| Our Board |
Board of Directors
President: Ann Hernick
Treasurer: Lisa Starkey Finance Chair: Betty TonneSecretary: Dayle BaxterNBCC Board Rep: Kathy BallAdvocacy: Linda CroucherAdmin. Asst: Gwen Pietzuch |
Our Newsletter
Contributors
|
Linda Croucher
Ann Hernick
Laura Nickolaides
Sara Paxton
Gwen Pietzuch
|
|
Special Thank You.
The Breast Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati (BCA) counts on the generous support from our members and friends each year. We could not continue to achieve our mission without these financial donations. An annual letter of appeal and membership renewal is sent out each year in December and we thank all of you for your response.
We have listed all of those who made special gifts In Memory Of, In Honor Of or who made a significant contribution during the past year. Please click here for that listing.
We would also like to highlight two fundraisers that were recently held to support the work of the BCA:
Have a Heart Fund Raiser
On February 12, 2010, Jeff Hansee and "committee" held a "Memorial for Breast Cancer Victims and a Celebration for the Survivors Fundraiser", called Have a Heart. The event was held at Molloy's on the Green and three bands, aFterLiFe, Restless Day and Gil's Variety Store, donated their time and TALENT to keep the crowd on their feet throughout the evening.  Masters of Ceremonies were Brian and Bob Benintendi, who also contributed their energy and personalities to make this fundraiser a huge success. There was a poster board on display which contained the names and/or pictures of those who have lost their life to breast cancer, those currently in treatment, and of survivors of the disease. The event was so well planned and organized, everyone had a blast, and the BCA was very lucky to have been the beneficiary of this great event!
Brighton Collectibles Donation
Colleen M. Quigley, Brighton Collectibles Store Managing Partner at the Kenwood Towne Center, and her staff held "mini-fund raisers" througho ut the month of October 2009, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and graciously selected the Breast Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati to be recipient of their efforts. Their donation was very generous and is being accepted in the photo above by Gwen Pietzuch, Administrative Assistant for the Breast Cancer Alliance. Thank you Brighton Collectibles - we greatly appreciate your generosity! | |
Every year, the BCA awards scholarships to women who are interested in going to the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Fund's Annual Advocacy Training Conference and Lobby Day in Washington, DC. This year's conference will be held May 22-25. The conference is a three-day event, with the fourth day of the conference spent on Capitol Hill lobbying for the legislative priorities set forth by NBCC.
For more information about the conference click here:
http://takeaction.stopbreastcancer.org/site/PageServer?pagename=2010Conference#Program
The NBCC's legislative priorities for 2010 are: Guaranteed Access to Quality Health Care for All, and $150 million in level funding for FY 2011 for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program. In addition to these legislative priorities, NBCC has chosen to focus on several issues as public policy priorities. These include a Breast Cancer Prevention Initiative; preservation of the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program; and Consumer Involvement in all appropriate venues where decisions about healthcare and research are made.
As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done on Capitol Hill! Congratulations to this year's scholarship recipients, Becky Brooks, Peggy Isenogle, Jan Ludwig, and Betty Tonne and Gwen Pietzuch. In addition to these scholarship recipients, NBCC Board Members Kathy Ball and Ann Hernick, as well as NBCC Ohio Field Coordinator, Linda Croucher will also be attending the conference.
|
BCA's Annual Survivorship Celebration
Please save the date for October 23, 2010 to join members of the BCA at this annual celebration to be held at the Clovernook Country Club. While we are changing the time of year and location for this year's celebration, what will remain the same are many of the features that make this event so popular such as an educational component, awards given to community
members and the traditional Rose Ceremony honoring breast cancer survivors.
The highlight for many is the opportunity to be surrounded by the strong women and men who are faced with the challenges of breast cancer. It is truly a celebration of survivorship.
|
BCA loses Former Board Member
Dorie Ach
By Sara Paxton
The BCA lost a former Board Member, Dorie Ach, on Feb.10th. She served as Board Secretary. Dorie had been an English teacher and was Editor of Wyoming Living Magazine for 17 years. Her editorial training showed, as she took great care to get all the facts exactly right. She also used her writing skills to help the Survivorship Celebration Committee with the awards program.
 When I met Dorie 11 years ago, we quickly discovered we were both breast cancer survivors and former magazine editors. I brought her in to the BCA, and she invited me to join her yoga class and an investment club.
About ten years ago Dorie was diagnosed with another cancer, mantel cell lymphoma. She was told this would likely take her life in a couple of years. She lived for ten years, through three rounds of diagnosis and treatment. She was able to enjoy her grandson, who is now age six.
Dorie took charge of her case, and in the process she taught me some cancer coping skills.
She taught me to research, to network, to take a holistic approach to treatment, and to be my own best advocate. Together we attended many programs at The Wellness Center, as well as BCA programs and the NBCC Conference in Washington. We both took lots of notes in order to summarize several presentations for the BCA Bulletin.
Dorie reached out to many other cancer patients as both a listener and a counselor. In doing so she continued to expand her vast network of friends.
Over the years Dorie listened to me a lot. She was my walking partner. On the streets of Wyoming we solved all the world's problems.
I am thankful to call myself a friend of Dorie Ach.
|
 Hot Topics
Aspirin and Breast Cancer Recurrence
Simple aspirin may be helpful in preventing breast cancer recurrence or metastasis, according to research from the Nurse's Health Study published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Aspirin use was associated with a decreased risk of distant recurrence and breast cancer death in this observational study of nurses, which included 4,164 who were diagnosed with breast cancer. The association was not significant with aspirin use once a week, but became significant for those taking aspirin 2-5 times per week, or 6-7 times per week.
Previous studies on aspirin use and breast cancer incidence have not found any conclusive link. However, researchers suggest that biological processes involved with metastasis may be different from those of the initial breast cancer, explaining why aspirin may impact one but not the other.
The investigators caution that this is an observational study and a clinical trial comparing aspirin use with a placebo is needed to determine if the effect is real before recommending use of aspirin to survivors.
To read about the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology: http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/JCO.2009.22.7918v1To read a news report in US News and World Report: http://www.usnews.com/articles/health/bernadine-healy/2010/02/18/aspirin-a-blockbuster-therapy-for-breast-cancer-survivors.html
Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and Survival
A study of 108,000 women who underwent mastectomy, including 9,000 who chose to remove a healthy breast along with the cancerous one, found that for most women, having the healthy breast removed (Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy or CPM) had no effect on long-term survival. However, there was a small subset of breast cancer patients where it did seem to make a difference, though a slight difference - women under 50 with early stage estrogen-receptor-negative tumors. CPM was associated with a small improvement in 5-year breast cancer-specific survival in these younger women with early-stageER-negative breast cancer. The study was published online in the Feb 25 issue of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. To read more about the study: http://tinyurl.com/yke3fhy
Back to Top
| |
|
|
Breast Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati (BCA) PO Box 42505 Cincinnati, OH 45242 513-530-0545
Editor: Conrad Neumann
email: bcacincy@yahoo.com
web site: www.bcacincy.org
|
|
|
