Breast Cancer: Facts, Early Detection and Treatment Interview with Dr. Proctor, Surgical Oncologist at Henry Ford Hospital
Sista Strut Walk 2014 Frankie Darcell leads the way to Breast Cancer Awareness
Stories from the Community Words of Courage, Faith and Survival Photo by: Montez Miller
Living Well Through Awareness
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Living Well by Faith
Sista Strut: Strutting for Breast | Cancer Awareness Breast Cancer: Facts, Early Detection | and Treatment
| Coping with Hair Loss from Chemotherapy
By Cathy Nedd
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elcome to Living Well. Recognized as the single most credible source of fitness, health and nutrition information for African Americans, each edition is crafted to provide insight into health disparities impacting African Americans and methods on prevention and treatment. There is a growing need for health awareness in our community. The mission of Living Well is to provide our readers with a wealth of information that enables them to live healthier and happier lives. In these pages you’ll find content on health issues, healthy lifestyles and relatable personal stories from people in our community. Living Well isn’t just words on a page, it’s a lifestyle and the Michigan Chronicle takes pride in helping lead the way. Be healthy and Live Well.
Quick Facts about Breast Cancer in African American Women: • African American/Black women under the age of 40 have more aggressive and deadly tumors, need earlier, more frequent breast cancer screenings, and aggressive medical treatment to increase their survival advantages. • Black women have the highest death rates of all racial and ethnic groups and are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women • Signs of Breast Cancer include: -A lump in the pecs, chest, collarbone, nipples, torso, or underarms. -Discharge or fluid from the nipples that is bloody, clear, pus-like, or smells bad. -Skin changes that are bumpy, dark, different color, itchy, painful, rash-like, puckered, redness, sore/ul cer, shrunken, swollen, or tender. Source: African American Breast Cancer Alliance and CDC.gov
Publisher | Hiram E. Jackson Managing Editor | Tatiana Jackson Graphic Designer | Juan Sifuentes 2 LivingWELL • October 2014
Living Well by T
his month, Living Well spoke to courageous women, including Paulette Holloway, who have faced breast cancer to hear their survival stories. Paulette Holloway was born and raised in Highland Park, MI and a graduate of Highland Park High School. She has a passion for educating our youth, and for over 30 years has kept our youth active in basketball by coordinating the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball programs and serving as the athletic director for K-12 charter district. During a vacation to the Bahamas in May 2013, Paulette noticed blood in the top of her swimsuit from the right breast and there was itching as well. Upon returning, she contacted her OB/GYN, who ordered an ultrasound and a mammogram. The mammogram did not detect any breast cancer. However, the ultrasound showed a mass and a biopsy was done on her right breast. She was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, identified by Mayo Clinic as the earliest form of breast cancer. This means the cancer began in the milk ducts and started to spread further back into the breast, making the cancer invasive. Initially, her doctor ordered a lumpectomy and 25 rounds of radiation, but a review of the MRI of her right breast showed the cancer had spread deeper into her tissue and there were signs of cancer in her left breast. “I made the decision to have a bilateral mastectomy because I didn’t want to go through this again,” said Paulette, who opted for a bilateral mastectomy with transflap reconstruction. She has a team of doctors, an oncologist, a surgical oncologist and a plastic surgeon who reconstructed her breast tissue. What should have been an eight-hour process turned into a grueling 19 hours. Because of kidney failure and a collapsed lung, she said she “almost died.” Paulette’s doctor assured her that she would not have to have chemotherapy if the cancer did not spread to the lymph nodes. Not long after the surgery, testing results came back showing one cancerous lymph
