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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-03-30, Page 24st For three years running, J a : t Holmes sent a ! s.ck Forest cake to a surgeon on the anniversary of the date that he had removed one of her breasts. This year, the fourth since her operation, Jill did not send the surgeon a cake. The London woman says that the fourth anniversary was not any less significant than the previous three. It's just that she was far too busy to send the cake because of her part-time job, hospital volunteer work, quilting lessons, church and club ac- tivities. The part-time statistician with the Department of Public Works is one of a dozen current members of Boson Buddies, a program for rna tectomees — people who have lost a breast — at the London YMCA -YWCA. The women meet once a week for a half hour of mina ming pool exercises, follow- ed by an hourlong meeting that features spe,kers, crafts, films or discussions. Now in its third year, the Bosom Buddies program is operated by Thehna Griffin of Lambeth who is the Cana- dian Cancer Society's Mastectomy Visiting Service Convener in the London area. Thelma has been a Mastectomy Visitor for the past 10 years officially, but in fact she's been visiting mastectomy patients since her own operation 20 years ago. "When I walk in and tell them I had my operation 20 years ago, they immediately perk up because I give them hope that they will be alive in years, too, and they care see it will be possible for them to Hook normal again," Thelma says. Mastectomy Visitors are women who ve had a breast removed, usually more than five years ago. They are able to reassure pa- tients and offer therm advice because they have been there themselv,•:;. The ser- vice was introduced by the Cana Cancer Society to give women a sympathetic and sanp:s;:le-tive source of in- formation when they may be at their lowest point. Thelma Griffin and the five other ac- tive Mastectomy Visitors in the London area visited 2 women last year. Holmes recalls her "deinghtf ; l surprise" when Thelma visited her three ys after her op :• ration. For the '7,Irt'cm women who will undergo breast surgery in S; t.:.,rio this year, the hours imm ;.3tely before and after the surgery are traumatic ones. How readily u� y Visitin a woman adapts de ., nds largely on how well adjusted she is, but even someone as positive in her outlook as Jill faces uncertainties. "You feel that the end of the world has come," she recalls. "You envision all sorts of terrible things. You think! It's right through me. I'm going to ,.i:e." The loving support of her husband, Beverly, and daughters, Debbie and Cheryl, helped Jill weather her personal storm. But some mastectomees aren't so lucky. Some women find that their husbands and children have rejected them in an ef- fort to overcome their own emotional conflict_ Accor- ding to Thelma Griffin, some Service women turn away from their husbands because they have groundless fears that their husbands will reject them. Happily, such cases are a minority and ° per cent of the mastectomees can count on receiving emotional sup- port from their families. Even those lucky enough to have caring families ap- preciate the helping hand of the Mastectomy Visiting Service. For many, the visit from the Cancer Society volunteer is their introduc- tion to breast prostheses, or artificial breast devices, and other services. The visit must be approved by the pa- tient's doctor. Only 2,000 of the more than 6,000 mastec- tomees in Ontario last year were visited by the Cancer Society's Mastectomy Visitors. Some hospitals operate their own services, but Thelma Griffin believes some physicians are in- sensitive to the psychological effects removal of a breast can have and to some of the physical concerns such as the need for specially designed or altered bras. ..They're not exactly tuned into how a woman feels a sut it," she explains. "It's part of your femininity. It af- fects fashion because clothing is designed to ac- centuate the bust and it af- fects your femininity and self-esteem because men are either interested in your breasts or your legs. It depends a lot on your own uebec group s hefts fun A Quebec -based organiz.::tion called the Cancer Research Incor- poration is presently soliciting funds by mail using the mailing list of the Times and Financial Post. While this group is a legal charitable organization, it is not affiliated with the Canadian Cancer Society or the National Cancer Institute. Of the money they raise, 29 per cent is used for administration costs (as opposed to only six per cent used by the Canadian Cancer Society for administration) and 95 per cent stays within the province of Quebec (although three small grants have been given to univer- sities in Toronto, Saskat- chewan and B.C.) . This Quebec -based group is also sending out In Memoriam donation cards to funeral