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Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous 2006!
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January 2006 Y-ME Illinois e-News
This month's edition is sent out a day late due to the holiday. Be sure to watch
for the latest issue of Y-ME Illinois e-News in your inbox the first weekday of
each month!
In This Edition:
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Young Survivor Support Group Begins Anew in January
After a year-long hiatus, the Young Women's Support Group is once again up and
running. Faciliated by two young survivors with the joint support of Y-ME Illinois
and Gilda's Club Chicago, this group is dedicated to ensuring that young women
facing a breast cancer diagnosis do not feel alone in their fight. Starting in
January, the group will meet on the second Tuesday of every month at Gilda's Club
Chicago. For more info, click here or call Abby at 312.364.9071.
Support Group Spotlight - Barrington Group "A Time to Heal" Celebrates 10th Year
in 2006
Ten years ago, a small group of dedicated breast cancer survivors in the Northwest
Suburbs of Chicago decided they needed to do something to support other women
facing a diagnosis of breast cancer. In January of 1996, after contacting Y-ME
and training to be peer counselors, with the partnership of Good Shepherd Hospital,
the women hosted the first meeting of "A Time to Heal" breast cancer support group.
Since then, the group has provided education and support to hundreds of women
with breast cancer, their families and friends.
Midge Rehmer, one of the facilitators of the group, believes "that knowledge
is the key to coping with breast cancer." The goal of the group, she continues,
is to make women "feel comfortable and to know that they have friends." Ten years
later, with the help of several amazing co-facilitators and the continued partnership
of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, the group fulfills Y-ME Illinois' mission
of ensuring no one faces breast cancer alone through educational presentations and open discussions throughout the year, the
3rd Thursday of every month at 7:30pm. The topic for January focuses on "The
Role Plastic Surgery Plays in the Care of a Breast Cancer Patient".
National Organizations Serving People With Cancer and Their Families
People with cancer and their families sometimes need assistance coping with the
emotional as well as the practical aspects of their disease. NCI has developed
a fact sheet listing many of the national nonprofit organizations that provide
this type of support. It is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of all
organizations that offer these services in the United States, nor does inclusion
of any particular organization imply endorsement by the National Cancer Institute,
the National Institutes of Health, or the Department of Health and Human Services.
The intent of this fact sheet is to provide information useful to individuals
nationally. For that reason, it does not include the many local groups that offer
valuable assistance to patients and their families in individual states or cities.
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Your $ Works Hard at
Y-ME
Illinois
!
Did you know that for every $1 donated to
Y-ME
Illinois
more than 80% of your donation will go directly to programs and services?
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Updates from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (CST)
Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer for a free teleconference and understand the
latest medical developments presented at the largest annual conference devoted
to breast cancer. This free education teleconference is for women affected by
breast cancer and their partners, caregivers and healthcare providers.
University
of
Chicago
Presents Breast Cancer Genetics Lecture Series
Don't miss the 4th Annual Charles B. Huggins Lecture Series presented by the
University
of
Chicago
and the University of Chicago Hospitals. This year the lecture series will explore
breast cancer from the perspective of genetics. Landmark experiments that show
how genetics controls the development of normal breast cells, and how genetic
changes promote breast tumors will be discussed. This upcoming series is free
of charge and open to the public.
"Breast Cancer: The Genetics of a Disease" Lecture Series
Beginning January 14, 2006 / Ending March 4, 2006
Saturdays: 11 a.m. - Noon
University
of
Chicago Hospitals
,
Billings
Auditorium, AMB P117
For more information, contact Tina Turner at 773-702-9457.
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Y-ME
Illinois
is a proud member of Community Health Charities, the largest workplace giving
program dedicated solely to health causes.
www.healthcharitiesillinois.org
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Opportunities to Participate in Research*
*Y-ME Illinois does not endorse the organizations or studies below.
Quality of Life in Cancer Patients
To improve the management of symptoms and quality-of-life problems in cancer
patients, Caracal, Inc. is working with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to
develop integrated, computerized and ongoing patient-reported outcome solutions
to provide timely, efficient, individualized information for monitoring patient
progress and improving decision making in routine oncology patient care. Caracal
is currently partnering with Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Hospital
and Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization on this endeavor and is actively
recruiting breast cancer patients to participate various research tasks.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Dr. Chih-Hung Chang at
(312) 503-4354 (chchang@northwestern.edu) or Sheila Hyland at (312) 503-4623 (s-hyland@northwestern.edu).