node. She was subsequently prescribed six rounds of full chemotherapy and 10 rounds of Herceptin. Sadly, during Paulette’s stay in the hospital she contracted a MRSA infection, a strain of staph bacteria, causing her to have a picc line, a tube accessing the vein, where she had to inject herself with antibodies every three hours. “I had to set my alarm for every three hours to ensure I was taking my medication,” she recalled. Paulette’s chemotherapy did not start until November, although she completed her bilateral mastectomy in July. “I had to heal first before I could start chemotherapy,” she said. Due to the MRSA infection, the fat transferred to reconstruct her breast tissue would die, causing open wounds. This infection “is something my doctors think I got while in the hospital, it happens a lot.” Two nurses would come out every week, one would check the picc line and the other would assist Paulette with the care of her wounds. Once chemotherapy started, by January the medication started to take it’s toll. The side effects included fainting, nausea and loss of hair. The chemotherapy lasted from October 13, 2013 to October 14, 2014. The intense treatment “makes, you feel like you want to die,” said Paulette, a firm believer in faith which she says helped her get through this extremely challenging chapter of her life. In addition, she benefited from using Facebook, where she spoke candidly about her experiences and received an enormous amount of support. “I live in faith, not fear,” she said. Paulette Holloway’s last treatment was October 13 and she in the process of embracing her life as it now is. “I am blessed to see each new day and am looking forward to whatever God has in store for me,” she said. Photo by: Montez Miller LivingWELL • October 2014 3
Sista Strut:
Struting for Breast Cancer Awareness
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or the past 17 years, Frankie Darcell, Mix 92.3 radio personality, has organized the Sista Strut, bringing women together to raise money, increase awareness and create a platform of support for women affected by breast cancer. This year the event took place October 4 at Detroit Riverfront: Rivard Place. Donations benefited the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Darcell recalls when her mother, Rosa, was first diagnosed with breast cancer. She said, “I dropped her off at Karmanos and her doctor called me to come back right away.” Dr. Lisa Newman, a physician at Karmanos at the time, told Darcell that her mother, at age 65, had breast cancer. The news was shocking, but not devastating because Darccell “claimed she was going to be a survivor.” The emotional drain breast cancer has on loved ones can be overwhelming. “I had everything but the cancer, because you’re right there in it. You have to have a network of people,” she said. Darcell began speaking out about breast cancer awareness and promoting Sista Strut in 2003. “You couldn’t say the word breast on the radio,” she says, thinking about how far breast cancer awareness has come. She enjoyed supporting women with breast cancer while expanding awareness, but as the years went on “a lot didn’t make it.” Darcell’s mother has been in remission for 15 years. This year Sista Strut kicked off Friday, October 3, with a gala featuring Jasmine Sullivan and Tracie Braxton. Sandra Whisonant is a friend of Frankie Darcell, dating back to college. They played basketball and have stayed in touch throughout the years. Every year, Darcell, Whisonant and other women 4 LivingWELL • October 2014
from college come together to get up to date and enjoy each other’s company. Whisonant was in the shower and noticed a lump on her right breast in October 2003. She decided to have a mastectomy of her right breast. At the time she had an 8-year-old daughter who did not fully understand what breast cancer was but knew her mother was in pain. In 2005, Whisonant’s annual mammogram found another lump in her left breast, which she also had removed and underwent chemotherapy. After the second mastectomy, her doctor said she was “cancer free.” “Cancer-free does not mean you don’t have cancer, it means the machine did not scan any cancer,” she clarified. In 2008, Whisonant felt a hard lump under her arm and was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, which had spread to her liver and lungs. “It’s a diagnosis, it’s only what you let it be,” she said. Whisonant was told she had four years to live after being diagnosed with the last stage of cancer. Six years later, is still jogging, visiting her daughter at Southern University and her friends when her energy level is high. At this stage Sandra Whisonant’s doctors at the Cancer Center of America are trying two different alternatives to prolong her life. “I live for today and keep my mind on God and that keeps my peace,” she Sandra W hisonan said. t
Frankie Darcell
LivingWELL • October 2014 5
Breast Cancer: Facts, Early Detection and Treatment By Tatiana Jackson
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hen looking into treatment for breast cancer, the options can be overwhelming. Living Well spoke with breast cancer surgical oncologist Erica N. Proctor, M.D., to get a better understanding of the disease and the process of treatment and the research to find a cure.
Dr. Proctor joined the comprehensive medical team at Josephine Ford Cancer Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Previously, she worked for the University of Michigan Health System and began work at Henry Ford in September. She performs breast surgery at Henry Ford Hospital, and sees patients in clinic each week at Henry Ford Medical Center- New Center One in Detroit and Henry Ford Medical Center- Fairlane in Dearborn. Erica N. Proctor, M.D.
