Women Rock for the Cure seeks to heighten awareness

By A. David Dahmer

The diagnosis of breast cancer is not a death sentence; not by a long shot. The numbers of people both surviving and thriving after that diagnosis are large and becoming larger every day. But early detection is the key. And the first step in early detection is awareness.
That is the goal of the Madison Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation: to raise the level of awareness about breast cancer. To accentuate this point, the second annual Light the Town Passionately Pink for the Cure will take place this weekend. The Capitol Building will once again be lit up pink and there will be a huge pink ribbon on the University of Wisconsin-Madison Field House, but this year there will be more.
This year will feature an inaugural event — Women Rock for the Cure — which will take place at music venues throughout the city. The organizers are excited to really engage people in a weekend to fight breast cancer as they continue to highlight October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
 "We felt like we needed an event around this. We were like, 'Wow, the Capitol is pink and we're really creating awareness, but we can do more,'" says Laura Richards, development director at Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "Let's have something more going on downtown to make it more exciting."
Twenty different venues throughout the city will host live music and entertainment acts, and they will donate at least $1 of their cover charge to the Komen Foundation. "It's wonderful to have so many different venues that will not only be having great entertainment but will [also] be creating awareness," Richards says. "Two of them will just be doing drink and meal specials because they can't have live entertainment but still wanted to participate, but the rest will all be having bands."
This weekend, you will know you are at a Women Rock for the Cure event if pink is the dominant color of the establishment you are visiting.
"We have had wonderful reception; all of the establishments have been so supportive," Richards says. "They want more pink lights to decorate the bar, they're going to do pink drink specials. It's been really nice."
Educational information will be available at the sites, as space permits. "We'll have a group of student ambassadors that will make a stop at every venue and do a quick little informational piece on the mic and walk around and talk to people who are there at the establishment," Richard says.
Michelle Heitzinger, executive director of the Madison Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure  Foundation, hopes that people will keep the awareness going for more than one day. "We want everybody to light the town pink for the whole month," Heitzinger says. "If you have a neighbor that is afraid to get a mammogram, go with her. Or if she doesn't know where to go, schedule it: Go to our Web site. The message for this month is: It's time to talk about it."
Charter and Midwest Family Broadcasting have been tapped to be two of the main sponsors for Women Rock for the Cure. "When you have those two groups in your corner, you really can't lose," Heitzinger says.
Heitzinger says the Komen Foundation has been making a stronger campaign to appeal to and get information out to minorities. Due to a wide variety of factors, many of them media-related, breast cancer has come to be seen as a "White women's disease." The agency has been making a real effort to show that breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis among African American women.  Likewise, they are making inroads into the Latino community and recently had a big presence at the Latino Health Fair.
"A lot of Latina women were asking what were the biggest risk factors for breast cancer, and the real answer is being a woman and getting older — two things we have no control over," Heitzinger says. "[We encourage] leading a healthy lifestyle and talking things over with your doctors."
While many women — minority and White alike — believe that the ultimate risk is having it in your family history, that is simply not true, says Heitzinger. Only one in 20 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer has a family history of it. "So 19 in 20 women have no family history. "A lot of these women think 'I don't have it in my family, so I don't have to worry about it,'" she says. "But you do. That's a big message that we would like to get out there."
Statistics show that overall, when African American women are diagnosed, they have larger tumors and their breast cancer has spread further (e.g. to the lymph nodes and to other parts of the body). This is unfortunate, because when breast cancer is discovered at more advanced stages, it is more difficult to treat and survival rates are lower.

Studies have also shown that when African American women follow the same preventive measures as White women, their breast-cancer survival rates are very similar. However, there's often a problem of people not understanding preventive care, something the Foundation hopes to change.
"It's so important to catch it early," says Richards, who lost a brother-in-law to colon cancer. "Everything is so much more curable if it's caught early. That's what we're trying to do. Let people know that early detection can save your life. Get that mammogram and look for signs if something is different or if something changes with your body."
In more than 18,000 communities across the U.S., more than 75,000 Susan G. Komen for the Cure volunteers work to help fund breast-cancer education, screening, and treatment projects for those who need it most. Over the past five years, Komen for the Cure affiliates, working in concert with local organizations, have awarded more than $160 million in needs-based community grants.
While the foundations are pushing early detection, they also want people to get checked out earlier in life. Typically, 40 is a good age to start getting tested, but if there is a history of breast cancer in the family, 35 is better. 
Actress Christina Applegate, who recently shared her story on "Oprah," was 35 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. "We're seeing the face of the young survivor," Heitzinger says.  "Susan Komen was 36 when she died."
Susan Komen, in whose name the Foundation was created, died in 1978. A promise between Susan Goodman Komen and her sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker, led to the establishment of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982. "There was no Internet. There wasn't a support group," Heitzinger says. "Nobody was saying the words 'breast cancer' out loud. The awareness has changed, and we hope to keep doing that."
"A lot of the literature says get a mammogram at 40," Heitzinger adds. 'We're just preaching to know your breasts and know what they are like — not just weekly, but daily. You have the power to take your life into your hands, and that is what we want you to do."
This is just a little bit of the information the women hope to get across in the first annual Women Rock for the Cure.
 "The goal is to create awareness and to let people know that we are here throughout the year as a resource for them — and that we can help," Richards says.
 "It's a night out in fun, but it's also a night for awareness," Heitzinger adds. "It's a chance to get people talking, even if it's in a casual setting, about early detection, screening, [and] talking about those who have survived it. That's the mission of this night."
Madison residents who wish to support the event can light their homes, offices, and businesses in pink by purchasing pink lights. Orange Tree Imports and Madison Lighting are selling pink lights leading up to the Oct. 10 event.  A portion of all sales will benefit the Madison Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.