YWCA hosts seminar, advocates
awareness
By Megan Finnerty
Features
Editor
An American dies of breast cancer every 12 minutes.
The loop of pastel pink ribbon so frequently worn this month, Breast
Cancer Awareness Month, represents this killer of so many mothers, sisters,
aunts and friends.
To mark this month's significance, Purdue and the
YWCA of Greater Lafayette are sponsoring several events beginning today
with the YWCA's Breast Cancer Symposium.
Author and seven-year survivor Suzanne Metzger
will speak about her personal experiences with breast cancer.
Registration for the lunch begins at 11:45 a.m.
at the YWCA at 605 N. Sixth Street in downtown Lafayette; the lunch
begins at noon.
Nicole Baker, the women's cancer program director
at the YWCA, expects about 125 people to attend Metzger's inspirational
and funny talk.
"When the YWCA received our breast health affiliate
grant, she spoke at the luncheon and I was very impressed with her,"
Baker said. "She's a great speaker. She has a great sense of humor and
is really optimistic."
The YWCA's Women's Cancer Program helps uninsured
women get yearly cancer screenings, a Pap smear and mammogram.
Purdue's Student Wellness Office will be marking
October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month by displaying the "Indiana
Faces of Breast Cancer" photomontage at the Recreational Sports Center
from 5 to 8 Monday evening.
Representatives will be on hand to answer questions
and share information until Wednesday night, when the display will be
moved to another location in Indiana.
Cari Egbert, a wellness education coordinator at
the Student Wellness Office, said her office is trying to inform college-aged
women about breast cancer because it is important to make self breast
exams a habit early in life.
"Our goal is educating college students about doing
self breast exams and getting a clinical breast exam," Egbert said.
"It's about finding out what's normal for your body by doing an exam
each month."
It is important to learn what is normal now, so
women can detect what is not normal later in life, she said.
The message to younger women is about early detection
because the earlier breast cancer is detected, the easier it can be
cured.
On Halloween, Hallowellness will take place at
the Recreational Sports Center and people will be there at a breast
cancer information table from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information about the YWCA's Women's Cancer
Program, call 742-4375 or go to bccpdir.dewi.com.
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