The battle with breast cancer

Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins. Whatever their place on the family tree, they share more than a blood line -- they share a risk for breast cancer.

Nearly 600 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer on a daily basis. But early detection and greater education a increasing survival rates among breast cancer patients.

Roberta Stevens of Thebes, Ill., could easily have been a statistic when it came to considering her breast cancer risks.

Her sister was diagnosed with the disease two years ago and had a masectomy. Her aunt had both breasts removed after a diagnosis. A cousin is being treated for the disease right now.

Yet Stevens wasn't going to have a breast exam this year because she couldn't afford it. She was unemployed and without insurance coverage, so it seemed like an unnecessary expense.

Through a joint program between Saint Francis Medical Center and the volleyball team at Southeast Missouri State University, such expenses are paid. The Dig for Life campaign lets the volleyball team earn pledges for each dig made during home games. The money raised is used for breast cancer education and mammograms.

Dig for Life has raised $20,000 to fight breast cancer in its four-year campaign. The effort started after volleyball coach Cindy Gannon lost her mother to breast cancer.

Gannon said she wanted to do something to prevent other women from battling with breast cancer. Through money raised by the campaign, area women are able to get free mammograms -- women like Stevens.

Another local program, The Show Me Healthy Women Services, also offers mammograms to women who couldn't otherwise afford one. The program is offered through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Many participants in the program are low-income or minority women, who are at greater risk for cancer partly because they lack access to health care, said Marianne Ronan, chief of the health department's Cancer Control Unit.

Getting a yearly mammogram can help detect cancer in its earliest stages, and is one of the most reliable detection tools available. The American Cancer Society recommends that women get a mammogram every year after age 40.

Stevens said she hadn't had a mammogram in about three or four years. When her sister was diagnosed all the other females in the family "rushed out and got mammograms," Stevens said. "But I wasn't worried about that. I didn't feel like I should run out and have it done."

Stevens had previous mammograms that showed no cancer cells so she felt relatively safe.

With family medical histories that include diabetes, heart problems, cancer and thyroidism, "I don't like to go to the doctor because I'm afraid they'll say something's there," Stevens said.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and women are being encouraged to get breast exams and do monthly check-ups. Other than skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women.

Southeast Missouri Hospital is beginning a new program for women who have had a recent breast cancer diagnosis. The "Turning Point series" begins Monday at HealthPoint Fitness Center and runs for seven consecutive weeks.

The program takes a "whole approach" to helping women make a recovery after treatment, said LaDonna Wills, a registered nurse and director of the Generations Resource Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. "It's a mind, body and spirit approach."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126