Think pink SECTION C
B r e a s t C a n c e r Awa r e n e s s M o n t h 2 0 1 1
The
Daily Citizen
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Searcy races for the cure today
Local women join fight against breast cancer
By Marisa Lytle mlytle@thedailycitizen.com Today, hundreds of people from Searcy are participating in Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Little Rock. The race begins at 8 a.m. at the intersection of Broadway and Second streets in downtown Little Rock. The Searcy Race for the Cure team comprises more than 220
Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
Who: Searcy teams participate in today’s race. Where: Downtown Little Rock When: Beginning at 8 a.m.
women, according to Anna Overbay, event specialist for the White County Medical Center and coordinator of the Searcy team. “This is my second time to coordinate
the Searcy team for Race for the Cure,” Overbay said. “I’ve worked at White County Medical Center for a little over a year, so this is one of the first events I coordinated when I started last year.” The Searcy team was originally coordinated by Searcy Athletic Club, but the responsibility has passed on to the medical center. “This year, I got together with a group of ladies who were co-captains of teams under the broader Searcy team last year,” Overbay said. “We Continued on Page 5C
Breast cancer treatment available locally
Mammogram technician Melanie Potter explains the use of a digital mammogram machine at RAPA Searcy Breast Center. The machine records images of breast tissue and transfers them to a computer screen. Marisa Lytle/mlytle@thedailycitizen.com
Doctors talk diagnosis, treatment
W
By Marisa Lytle mlytle@thedailycitizen.com hile difficult and perhaps impossible to find a woman who looks forward to having a mammogram, having a regular breast check-up can and has saved many women’s lives. According to Brenda Walker, a mammogram specialist at RAPA/ Searcy Breast Center, she and the Who: center feel Representatives very strongly from RAPA, White that women County Oncology need to have and CARTI yearly mamWhat: Explain mograms what women from age 40 need to know onward. about breast “About cancer diagnosis a year or so and treatment. ago, some research was circulating that said women need only have one mammogram per year,” she said, “We are in total disagreement with that. All you have to do is talk to women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 to know how important mammograms are. We want to catch it before it metastasizes, or spreads.” Walker said that the recommended age for a woman to have a baseline mammogram, meaning her first one ever, is 35 if she has no family history of cancer. The age lessens to 28 if a woman has a first-generation history of cancer, for example, if her mother has had breast cancer. Then, once a woman reaches 40, she should be having mammograms yearly — no exceptions. “Women will look for any excuse not to have a mammogram,” Walker said. “They’re afraid; it’s unknown to them; they hear stories and think it will be painful. But a lot of times, women come in for their first time and afterwards ask ‘That was it?’ For
Deb Staley
Who: RE/MAX agent What: Recently began chemotherapy for breast cancer Additional info: Said her goals are to defeat the cancer and encourage other women as they try to do the same
Woman begins fight with cancer Local real estate agent aims to beat cancer, help others
By Marisa Lytle mlytle@thedailycitizen.com When all looks grim, the most courageous of us fight our way through in search of a brighter day. Searcy resident Deb Staley, recently diagnosed with breast cancer, has already Staley turned her darkness into light and strives to help others do the same. “I know that every day I have a choice to get up and live or lie down and die,” Staley said. “But I have two goals. The first is to beat this cancer. The second is to help other women do the same.” Staley said her journey began when earlier this year she found a lump in her breast. “I called my doctor,” she said. “I had an MRI on July 28, and that’s when my world suddenly changed. That began the start of a number of tests and lots of scans.” The MRI showed suspicious activity, she said, which prompted doctors to give her a mammogram and an ultrasound in August. “With every test, I got more undesirable news,” she said. “After the diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, the surgeon was certain it was cancer. Three tumors were discovered. It was suspicious that the cancer was also in my lymph nodes. I was then informed Continued on Page 2C
Robin Black
What: Tells story of hardship, defeat of disease and life after cancer Additional info: Black attributes faith to bringing her through her struggles.
Breast cancer awareness
Breast cancer survivor tells her story
Center sees 35 to 40 women per day and has been acquiring new patients since the opening of the new Cancer Center of Excellence. The Searcy Breast Center is housed within the Cancer Center along with White County Oncology and CARTI. Each group is a separate entity, however. “The reason for housing them all in the same building is to facilitate flow of medical care,” said Brooke Pryor, director of marketing at White County Medical Center. “Women can go from testing in the Breast Center to visiting with their oncologist in another part of the building and then to having surgery all in the same day, if need be. They don’t have to spend time and energy traveling between different places.” So, what is the next step after a mammogram detects something
By Marisa Lytle mlytle@thedailycitizen.com Women are often told “better safe than sorry” when it comes to being checked for cancer. For one local woman, nothing could have been more true. On March Black 29, 1995, Robin Black rolled over in bed feeling a little soreness in her right breast. She felt a lump but decided to ignore it. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s nothing. It will go away,’” she said. She waited one month before going to the doctor, who then sent her to get a mammogram. “It seemed as though the lump was getting bigger,” she said. “It was May 5 when I went to the doctor for the first time. It was [my husband]
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Kelli Hale, a mammogram technician at RAPA Searcy Breast Center, demonstrates the use of a computer in looking at images produced by and transferred from a mammogram machine. The breast center is housed in the new Cancer Center of Excellence, located at 415 Rodgers Drive. Marisa Lytle/ mlytle@thedailycitizen.com
some women, it is uncomfortable if they have sensitive breasts. I tell them to take care of themselves really well and to cut back on their caffeine intake a few weeks before coming in for a mammogram to reduce the hurting.” Many women have dense breast tissue, Walker said, and the denser, the harder it is for them to conduct self breast exams. Nonetheless, she stressed that it is crucial for women to know their bodies well. “It’s so important you realize what’s going on with your body,” she said. “If you notice something and come in for a mammogram, it may end up being a cyst or just some tissue. It’s all right. Don’t be embarrassed. We’d rather someone come in and it be nothing than it be something and we miss it if she doesn’t come in.” Walker explained what happens if a mammogram does catch something suspicious.
“If it’s a baseline or if we have no comparison films for a patient, she may have to return for another mammogram,” she said. “In a nice perfect world, breasts should be symmetrical, but it’s usually not that way. That can make it difficult to tell right away if there’s something amiss, so we have to do another mammogram. “Then, if there is some tissue that looks different from the rest of the tissue, we would call the woman back in and look at the specific area with a doctor present. If needed, we would then do an ultrasound. “A lot of times, women get tired of coming back in, but we have to call it as we see it. If there’s something that warrants more testing, we would then recommend a biopsy here in the office, which would entail an injection with a fine needle.” According to Walker, the Breast