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n at i ve hawa i i a n » n ew s | feat u re s | eve n t s
Kumu hula shares survivor story By Lisa Asato
Takamine said she had detected the lump and it was confirmed through a mammogram, which or kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine, she gets annually. “We caught it at Stage 0,” she the show – and life – must go on. In said. “They also took out a couple lymph nodes the span of a year, she experienced the to see if it spread, and it hadn’t. I was fortunate deaths of her husband it hadn’t.” and father, in 2016 and “Go get your mammo2017 Komen Hawaii 2017, respectively. Then, in grams,” says Takamine, Race for the Cure late March, the day before her honorary chair for the father’s ho‘olewa, or wake, she 2017 Komen Hawaii Race When: Sunday, Oct. 15 was diagnosed with invasive for the Cure (see box for Where: Kapi‘olani Park breast cancer. “It’s been kind of info). > 5-6 a.m. same-day race a challenge with all this going A National Institutes registration and packet on,” she said. of Health report on breast pickup After discussing it with her cancer in women of > 6 a.m. Welcome/warmup doctor at Pali Momi Medical color shows that, unlike > 7 a.m. 5K Run/Walk Center, Takamine decided on Takamine, many Native > 7:15 a.m. 1-mile Fun Walk a double mastectomy. Surgery Hawaiian breast cancer > 7:45 a.m. Entertainment, was scheduled in early April, patients delay seeking and it was deemed a success treatment, minimizing the Expo Awards Ceremony with no chemotherapy or radiaimportance of the illness in > Later, survivor recognition tion needed. “Six weeks later favor of maintaining familand photo at Kapi‘olani I was emceeing my MAMo ial harmony. As a result, Bandstand Wearable Arts Show,” Takamine they may enter treatment > For pre-event registration and said. at late stages of the disinfo, go to komenhawaii.org. The first two to four weeks ease, when self-care and after surgery were the hardest and required 24-7 care, she said, but family and friends provided help and support. Simple tasks like washing her face, brushing her hair and getting dressed were impossible because her arm movement was severely limited from shoulder to elbow. In those first few weeks, her arms functioned only from her elbows to her hands. “Mom, come help give me Vicky Holt-Takamine with Robert Cazimero at the MAMo event a shower,” in 2016. - Photo: Courtesy PA‘I Foundation/Kyle Wright was among traditional treatments no longer provide enough the requests relief. Support from ‘ohana and friendship she made to her networks encourage women to get screened mother, herself a earlier, the study suggests. breast cancer surAmanda Stevens, executive director of vivor of 15 years. Susan G. Komen Hawaii, said new cases of Breast cancer runs breast cancer for Pacific Islander women are in her family. Her very close to the national average, however, the mom's mother suc- death rates are slightly higher than the national cumbed to it around average. Susan G. Komen Hawaii “has provided her 40s. more than $4 million in community grants for hospitals and agencies that provide vital breast Vicky Holt-Takamine at the health programs, with a strong focus on underPrince Lot Hula Festival. served communities, and more than $1 million Photo: KWO Archives towards research,” Stevens said.
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To improve the quality and longevity of life, Native Hawaiians will enjoy healthy lifestyles and experience reduced onset of chronic diseases.
Takamine, kumu hula for Pua Ali‘i ‘Ilima and executive director of PA‘I Foundation, its nonprofit arm, is used to a busy schedule of public performances, but when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she made her health the priority. She told her staff: “I am not going to see you for the next several weeks. You folks know what to do. ... Don’t call me. Don’t bother me because I need to take care of this.”
By the numbers >> Currently about 70 percent of women 40 and older receive regular mammograms, the single most effective screening tool to find breast cancer early. >> Since 1990, early detection and effective treatment have resulted in a 34 percent decline in breast cancer death in the U.S.
Participants get warmed-up in a giant Zumba session. Photo: Andy Landgraf >> In 1980, the five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, it’s 99 percent. >> The federal government now devotes more than $850 million each year to breast cancer research, treatment and prevention, compared to $30 million in 1982. >> Today there are more than 3 million breast cancers survivors in the U.S.
Source: Susan G. Komen Hawaii “You have to advocate for your own healthcare,” she explains. “When it comes to your health, that has to be your priority because if you’re not healthy you can’t help your family, you can’t help the lähui.” As for breast reconstructive surgery, Takamine says she’s looking to schedule it in November. “I’ll spend Thanksgiving recovering,” she said. “I want to be back for the Christmas holidays, to spend that time with my family.” ¢
