Breast Cancer Awareness Month events are underway
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Editor’s Note: More information on Breast Cancer Awareness Month is available on pages A11 and A12.
ELKINS – October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time well-known for pink ribbons, but the color and campaign carries a message that can save lives. Early detection remains one of our strongest weapons in the fight against breast cancer.
Breast cancer continues to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, about one in eight women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. Those numbers are sobering, but they are not without hope.
The survival rate for breast cancer has steadily improved over the years, largely because of advances in treatment and, most importantly, regular screening and early diagnosis.
In our local community, many activities take place each year to observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month and hopefully inspire women to have regular screenings.
Barbour Community Health Association (BCHA) hosted its annual Breast Cancer Awareness Drive‑Thru Event from 6-7 p.m. Oct. 9 at 70 North Sturmer Street in Belington.
This year’s theme, "Rooted in Hope, Growing in Strength," honored the deep roots of community support, the enduring power of hope, and the remarkable strength shown by survivors and fighters across Barbour County.
Screening mammograms are one of the best tools for detecting breast cancer in its earliest stages.
The Vandalia Health Mobile Mammography Unit will offer convenient, walk-in mammogram screenings to the public at several sites across West Virginia during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The unit was parked at Vandalia Health - Buckhannon Medical Care, on 11 North Locust St. on Tuesday. The unit will be back in Upshur County at Buckhannon Medical Care on Monday, Nov. 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
You may be eligible for a mammogram if you are a woman aged 40 and older, have not had a mammogram in the last 365 days, are not pregnant or breastfeeding, and are not experiencing breast issues such as lumps, discharge or pain.
The WVU Cancer Institute Mobile Cancer Screening Program’s Bonnie’s Bus mobile mammography units provide breast cancer screening throughout West Virginia, with a focus on rural communities.
The program has two RV-style units to provide mammograms in a comfortable, convenient setting for individuals who fall within screening guidelines. Screening is provided to people with private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, or those who qualify for the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program. Uninsured patients living in West Virginia who are age 40 and older can receive a screening mammogram on the Bus through the generosity of grant funding and donations.
The original Bonnie's Bus unit was established to honor Bonnie Wells Wilson, who succumbed to breast cancer in rural West Virginia because of limited access to screening mammography. Bonnie's daughter and son-in-law, Jo and Ben Statler, established Bonnie's Bus in 2009 with a generous donation to help prevent other families from losing a loved one to breast cancer.
Since 2009, Bonnie's Bus has provided more than 35,000 screening mammograms, detected close to 200 cases of breast cancer, and funded at least 2,700 mammograms through grant funding and donations.
Today, Bonnie’s Bus will be at Valley Health Care in Elkins from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Thursday, Bonnie’s Bus will be at Community Care of Buckhannon from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Monday and Tuesday, Bonnie’s Bus will be at Belington Medical Clinic from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, Bonnie’s Bus will be at Community Care of Buckhannon from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
And on Monday, Oct. 26, Bonnie’s Bus will be at Community Care of Green Bank from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Last month, Vandalia Health and Vandalia Health Network attended the West Virginia Breast Health Initiative's Breast Health Summit on Sept. 18. Hayley Stowe, MD, a radiologic oncologist at Vandalia Heath CAMC, presented on current trends in radiation oncology and keeping patients at the center of care.