “We focus a lot of attention on breast cancer treatment and research for a cure, but we also need to lcok at prevention. The more we study what causes breast cancer and what choices we can make to prevent it, the more lives we'll save,” Myrick said. “Forty years ago, only one out of 14 women in the U.S. were diagnosed with breast cancer. Today, one out of eight women is at risk. It’s important that we study what's going on in our environment, diet, and lifestyle that’s contributing to .. the development of breast can- cer. “What has changed ‘that has caused the occurrence’of breast cancer to dramatically i increase in our country? We owe it to the over three million Americans currently living with breast can- cer to try and get an answer to this question.” The bill would allow the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences . to make grantsfor the develop- ment and operation of research centers designed to study the extent environmental facts play in causing breast cancer. The NIEHS is based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park and is a branch of the National Institute of Health. Myrick is a Co-Chair of the House Cancer Caucus and is a breast cancer survivor. Cancer survivors asked to walk in Relay The Kings Mountain Relay for Life committee is preparing for the Joseph R. Smith Relay for Life June 8 at the Kings Mountain Walking Track on Cleveland Avenue. Cancer survivors are needed | Lap walk which officially ‘gets © the fund-raising event under way at 6 p.m. For more information, call Maxine Bennett at 739-6889 or Dot Dixon at 739-4238. I to participate in the Survivors 1 wi i Firefighters to fill boots for MDA Kings Mountain, Bethlehem and Oak Grove firefighters will be filling their boots with dona- tions to benefit the local Muscular Dystrophy Association Saturday, May 19 at various locations throughout Kings Mountain. Funds raised by the firefight- ers enable MDA to continue providing direct services to lo- cal children and adults with neuromuscular disorders. Free medical services are available at the MDA Clinic located at Carolinas Medical Center for in- dividuals diagnosed with any of the 40 diseases covered by MDA. Research grants, also funded at CMC, offer promis- ing avenues toward discovery of cures and treatments for neu- romuscular diseases. In addi- tion, MDA provides assistance with the purchase of wheelchairs and leg braces, and offers a summer camp program geared to the needs of children and adults with muscular dys- trophy. Firefighters nationwide are celebrating their 47th anniver- sary as a sponsor of MDA. For more information call the MDA office at 704-567-2912 or Lenny Wright at Kings Mountain Fire Department. Legion Auxiliary plans poppy sale The American Legion Auxillary will be selling Poppies in front of Harris Teeter from 3 p.m.-8:30 p.m. on Thursday May 24, and from 9 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May, 25. Firefighter service set at Shelby station The annual fallen firefighter service will be held Friday, May 25 at 12 noon at the Firefighter Memorial located at the Charles Road Fire Station, intersection of Highway 74 Bypass West and Charles Road, Shelby. May 25 is the date of the trag- 1979 fire which killed four A efighters ahd a city gas work- er in uptown| Shelby. There will be a short program followed by the ringing of the last bell and taps.The public is invited. The Kings Mountain Herald May 17, 2001 CANCER From 1A Monday, May 23, 1988, Mary Jo and I returned to the local hospital at 6:30 a.m. “I just want to tell you, I told my doctor, that I know we agreed that the operation would be so that I could have reconstruction but the important thing is to get the cancer out, regardless of how you do it.” He patted me on the head and said,” I know and I plan to do that.” The surgery went well. I re- quired no radiation, no chemotherapy, no exercise. “You are one of the lucky ones,” my doctor told me. You have a 95 to 100 percent chance cancer will never reoccur. I can’t tell too many of my cancer pa- tients that.” Nearly four weeks after my surgery I was back at my desk at The Herald. If detected early enough breast cancer is survivable. It is this message of optimism that I have taken to 50 states and eight foreign countries as National President of the American Legion Auxiliary, 1999-2000. I felt if I reached the helm of the Auxiliary, with its membership of nearly one mil- lion women, that this was an is- sue to advocate. Being the lead- er of the world’s largest women’s patriotic service orga- nization gave me the platform to spread this message of hope. Everywhere I have spoken to men and women I have said that “I stand before you by the grace of God and because