TERRE HAUTE —
It’s not too late to take part in Saturday’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, an event to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer.
Up to 3,000 participants are expected to surround Indiana State University’s Memorial Stadium on the northeast corner of Wabash and Brown avenues for this year’s event, which raises funds for the Komen foundation’s Wabash Valley affiliate, which funds breast health testing, treatment and education in this area.
The Wabash Valley Komen organization, one of 120 in the U.S., serves Vigo and 10 surrounding counties. Over the past 15 years, it has provided more than $1.5 million for mammograms and other breast health services to needy women. It also has provided about $250,000 for research.
Komen funding goes where there is the greatest need, said Gwen Hicks, founder and development chair of the Wabash Valley affiliate. Some of the greatest needs in this area include a lack of access to service, especially for women in rural areas, a lack of health insurance to pay for mammograms and a need for better breast health education, Hicks said.
“Every dollar is important to us,” Hicks said, noting that the Wabash Valley is above the national average for instances of breast cancer.
The Clara Fairbanks Center for Women is one of many grant recipients of Wabash Valley Komen funding. Last year, the center, which is part of Union Hospital, used Komen grant money to provide about 175 mammograms and dozens of diagnostic biopsies. The center also used Komen dollars to provide personal care items for women through the Clara Fairbanks boutique.
“We’ve got everything they’ve got in bigger cities,” said Lydia Kruse, manager of the Clara Fairbanks Center for Women. “We have the passion and we feel the need.”
The need for educating women and even doctors about early breast cancer detection is critical, Hicks said. Women over 40 are encouraged to have an annual mammogram, but even those younger can be affected by breast cancer. Women and doctors need to be more assertive about having tests whenever they feel something may be wrong, she said.
“We’re out there providing education,” Hicks said, adding that when breast cancer is caught early the cure rate is very high. The goal is to find a cancer when it’s very tiny, something new digital mammography machines are able to do, she said.
Digital equipment shows “a lot more detail,” said Michelle McCrea, a mammography technologist at the Clara Fairbanks Center and also a member of the Wabash Valley Komen for the Cure board. “That has been a big improvement.”
The Clara Fairbanks Center has three digital mammography machines and is able to see hundreds of women each week. On average, about five or six new cancers are detected weekly, Kruse said, adding that a large team of doctors and other healthcare specialists meet each week to discuss those new cases.
October is breast cancer awareness month and pink will be everywhere from NFL football uniforms to the top of the Vigo County Courthouse. The idea is to remind women and their families of the need for breast health exams. It’s also to remember those who are going through breast cancer treatment and those who have passed away from the disease.
The Komen store at The Meadows in Terre Haute, operated by a volunteer staff, is a source for educational materials, moral support and pink Komen merchandise designed to promote breast health.
The goal of the Komen organization is to make breast cancer mortality a thing of the past, Hicks said. “That’s what we’re working for,” she said. “A world without cancer.”
Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at 812-231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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Over there: Monte McDonald and Gwen Hicks talk about preparations for Saturday’s Race for the Cure at Terre Haute’s Memorial Stadium. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Preparations: Ivy Tech Community College Wabash Valley nursing students Jonra Michalski, Nikita Hayes and Brandy Mithe set flags along the Indiana Mile walking path in preparation for Saturday’s Race or the Cure.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Tying one on: Ivy Tech Community College Wabash Valley nursing students Fawn Faulstich and Kelsie Simonson tie pink ribbons around trees at Terre Haute’s Memorial Staduim on Thursday morning in preparation for Saturday’s race for the Cure.
Discussion
Komen supporters make pink preparations
Up to 3,000 expected for Saturday’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
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