Friday, October 3, 2008

Army of Women

This wasn't actually the second post I was thinking about writing. However, we saw a feature on the ABC national news last night about the Army of Women. And it's important enough to get the word out.


A research doctor, Dr. Susan Love, and Avon have teamed up to recruit one million women in every age, ethnicity and breast cancer risk-- to contribute to the research to find the common risk factors for breast cancer. Dr. Love's theory is that without studying representatives across the entire spectrum of women we cannot determine how to isolate and eradicate breast cancer once and for all.

So far, 68,000 women have been recruited. Signing up is simple so please go to the site today and sign up, then send the link to every woman you know. Participation in research may mean anything (quoting from the site here) "from filling out a questionnaire to donating blood, breast duct fluid, saliva or perhaps a core biopsy of breast tissue." You decide whether you are interested in taking part and to what extent. The researchers will then call to let you know what they need next. Each woman's safety and privacy is protected and each project undergoes scientific, safety and ethical reviews before it is started.


Our oldest daughter, Holly, lost her birth mother to breast cancer when she was only two years old. I adopted her after I married her dad and she's as much my daughter as Erin, despite the fact that we don't share any DNA. Obviously she has significant risk factors predisposing her to breast cancer since her mom was only 31 when she died six months after diagnosis. She's been getting screened frequently even in her 20s to make sure she stays cancer free. I hold my breath for her all the time.


One of the quotes on the site says, "Writing a check isn't as gratifying as being a part of breast cancer research." She's right. As part of this country's population (whether male or female), we have the opportunity to remove breast cancer from the legacy we leave for our daughters and granddaughters. Do this now, please!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I applaud any effort to get the word out about breast cancer and ANY concerted effort to learn more about it. That said, what is often overlooked is that men get breast cancer, too. And it is just as important for men to do a self exam as it is for women. Men have a higher fatality rate when diagnosed with breast cancer, because men have a tendency to be diagnosed later in the disease's progress than do women. So, ladies, teach your man how to do a self exam. Or help him. Mutual exams CAN be fun. Just make sure you get the whole exam done before you go off and do other stuff.

Jill said...

I love the quote on the top of your blog. we are starting to NOT make plans and things just keep happening to us (pregnancy, great job offer, move to a new area, etc etc)... another fave of mine is 'if you want to hear god laugh, tell him your plans' --just as appropos. erin is awesome by the way