Dr. Proctor also serves as the director of the Breast Cancer Disparities Research, focusing on opportunities to improve access to screening and treatment to improve breast cancer health outcomes in southeastern Michigan. In particular she focuses on the breast cancer disparity rate and mortality rate in African American women and women of any underrepresented minority group. She said, African American “have a higher mortality from breast cancer than white American women.” There are several factors to explain why underrepresented minorities suffer more, including socioeconomic factors. These factors impact access to healthcare, poverty, and insurance status. African Americans are more likely to be uninsured in comparison to White Americans, making it more difficult to access the healthcare system. These factors create barriers to annual mammogram screening and clinical care, delaying early detection and treatment, leading to a higher mortality rate. In addition to the socioeconomic factors, African American women are typically diagnosed with more aggressive breast cancer tumors. Dr. Proctor’s research in Africa was primarily driven to find links between African ancestry and more biological aggressive disease. Dr. Proctor travels to Ghana each year to continue work on this research project. African Americans have a much higher chance of being diagnosed with biological aggressive disease, which is breast cancer that is negative for the hormone receptors and negative for her2 neu, also known as triple negative breast cancer. The warning signs of breast cancer include: • A lump or a hard mass inside the breast or the underarm area, 6 LivingWELL • October 2014
• Swelling, warmth, redness, darkening, a change of size of one breast to the other • Dimpling or puckering of the skin, • Itchy rash or sore around the nipple of the breast If you experience any of these signs, you should seek medical attention immediately. Breast cancer can spread to other parts of the body, typically to the lymph nodes in the underarm area and is usually checked by a biopsy. A biopsy is when a physician takes a sample of the tissue and runs a test to see if it is positive for cancer. Other organs that are affected by the spread of breast cancer are the lung, liver, bone or brain. Screenings such as mammograms and clinical breast exams are very important in the early detection of breast cancer. Dr. Proctors says, “When breast cancer is found early, it gives the best treatment options and better outcomes for our patients.” High-risk patients are women who have two or more breast cancer relatives, a relative diagnosed with ovarian cancer or a “first-degree relative”, such as a mother or sister who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40 or younger. Those who are not high- risk should start having clinical breast exams at the age of 20 and every three years after, self- breast exams monthly and annual mammograms at 40 years old. In the United States, White American women are diagnosed at higher rates than African American women, but the mortality rate is much higher in African American women and diagnosed with breast cancer at an earlier age. What is being done to narrow the gap of mortality among African American women? The reform of healthcare is improving access to screenings, increasing early detection in African American women. In addition, researchers, such as Dr. Proctor are looking at factors of biological aggressive disease to target for new medication. These drugs would help narrow the gap between women who are not diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer and those who are, typically African American women. For more information about the care provided by the Josephine Ford Cancer Institute or to schedule an appointment, visit www. HenryFord.com/Cancer.
Coping with Hair Loss from Chemotherapy H
air loss can be distressing. According to the American Cancer Society, not all chemo drugs will make a person lose their hair. Some people have mild thinning that only they notice. A doctor will be able to tell you if chemo is likely to cause hair loss.
If the hair is lost, it will almost always grow back after the treatments are over, but it might be a different color or texture. Hair can be lost on all parts of the body, not just the scalp. Eyelashes and eyebrows, arm and leg hair, underarm hair, and pubic hair all may be affected. Hair loss usually doesn’t happen right away. More often, it starts after a few treatments. At that point, the hair may fall out slowly or in clumps. Some people shave their heads when this happens. Any hair that remains may become dull and dry. Things that may help with hair loss: • Use mild shampoos. • Use soft-bristle hairbrushes. • Use low heat if you must use a hair dryer. • Don’t use brush rollers to set your hair. • Don’t dye your hair or get a perm. • Have your hair cut short. A shorter style will make your hair look thicker and fuller. It also will make hair loss easier to deal with if it does happen.
• Use a sunscreen, hat, scarf, or wig to protect your scalp from the sun.
• You may be able to buy a wig or hairpiece at a specialty shop for cancer patients.
• Use a satin pillowcase.
• A salesperson may be able to come to your home to help you. • If there is a preference for borrowing rather than buy a wig or hairpiece, check with the social work department at the treatment center.
Sometimes, either during the regrowth of the hair or when a person are bald, the scalp may feel extra tender, dry, and itchy. It may help to keep the scalp clean by using a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. Also, use gentle creams or lotions on the scalp as needed. Even a gentle scalp massage may make the scalp feel better. After chemo, hair texture and fullness may change. Hair dyes contain chemicals that can damage hair. There is no research that supports hair dye doing more damage to hair after chemo, but most doctors recommend patients do not color their hair until it returns to normal, which may be as long as six months after treatment.
If you need a hairpiece because of cancer treatment, it is a tax-deductible expense. It may also be at least partly covered by a patient’s health insurance. Be sure to check your policy, and ask your doctor to write a prescription for a “hair prosthesis,” not for a “wig.”
If hair is lost, should the head be covered? Some people who lose all or most of their hair choose to wear turbans, scarves, caps, wigs or hairpieces. Others leave their heads uncovered. Still others switch back and forth, depending on whether they are in public or at home with family and friends. Following are tips for those who choose to their head with a wig hairpiece. • Shop for the wig or hairpiece before losing a lot of hair so that the natural color, texture and style can be matched. LivingWELL • October 2014 7
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