It is a phrase no one wants to hear. “You have cancer.” But here is a statistic that may touch us personally or someone we love. One in eight women will get breast cancer in her lifetime. When is the last time you had a mammogram, a clinical breast exam, or regularly examined your own breasts for lumps or changes?
Breast cancer statistics are even more disturbing for African-American women. The American Cancer Society says African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer. Some of the reasons? We sometimes have more aggressive tumors and may not get regular breast cancer screenings. Therefore, we are often diagnosed at later stages of the disease.
I have interviewed many breast cancer survivors at WTHR Channel 13 as a former health reporter. I recently interviewed a woman named Joanne Scifres, who was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer, the final stages of the disease. Her cancer has spread into her liver, lungs and bones, yet, she has amazingly survived for five years. Doctors recently told Joanne she is out of treatment options. Incredibly, all that she wants to do is save others, with whatever time she has left.
She serves as an ambassador for the Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in Central Indiana and urges women to have regular mammograms. She is also leading her own “Race for the Cure” team, even though each step she takes is exhausting, as cancer envelops her lungs and stifles her breathing. Joanne walks, so that we may live. If she can do this for us, let’s fight for her and others with breast cancer.
Please join the “Race for the Cure” in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, April 21. This is an incredible “sea of humanity” – thousands of women, men and children walking or running to help fund breast cancer research, treatment, screenings, and education. WTHR Channel 13 is a proud 12-year sponsor of the race. We will broadcast a half-hour “Race for the Cure” special on April 14 at 7 p.m. on Channel 13.
You’ll see Joanne’s story and stories of other courageous breast cancer survivors, including Nancy Brinker, a survivor who founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in honor of her sister who died from the disease.
I also challenge all of us to tell some woman we love to take care of her breast health. The American Cancer Society says we should perform regular, monthly breast self exams; get clinical exams every three years in our 20s and 30s or every year at age 40 and over; and get a yearly mammogram starting at age 40. On the “Community” page of wthr.com, I have a link to an organization that offers free mammograms. There is also a link where you can register for the “Race for the Cure.” We, as women in particular, must fight for our own lives. Let’s join forces to save more women, for the sake of our daughters and future generations.
Angela Cain is the Community Affairs Director at WTHR Channel 13. You can email comments to her at acain@wthr.com.