of early detection of breast cancer by a mammogram.” All ages of women in virtually every state I visited pledged to have yearly mammograms. For its first objective in our Community Service Program we pushed increasing aware- ness through the promotion of early detection and education on the disease itself. We also re- minded our audiences that while women predominately are diagnosed with breast can- cer, it can happen to men as well. One to three percent of breast cancer patients are men. We told our audiences that part of the reason women do not get a mammogram: lies in fear. However, if something is ‘abnormal, finding it early is’ one’s best defense. A mammo- gram can detect a lump years before a woman could discover it on her own. Moreover, it is comforting to know that even if Bl 1 TOE is close 170) a Ean Equity Loan to help... Eee + Consohdate ebis * Fund Education Take a Dream Vacation HE EE EE a high value on your Taendship and on bo Eel eT LE Le Be ioans, CT Kings Mountain © 704-739-4782 Shelby * 704-484-6200 something questionable is de- tected, more than 80 percent of lumps or suspicious areas are not cancerous. A biopsy, a minor operation where a thin needle removes a small amount of tissue to deter- mine if the lump is malignant, is the only definite way to know if cancer is present. Breast can- cer treatment can include a lumpectomy, limited surgery which removes the cancer but not the entire breast, radiation, rnastectomy, chemotherapy and/or hormone therapy. While there are a number of measures which can be taken to lower one’s risk of getting breast cancer, it cannot be pre- vented. Both its cause and its cure remain undiscovered, but today there is an estimated two million breast cancer survivors in the United States. The role that diet, weight, and environ- mental factors play in the devel- opment of breast cancer is being continuously studied. Generally, a regimen of regular exercise, a low fat diet, alcohol moderation, and a smoke free lifestyle is recommended to lower risks of breast cancer as well as other cancer. Also, there is no correlation between breast size and cancer risk. Along with awareness our emphasis last year enhanced re- sources available. One resource is the Tell A Friend program where each participant encour- ages others to tell a friend. Twenty-five percent of those who get a mammogram do so because a friend encouraged it. A project which started in North Carolina but is now go- ing national due to its over- whelming response is the Breast Cancer Button Chair. I invited a representative of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, to take the chair with its more than 1,000 buttons to a national meeting last March in Washington, DC. The idea to decorate chairs with buttons representing survivors caught on as my national President's project for breast cancer. Since my return home to Kings Mountain, the mailman has been busy delivering chairs of all sizes and decorated with buttons. It is the stories behind the buttons that give the chairs the powerful impact. Each but- ton represents a life and a victo- ry. Proceeds from my National President’s Project, breast can- cer awareness, were divided be- tween the button chair project and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the nation’s leading catalyst in the fight against breast cancer and spon- sor of the Komen Race for the Cure. The money will be used not only for research but to help women who can’t afford treat- ments. Why did I share personal ex- periences? Because I have learned that attitude, a God giv- en gift, is the key to survival of most any challenges of life, es- pecially cancer. When I returned to normal routines I noticed little things that I never noticed before, I ap- preciated even more the small kindnesses of family and friends and I noticed the beauty of nature and its wonders more intensely. Sunny days, laughing kids and small things that most people miss. After cancer, I found I treasured life’s friend- ships more and probably have ~~ gained more out of life this past 13 years‘than ever before. That in itself is an enriching experi- Yes, cancer is scary. Five members of my immediate fam- ily have had bouts with cancer, two survive. The heart of our family, our mother, died March 22 of heart disease. Five sur- vivors from our church, in addi- tion to a team of 16, hope to participate in the Relay for Life. Many friends in the Kings Mountain area have had bouts with cancer. Yes, people die of cancer ev- ery day but people are also run over by drunk drivers and de- fective wiring causes a family to perish in a house fire. We hear or read about tragedies and call these people victims i te. Yet,’ fate will have no part