Breast cancer awareness month
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, “a worldwide annual campaign involving thousands of organizations, to highlight the importance of breast awareness, education and research.” As young women it’s never too soon to be educated on a topic that is the most common form of cancer in women.
About one in eight women, 12.4 percent, will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Many different organizations have been created to help fund for breast cancer research as well as bring awareness to women. Some organizations include Susan G. Koman For the Cure, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Breast Cancer Action and Living Beyond Breast Cancer.
“Two of my neighbors both had it and it came back all over their body and unfortunately passed away,” junior
Amanda Earl said. “One was like my second mother, so it had a huge impact on my life and I was very close with her son and it still today affects him.”
Cabrini helps spread awareness
Think Pink Day is a day dedicated to promoting awareness to breast cancer at Cabrini. This year it was hosted on Sept. 18 in Cavs Corner during lunch time. The offices of Health Services and Athletics and Recreation were spreading awareness and handing out health information.
“I’ve been doing it [Think Pink Day] since I’ve started working here and that’s been 12 years ago, and every year we always have some sort of pink day,” assistant director of the department of athletics and recreation Jess Huda said.
They will be handing out pamphlets to help educate women on how to take care of your breast as well as self examination.
The first pamphlet informs you what to do if you do find a lump on your breast and what actions to take. It also mentions who’s at risk for breast cancer and how to decrease those risks.
The second pamphlet gives you the steps of how to self-exam your breast at home. Women should check for at least 10 minutes once a month. When checking at home you should examine how they feel as well as how they look.
“Usually every team does a cancer game…our women’s soccer team just did our pink game…but for sports that aren’t playing in the fall, basketball will do a cancer game in February and lacrosse will do something in the spring,” Huda said.
Start reducing your risk now
Its been proven that the more alcohol someone drinks they are at a 20 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer than non-drinkers. Being overweight or obese also affects the risk of breast cancer.
The older you get the more prone you are to breast cancer. It is very rare to get breast cancer at a young age, however, more than 250,000 women living in the United States today were diagnosed with it under age 40.
“Part of reducing your risk for breast cancer is maintaining a healthy lifestyle…don’t smoke, don’t drink too much alcohol, exercise, eat well and know your family history and then early detection is key. Especially if you have a family history,” Cabrini nurse Susan Fitzgerald said.
