BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
Lake Butler Hospital hosted a community luncheon on October 24, which aimed to increase breast cancer awareness as a finish to its acknowledgment of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The hospital started the month with a 5K Walk and fundraising event to help combat the disease.
The event was held in a pavilion on the hospital’s front lawn, and Mother Nature cooperated by providing a beautiful fall day. It was organized by Lake Butler Hospital Ancillary Services Officer/PR Coordinator Tina Lloyd and PR Specialist Jill Walding. It was attended by 110 people, many of whom were breast cancer survivors and their family members. Many were wearing unique shirts or were dressed in pink. All attendees received a gift bag and a bright pink (or gray) breast cancer awareness t-shirt.
Eye-opening breast cancer facts
Once all were seated at the tables, Lloyd welcomed all to the event and talked a little about the hospital’s dedication to facilitating early detection of the potentially fatal disease. She then introduced Heather Robinson from North Florida Cancer Care in Lake City, who provided an introduction for the event’s guest speaker, Dr. Mark Thompson, a radiation oncologist with NFCC.
Robinson made attendees aware of some breast cancer facts, not in a lecture but as a game to see who in the crowd knew the correct answer (true or false). The points he presented when giving the correct answers were eye-opening and worthy of mention.
Robinson said that over four million women were alive today because of the work of people like the caregivers at Lake Butler Hospital, as, if detected early, there was a 99% chance of survival with proper treatment. He said breast cancer was the second leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S., surpassed only by lung cancer.
“Most lumps that you may find in your regular monthly exam are not cancer, but you still have to have them checked just to be sure,” Robinson said.
Risk factors and mitigation
He said that the risk of developing breast cancer increased with age, although it had also been found in very young women. He cited smoking, having more than one alcoholic beverage per day, having a first child over the age of 30, having a mother, sister, or daughter who had breast cancer, and prolonged hormone therapy at menopause as known risk factors that increased one’s chances of developing the disease. He also cited regular exercise after menopause, healthy eating habits, and a healthy lifestyle as some ways people could reduce their chances of getting the disease.
Detection and treatment
Robinson talked about the advances in breast cancer detection and treatment over the last few years. He said that with early detection, most small cancers found were now only dealt with surgically in patients over 70. He said many treatments and combinations were now available, and the technology to deliver them steadily improved. He mentioned a new treatment device that NFCC would be getting later this year, a Halcyon Radiation Accelerator, that makes radiation treatment quick (sometimes only seconds in duration) and could treat several areas simultaneously. He was also adamant about the necessity of yearly mammograms for women.
“No test is 100% fool-proof, but self-checks and annual mammograms are the best way to detect problems before they become big problems,” Robinson said. “The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms for all women past the age of 45 and that they begin younger if they have a family member who has had breast cancer. He also pointed out that men can also suffer from breast cancer, which is a much more severe problem than women. It seems that the lack of vascular tissue in a man’s breast allows cancer to form on muscle tissue, which has more blood vessels and allows cancer to spread throughout the body more easily.
Life-saving mammogram
A breast cancer survivor in the audience asked Robinson why her daughter (in her 20’s) was denied a mammogram by her insurance because of her age, despite her family history. He answered that it was not uncommon and that her daughter should go back to her primary care physician and ask for their help in getting the test done.
After Robinson’s presentation, local breast cancer survivor Sue Hardin came to the podium to share her experience with the disease. Hardin was a teacher at LBES for 35 years and lives in Lake Butler. She said she had always gotten yearly mammogram screenings and was always clear. When the time came for her annual visit, she said she had brief thoughts about skipping or postponing the procedure but decided to get it done. A mass was found in her breast and determined to be stage-one cancer. She was scheduled to have a lump removed, and by the time she went into surgery, it had grown so large that they deemed it to be stage two instead.
“It went from nothing to stage 2 in just one year,” Hardin said. “That mammogram saved my life!”
Hardin is now a five-year breast cancer survivor and still goes every year, without hesitation, to have her screening done and urges all women to do the same.
Lunch and giveaways
After Hardin’s talk, Lloyd came to the podium to invite everyone to enjoy a lunch, served buffet style on tables next to the pavilion. Offerings included chicken salad on croissants, fresh fruit, a mixed greens salad, and cupcakes with punch, lemonade, or water. After the meal, the table centerpieces were given to the person sitting in the chair with a green dot on the bottom of the seat, and 10 survivors were chosen randomly to get unique gift bags. Ann Little, with the Tough Enough to Wear Pink organization in Lake City, brought a large gift basket to the event, which Jill Hall, a breast cancer survivor, won. Tough Enough to Wear Pink is an organization that offers financial help to people with breast cancer.
In closing the event, Lloyd announced that Lake Butler Hospital had made arrangements for the Mavin Medical Van, which offers breast cancer screenings, to come to the hospital every three months in the future. Details about dates, times, and how to make an appointment will be available soon.