homes in Ontario. On such cards, they use a symbol which is almost s identical to the Canadian Cancer Society's caduceus symbol. "This makes things very confusing for the donor," says Bob Montgomery, district director for the Ontario Division, Canadian Cancer Society. "This group is not illegal. All we are saying to the donor is beware. Money donated to this group is not likely to go to helping people in their own areas." Howard Aitken of Goderlcch centrep was recently presented with this certificate of service for servdng as publicity eh.errman for the a juuron Uinit of the Canadian Cancer Society from t ':, 7-t2, Wiam, at lei is ob M®lntgomery, district three err for Ihlntario Division and Mel Farnsworth, viae-chaiiratma n of "ne Huron Unit. (Photo by Jo;:,nne'=„uchanaup s reass psyche whether you can ac- cept it or not. ” The first visit from Thelma and her subsequent involvement in the Bosom Bud. es program at the YMCA -YWCA were very im- portant to Jill Holmes. "At first, I enjoyed ex- changing feelings with the other women. If you have had a twinge, you're relieved to hear that someone else has, too, because once you've had it you think maybe with every ache and pain that it's coming back. But now, I'm in a position where I think I can help the newer members of the group." Both Thelma and Jill feel the ideal time for the first visit is before the operation. Jill now feels she was "railroaded" into the opera- tion when she signed a con- sent form for a biopsy and mastectomy at the same time, not realizing she had any options. "I wish there had been a source of information in ad - paw 4 ante vane. You don't realize that you have rights. Maybe you want a tittle more time to think things through," she says. For Jill, learning that she required a mastectomy was especially distressing. When her biopsy was first analyz- ed, she was told she did not have a malignancy. She and her family had already celebrated with champagne when she discovered 10 days later that a mistake had en made. With the help of the Cana- dian Cancer Society's Mastectomy Visiting Service and her family and friends, Jill has recovered from the emotional and physical shock. Her scars have heal- ed and she now feels ready to help others overcome their problems. She shares a bond with the thousands of women visited by Thelma and the other volunteers in and around London. "You never forget it. No matter what. You just live with it," she explains. Examine breasts a from page 3 start you off on the right track by examining your breasts and then showing you how to do BSE. In ad- dition, your local Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society can provide pamphlets, films and other helpful rnaterial. When you practice BSE you quickly learn what is usual for you, so if anything unusual develops you'll scover it at a very early stage. If you do .. contact your doctor right away. Many doctors will see you the same day you call. AND THEN? Well, that depends. Your doctor may take an x-ray picture of your breast, using a modern technique called mammography, or xenography. Ultra -sound may be used, especially if your doctor thinks the lump is a cyst. If your doctor suspects a cyst, it can be easily drained with a needle. For other lumps your doctor may do a biopsy which in- volves removing tissue from the breast. Remember, in 85 percent of cases the lump is not cancerous. ANI W IT IS? Many women keep the lumps on their breast secret because they are frightened of mastectomy (surgical removal of breast tissue). They are especially frightened of radical mastectomy ( removal of the entire breast). It's true that this was the most common operation for breast cancer for many years. But times have changed. Today a doctor has three other choices depending on how early the Lump is found. the patient's age and the extent of the cancer: a lumpectomy, where only the tumour and a margin of breast tissue around it are removed, a simple mastectomy where the breast is remov s , or a modified mastectomy where the breast and glands are removed but the muscles are left. Often the breast can be rebuilt through plastic surgery after a mastectomy. In some cases your doctor will use radiation therapy instead and focus a radiation beam on the cancer at a dose which will destroy it with minimal damage to surrounding tissues. Or he may prescribe chemotherapy, an anti- cancer drug treatment. Remember, everything depends on regular breast self-examination and the early reporting of anything unusual. r n1:).tIl�nfl r ught t 11D you with the kind co-operation of the fll,, wing: pry e num 293 Main St., Exo?ev Phone 235-0620 GK Re Exeter 235-242 Gond Bend 238-84tt,4 Claenton 482-9747 G©devich 524-2118 Ity & I. IIP flee MICHAEL P. *''c 8ONTHRON CHAPEL 118 KING STREET HENSALL, ONTARIO NOM 1X0 TELEPHONE 262-2211 R FU !ERAL HOMES WESTLAKE CHAPEL 49 GOSHEN STREET, N ZURICH, ONTARIO NOM 2T0 TELEPHONE 236-4'W