A Touchi ssue
Rilireens
Sinai, Hadassah and the American Cancer
Society bring self-examinations to high school.
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
M
Sponsors hope additional high schools in metro Detroit will re-
quest their service.
"We believe knowledge is power," said Beverly Fine of Hadas-
sah. "We want breast self-examinations to come as naturally to the
girls as brushing their teeth."
Two weeks ago, the 11th- and 12th-grade females at Harrison
High gathered in the auditorium to learn more about the disease
that strikes one in nine women during their lifetimes.
"A lot of girls get misinformation and they get frightened," said
Linda Diaz, coordinator of cancer counseling at Sinai. "We want to
give them a very realistic picture."
The students learned that not
all lumps in a breast are cancer-
ous. Most are benign cysts and fi-
brous tissue. Monthly breast
self-examinations (BSEs) are nec-
essary for detecting changes that
should raise a red flag, the sem-
inar speakers said.
As part of the "Check It Out"
program, Harrison students
viewed a short film showing them
how to conduct BSEs. Later that
hour, 30-year-old speaker Sue
Whear told the teen-age girls that
she had never done BSEs. Dur-
ing a routine medical check-up
two years ago, a doctor said she
C
B
ought to get started. Ms. Whear
followed his advice, and three
months later she detected a lump
Use your fingers to examine
in her breast. It turned out to be
both breasts according to the
malignant.
diagram above.
"I had always figured that I
was too young for breast cancer.
There was no history of cancer in
my family. I wasn't a smoker. I
wasn't in a high-risk category,"
she said.
Shortly after her diagnosis, Ms.
Whear underwent a mastectomy.
3. LYING DOWN:
She completed chemotherapy in
To examine your
May.
Recently engaged to be mar-
right breast, place a
ried next summer, Ms. Whear is
pillow or folded
optimistic about her future.
towel underneath
"Early detection is definitely the
your right shoulder
key,"
she told the girls. "Learn how
and place your
to do breast self-examinations and
right hand behind
keep doing them, religiously. I
your head. With
know they saved me."
fingers flat, press
elissa Greener of Farmington Hills is just 16, so she hasn't given
serious thought to breast cancer. As for monthly self-examinations?
Well, no. She doesn't do them on a regular basis. Neither do most
of her high school peers. But that might change.
On Sept. 22, Sinai Hospital, Hadassah and the American Can-
cer Society kicked off "Check It Out," a program that will take breast-
cancer education into metro Detroit high schools.
By the end of October — which is National Breast Cancer Aware-
ness Month — the 55-minute "Check It Out" presentations will
have targeted nearly 800 girls at Harrison, North Farmington and
Renaissance high schools.
BREAST CANCER DETECTION AWARENESS
HOW TO EXAMINE YOUR BREASTS:
1. IN THE SHOWER:
Examine the entire
area of each breast in
the bath or shower,
since fingers glide
more easily over wet
skin. Check for any
lump or thickening.
A
2. BEFORE A MIRROR:
Inspect your breasts first with arms over-
head, and then by placing hands on hips
and flexing your chest muscles. Look for
any changes, i.e. dimpling or swelling
T H E D E TRO
❑
AMCAN
ERI
tj CAN CER
? SOCIETY ®
each breast in
small, circular mo-
tions around an
imaginary clock
face. Repeat for the
left breast. Then,
squeeze each nip-
ple. Any discharge
should be promptly
reported to your
physician.
Hadassah is sponsoring breast
cancer awareness programs na-
tionally. For more information on
the "Check It Out" program, call
Hadassah's Greater Detroit
Chapter at (810) 683-5030 or 1-
800-357-2920. To math the Amer-
ican Cancer Society's regional
office in Southfield, call 1.800-925-
2271.