Breast Cancer Clinical Trial Continues at the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research
at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare form of breast cancer, which is more aggressive
and carries a poorer prognosis with the standard treatments than the more common
forms of breast cancer at the same stage. There is wide agreement that new/intensive
treatment is necessary to try to improve the chances of cure. Preliminary results
on this experimental trial are, so far, encouraging but require confirmation.
Y-ME ShareRing Network
A free, monthly one-hour teleconference, offered by Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization,
featuring a breast cancer related presentation by a medical professional followed
by a question and answer session. The call then ends with small discussion groups.
ShareRing Network Teleconference Schedule:
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Judith Wolfman, MD, Diagnostic Radiologist
Lynn Sage Breast Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
"Update on Breast Imaging"
Transcriptions are now available! To read transcriptions of past ShareRing Network teleconferences, click here.
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We also post additional events online:
February 11, 2006
4th Annual Tasting Stars
7:00 p.m.
Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Celebrate Valentine's Day in style and support Y-ME Illinois at the 4th Annual
Tasting Stars champagne tasting. Enjoy a variety of fine champagnes while taking in a spectacular
view of Chicago from high above Michigan Avenue. Proceeds from this event benefit
Y-ME Illinois. For more information visit www.tastingstars.org or contact Ciara McGrath at (312) 364-9071 or cmcgrath@y-me.org.
April 29 - May 2, 2006
2006 NBCCF Annual Advocacy Training Conference - Washington, DC
Scholarships are available to assist with costs of attending!
Join the IlliNOISY delegation as we take our voices to Capitol Hill in the fight
against breast cancer! Don't miss this tremendous opportunity to connect with
breast cancer advocates from around the country & get up-to-date information
on breast cancer research and health policy developments. For more information
contact Alicia at ahuguelet@y-me.org or visit www.stopbreastcancer.org.
May 14, 2006 - Mother's Day
Y-ME RACE Against Breast Cancer
1 or 3 mile walk / 5k run
9:00 a.m.
Chicago's Grant Park
The Y-ME RACE is a truly meaningful way to spend Mother's Day morning - paying
tribute to a loved one who has been touched by breast cancer and helping to ensure
that no one faces breast cancer alone.
Y-ME Illinois does not necessarily endorse the content listed below. We would
also like to remind our readers about the importance of reading reports regarding
the latest research with a critical eye. Reports are sometimes based on preliminary
results or based on small samples. It's also important to remember that "association"
does not equal "causation." Happy reading!
Drug OK'd to Fight Breast Cancer Relapse
Women now have another drug they can take to prevent breast cancer from returning
after surgery to remove the tumor. Read more.
New Drug Points Up Problems in Developing Cancer Cures
Despite promising discoveries and multibillion-dollar investments, cancer research
is quietly undergoing a crisis. Federal drug regulators will soon announce several
initiatives that they hope will help salvage the field. Read more.
Affluence, not pollutants, likely behind U.S. breast cancer clusters
An affluent lifestyle - not exposure to common environmental toxins - is likely
behind high rates of breast cancer clustered in certain areas of the United States,
a series of long-term studies has found. Read more.
Passive smoking is breast cancer risk factor
The results of studies "with thorough passive smoking exposure assessment" indicate
that passive smoking raises the risk of breast cancer, especially in premenopausal
women, to a similar degree as active smoking. Read more.
Fewer Breast Cancer Patients to Get Chemo
For years, doctors have known exactly what to do with breast cancer patients
like Eva Ossorio: Poison them. Blasting women with toxic chemicals was considered
the best way to save their lives. The bigger the cancer or the more it had spread,
the more vile liquid doctors pumped into their veins to try to kill it. But there's
been a sea change in the last year.
Read more.
Breast cancer drug looks more promising
The drug Herceptin, already viewed as promising for women with both early- and
late-stage breast cancer, has gotten another boost with new research showing that
the heart damage it sometimes causes might be avoidable. It also might still be
effective when given for a shorter time, a finding that could drastically lower
the cost of the pricey treatment. Read more.
Two Types of Breast Cancer Treatments Show Similar Benefit
Results from a clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of the drugs paclitaxel
and docetaxel, delivered over two different dosing schedules, showed that both
drugs — regardless of the dosing schedules tested in this trial — provided similar
benefits for women with stage II or III, operable breast cancer. Read more.
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Illinois
Affiliate of Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization
203 N. Wabash | Suite 1220 | Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-364-9071 | Fax: 312-364-9066
www.y-me.org/illinois
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Y-ME
National Breast Cancer Hotline
1-800-221-2141 (English)
1-800-986-9505 (español)
*Interpreters available in 150 languages |
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