Clinic's display marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month
It's not quite Christmas, but the trees and bushes outside Brighton's Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic are getting special treatment this month.
As part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the clinic has lit up the shrubbery outside its office to show solidarity in the fight against breast cancer. Tied along strings of lights are 10,500 pink ribbons, each representing a patient that has been diagnosed with breast cancer at the clinic since it opened in 1976.
In a ceremony attended by about 20 members of the staff and members of the media, the clinic turned on their 2007 "Lights of Courage" display Oct. 1. Cookies cut in the shape of ribbons with pink frosting and pink lemonade were also served to mark the occasion.
"It's a sign of hope and courage for all these women ... who have been diagnosed with breast cancer," said clinic managing partner and staff radiologist Posy Seifert. "It just reminds us, especially in this month, how much it means to have early detection."
Seifert noted that for patients who have cancers 1 centimeter or smaller, early detection is key.
Of those types of patients, 98 percent are cured if they find their cancer at an early stage. In 2006, almost 213,000 American women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 14,400 of them were in New York, according to figures from the American Cancer Society. Of the total amount, ACS estimated that nearly 41,000 women died due to breast cancer.
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<param value="transparent" name="wmode" />width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nFqqFuI8CJM"></embed></object> "It's important to me to remind women to have a mammogram and have self-breast examinations," said Tess Wade, the clinic's business manager. "(The display) is a sign of hope." Seifert stressed the importance of mammograms to the group, noting that they're considered the gold standard for finding breast cancer. "If we detect these cancers early, these women will go on to live normal lives with their husbands, children and grandchildren and that's what we want," she said. Fast Facts: The American Cancer Society suggests that people 20 and older have periodic health exams that include cancer-related checkups. Here are some suggestions from the ACS: - A breast self exam can be an option for women starting in their 20s.- At age 40, women should have mammograms on a yearly basis. - Women should have a clinical breast exam every three years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and older. - Report any change in feel of breasts to their health-care providers. - Women at a high risk for breast cancer because of things such as family history should get an MRI and a mammogram annually.<em>Brighton-Pittsford Post writer Bryan Roth can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 270, or at broth@mpnewspapers.com.