Oregon is 5th in the nation for breast cancer incidence. Each week in Oregon 51 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 9 will die from the disease. Marion County is first in Oregon! Dallas is also a hotspot for breast cancer in Polk County.
Join with your friends, your family, your neighbors and other supporters of breast cancer screening. Spend a wonderful morning together walking an easy, pleasent route. While you’re having a great time, you’ll know that 100% of your registration fee is helping local women get the breast cancer screening they need. Kid and pet friendly!
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The Discover Pink Walk route map is here. The entire route is flat, stroller and wheelchair friendly, and designed so you can walk the full 3.7 mile loop or any part of it. A turnaround is built in at 2.6 miles. The full route will take you through some beautiful old Salem neighborhoods, on to the Saturday Market, and then to turn around at Willson Park, next to the Capitol Building.
A link to parking lots convenient in the YWCA area will be added soon. The lots are within easy walking distance, plus plenty of street parking is available.
With the economic slump and the increasing cost of health insurance, this year’s clients are mostly women who’ve recently lost their insurance. They’ve been laid off, their insurance co-pay has become prohibitive, their employer can no longer afford to offer health insurance, or their work hours have been reduced so they no longer qualify for insurance.
But they still need breast cancer screening. That’s where you can help!
Using funds from the Discover Pink Walk, Play for the Cure http://www.playforthecure.com/ and other resources, the YWCA Salem Women’s Health Program provided 205 clinical breast exams, 209 mammograms and 29 ultrasounds to 266 local women in the first six months of 2010. These funds provide many more exams and mammograms than they normally would, because we also receive discounts and free exams from very generous local medical providers. In particular, Salem Radiology Associates has been a spectacular partner this year!
In past years, we have provided breast exams and mammograms primarily to women who are under 40 and who have symptoms of breast cancer. However, this year we are providing breast exams and mammograms to women of all ages who are uninsured and who either have symptoms or haven’t had a breast exam in two years. (The Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Program exists, but it is only for women aged 50 – 64 and there are less than 8,000 breast cancer screenings available for the entire state this year.)
Last November and December, we were shown the two sides of breast cancer screening for women who have no insurance. In November, a woman walked into our office who had been worrying about a lump in her breast for five months. It was obvious that she was jaundiced – her skin and eyes were yellow from her impaired liver. We helped her by advocating an emergency enrollment with an Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Program medical provider, and she was scheduled immediately for a breast exam. She was in the hospital within three days of her visit with us. But it was too late for her. Breast cancer had spread to her liver and several other organs. She was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, and died before Christmas.
But then, in December, another woman found a lump in her breast. Shortly after that, she was driving past the YWCA, when she noticed our “Free Mammograms” sign. She called us, and we provided vouchers for her breast cancer screening. She needed a biopsy and was enrolled in the Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. She was diagnosed with stage I breast cancer. Her surgery was done and she was home by Christmas, and she later completed chemotherapy and radiation.
We hope to see you at the Discover Pink Walk on Saturday, October 9th.
Please remember that Susan G. Komen Oregon and SW Washington affiliate is also having the inaugural Eugene Race for the Cure this year. If you would like to have a Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend, a perfect plan would be the Discover Pink Walk on Saturday as a nice warm-up, then the Eugene Race for the Cure on Sunday as your big run!
Please note our wonderful sponsors below! |