in the deaths of many women from breast cancer this year. Early de- tection saves lives but because we are human we are afraid of . what we may find out when we go for a checkup or a mammo- ‘gram and so we put it off until tomorrow. Many times lumps are not malignant. I hope this article will say to people who face any form of cancer that you cannot only sur- oi vive but you can triumph and flourish and have active, mean- : ingful and productive lives. FACTS ABOUT BREAST CANCER Age 40 and over +have a mammogram every year +have a clinical breast exam by a health care professional every year. +do a breast self-examination each ionin. : +do a breast self-examination each month. ane i +have a clinical breast exam by a health care professional every three years. Remember, most lumps are not cancerous, more than 80 percent fa . JB are not, but to be sure, see your doctor even if you”ve had a mam- mogram recently when you experience any of the following: .any lumps, thickening or swelling .dimpling . .skin irritation distortion retraction of the nipple .scaliness Risk Factors Age ~~ .abnormal, painful or bloody discharge with no o known origin hag ‘The risk increases as a woman gets older. About 85 percent of breast cancer occurs in women 50 and older. The'risk is especially high for women older than 60. A woman of 70 is almost twice as likely to develop breast cancer in the next yeara asa woman 50. Family History 3 .The risk increases for a woman whose moths sister, daughter, grandmother or two ore more close relatives, such as cousins, have had the disease. More than 80 percent of breast cancers are diag- nosed in women who have no history of it in- their family. : Personal History -Women who have had breast cancer may develop it again. Worrsn with a history of breast disease and women having so much dense breast tissue on a previous mammogram that a clear reading i is diffi- cult are also at increased risk. .Laboratory evidence that a woman carrying a specific pent mu- tation or change will also increase her sean to breast cancer. . Women who had their ‘first child at age-30,0r never, Bave children menopause After aj age 55 2 are a so at a higher risk. and women who began enspruating| before.age 12 or sompleted | A number of published reports have shown increased risk for : women who used oral contraceptives for a number of years. Abiosraniy 5 . what to expect. .The mammogram should be scheduled one week after the men- strual period begins, when the breasts will be the least tender., .avoid using deodorant and lotions on the day of the mammo- * gram. Wear two piece clothing to make the undressing more conve- ~nient. .The mammogram will be performed by a specially trained radio- logical technologist. The woman will be asked to undress, waist up only, and stand next to the x-ray machine. .Two flat surfaces will then compress each breast for a few seconds. Compression is necessary to produce the best pictures using the lowest amount of radiation possible. It may feel slightly uncomfortable but the examination should not be painful. The entire mammogram exam takes about 15 minutes. i If you do not hear from your physician within 10 days do n sume that your mammogram was normal. Confirm this by c the physician or the facility. . Mammogram costs vary from area to area, from $ 35 and up. Insurance coverage is becoming more Widespread Askyour health care insurer. ( For more fformation contact the American Cancer Sout 1-800- "_ACS-2345; The National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations-1- 800-719-9154; National Breast Cancer Awareness Month www.nbcam.org). (Carin for he er or disabled “at home? Hospital. If you are caring for an elderly or disabled person at home, then you'll want to mark your calendar for free educational and instructional classes held this month at Kings Mountain u Caring Fi For The Mentally Confused Tuesday, May 15 : 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Space in these classes is limited. To reserve ror space call 704-730-5400. This instructiona is sponsored by Kings Mountain Hospital, The Life Enrichment Center, the N.C. Cooperative. Extension and the Community Ethics Education Kings Mountain Hospital ~ Carolinas HealthCare System .www.carolinashealthcare.org 708 King Street © 704-730-5400 Task Force. m Caring For People With Timited Mobility Or Who Are Bedridden Saturday, May 19 ~~ a 10 a.m. - Noon fim (This class repeats from 2 p.m. 4 p.m.) W Planning Ahead For Bed Oplife Decisions Tuesday, May 29 1p.m.-3 p.m. me Ses LI aes
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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May 17, 2001, edition 1
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