Help fight breast cancer during October

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there is no better time for Northeast Indiana residents to be aware of the many ways they can make a difference in the fight against breast cancer.

As the country wrestles with how to improve health care in America during the 2008 election, the American Cancer Society’s aggressive public awareness campaign seeks to elevate the discussion about how the nation can provide access to health care for all Americans. This discussion is important to all of us in Northeast Indiana as cancer doesn’t discriminate; we all have the opportunity to get cancer and the responsibility to help fight it. It is infinitely more difficult to fight cancer if you or one of your loved ones doesn’t even have access to lifesaving tools to survive a diagnosis.

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer amongst women, and it is anticipated that 3,660 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year in Indiana alone. Yet, if detected early, breast cancer is 98 percent survivable. The American Cancer Society provides programs and services to help women learn the risk factors, the warning signs, and the steps they can take to detect breast cancer early.

Without making a conscious effort towards early detection, women are increasingly vulnerable. The American Cancer Society, in addition to funding breast cancer research, is committed to spreading awareness about breast cancer and the importance of annual mammograms.

This is why the American Cancer Society is holding their 11th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk 9 a.m., Oct. 4 at Headwaters Park East. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

As an individual you can take a stand against breast cancer this year by encouraging any women in your life age 40 or older to get a yearly mammogram, use your voice to make cancer a number one priority with lawmakers, and by taking part of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Join more than 3,500 of your neighbors as we gather together to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer.

For more information, call (260) 471-3911 or visit www.cancer.org/ stridesonline. Hope starts with us.

—Kathie Fleck
Area Executive Director
American Cancer Society
Great Lakes Division

This is part of the October 1, 2008 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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