Luncheon at Drury Lodge celebrates beating breast cancer

Women came together Wednesday to celebrate surviving breast cancer and to help those still struggling to overcome it.

More than 240 people attended the American Cancer Society's seventh annual Pink Ribbon Luncheon at Drury Lodge raises money for its Patient Service Fund.

A 19-year breast cancer survivor, Carol Reimann, encouraged women not to give up in her keynote address.

"I could have given up when I was first diagnosed, but I didn't," Reimann said. "Four years later when I was rediagnosed, I could have given up, but I didn't. I dreamed big, and I've never given up."

A first-grade teacher for 33 years, Reimann was named Missouri Teacher of the Year after beating cancer. She now works as a reading specialist at the Southeast Regional Professional Development Center in Southeast Missouri State University's College of Education.

Carol Reimann speaks about surviving breast cancer twice at Wednesday's luncheon at Drury Lodge.

"Next year, on July 28, there will be fireworks at my house because I will be celebrating my 20th anniversary of being cancer-free," Reimann said.

Forty breast cancer survivors were recognized at the luncheon as the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to them in celebration of another year of life.

The luncheon "encourages you to see all these survivors," said Carol Miller, who attended the luncheon with her sister, Pat Boyd. Both are breast cancer survivors.

"It's inspiring to see that women have done this," Boyd said. "If everybody who had all these other different types of cancer could do what women have done. The money raised by women to research cures has helped us get to a 98 percent survival rate."

Excluding skin cancers, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, said Lori Faire, event co-chairwoman and breast cancer survivor. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer.

She spoke about the importance of early detection in the fight against breast cancer.

"Detecting breast cancer early, at its most treatable stage, can mean the difference between life and death," Faire said.

The American Cancer Society recommends women receive yearly mammograms, which usually identify breast cancer before symptoms develop, beginning at age 40.

Since conquering her own cancer, Faire is now a volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Reach to Recovery program, which matches newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with survivors who can provide one-on-one support and information.

"The American Cancer Society is in every woman's corner to ensure women do not have to face cancer alone," she said.

During the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, more than 100 Southeast Missouri women were helped by the Reach to Recovery program. About 125 women each year receive wigs, turbans, scarves, mastectomy bras or prostheses at no cost to them through the society's Patient Services Fund.

A total of $6,000 was spent from the fund to provide wigs to women with breast cancer during the last fiscal year, said Sheri House, community manager of health initiatives for the American Cancer Society in Cape Girardeau.

mmiller@semissourian.com

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