September Issue 2017
Inside This Issue
More Than Pink By Suzanne Stone Executive Director Susan G. Komen Austin
D Dell Medical School Creates Department of Oncology See pg. 14
INDEX Mental Health...................... pg.3 Legal Matters........................ pg.4 Oncology Research......... pg.6 Geriatric Medicine............ pg.8 Healthy Heart..................... pg.10 The Framework.................. pg.16
Music Therapy: Can it Help ? See pg. 15
uring the month of October, the country bears witness to a phenomenon called pink. There is a sudden onset of athletes and policemen, celebrities and socialites, bus drivers and construction workers, everyone wearing pink. Lights on buildings change color and decals appear on cars, windows and the cheeks of children. It all began because one woman promised her sister, who was dying from breast cancer, that she would do everything she could to make sure that one day, no one died from this disease. That was 35 years ago. Today Susan G. Komen is renewing that promise with a new, big bold goal: to reduce the number of breast-cancer deaths by 50 percent by 2026. For all the progress that has been made on this disease, 40,000 women will die this year from it. In Travis County, it’s the second-leading cause of death. If you are an African-American woman, your chance of dying from the disease is 40 percent higher. Once a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, one in five will see it return in the form of metastatic disease, having spread somewhere else in the body and resulting in a chronic condition for which there is no cure. There are about 150,000 women living with that diagnosis today. Just because you are yonder than 40 doesn’t mean this disease can’t find you. More than
13,000 women younger than 30 will be diagnosed this year alone. Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate or play favorites. The biggest risk factors for getting breast cancer are being a woman and getting older.
This battle is about more than just moving numbers; it’s about saving lives. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. We do see hope on the horizon and there are ways to move those numbers. The first way is screening. If a diagnosis is made early, a breast cancer patient’s five-year survival rate is 99 percent. When the cancer goes undetected and diagnosed at Stage 3 or later, survival rates drop to 60 percent or lower. Its sounds like an easy fix, but while many women have access to care and insurance to pay for it, overwhelmingly, in Texas, many do not. With more than 4.3 million Texans without insurance, getting those women screened is a challenge. Komen Austin is funding thousands of mammograms in our five-county impact area for women who can’t pay for them. Last year, 31 women were diagnosed with breast cancer from those screenings. That’s truly impactful dollars at work. Once a diagnosis has been made,
there are biopsies, tests and treatments that can cost a patient without insurances thousands and thousands of dollars. Jenny Peterson is a great example of how close many live to the edge. A self-employed landscape designer, Jenny chose to put her kids through school instead of paying for insurance for herself. When the diagnosis of breast cancer came, it came with a $15,000 price tag just for the diagnostic work she needed before treatment could begin. Komen funding paid that bill. Today, she’s five-year cancer free, written a book and has just gotten married. This battle is about more than just moving numbers; it’s about saving lives. Everyone can have a role in doing it. Allison was 3 when she lost her mother to breast cancer. She and her family have been participating in Race for the Cure and raising money every year since. Jordan knits and sells drink holders to raise money to donate to Komen’s efforts. And these women make these commitments all because no one deserves to grow up without a mother, a daughter, sister or best friend. They are all more than pink. You wouldn’t think a color could change everything, that a simple shade of light would be able to inspire action, enlighten the mind, even save a life. But it does, every day. The pink “running ribbon” isn’t just a logo. It’s a symbol of strength, perseverance, survival and the see More Than Pink... page 18
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO 1 HOUSTON TX