It’s on the move along the East Coast. The pink vehicle that resembles a mobile home and houses an interactive learning station to help people become more aware of breast cancer arrived at VCU last Thursday. Pink signifies the color of ribbons used to support the eradication of breast cancer.
This wireless interactive vehicle, loaded with computers, pamphlets and an educated staff, provides information about breast cancer, including what people can do to detect this cancer in its early stages.
“If detected early, breast cancer is very treatable, but the longer you wait and it goes undetected or untreated, you lose more options for treatment,” said Wendy Bouton, a nurse at the VCU Massey Cancer Center familiar with The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, sponsor of the 10-college tour.
Annual breast exams can help determine abnormalities, Bouton said, calling it crucial for women, especially college students, to understand the importance of yearly breast exams.
“(The fact that) one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime is a statistic that scares most women, but,” she said, “it is meant to bring attention to the seriousness of early detection so you are not a statistic.”
The vehicle includes computers displaying four Web sites that allow students to gain hands-on learning experience about the disease.
One site, for instance, contains information from people involved in fighting the disease. In turn, students can ask questions and give their own responses to questions.
Another Web site shows the proper way for a woman to self-examine her breasts and what to look for when doing so.
The third site offers students a chance to write to their local legislators to suggest what they think should be done about women’s health issues, while the last Web site shows them how to become involved with other events, such as a race for finding the cure for breast cancer.
Heather Taylor, a third-year business major, said the VCU stop was successful because students became comfortable and more knowledgeable about detecting and treating the disease.
“I was so amazed to find so much information on breast cancer and how many ways I can get involved to help,” she said.
Jacqueline Ragos, a peer health-educator at VCU’s Student Health Services, said the knowledge people can gain, especially from their own peers, can be really helpful in fighting the disease.
“Knowledge is the key to awareness,” Ragos said. “And young people need to be educated by experts and especially their peers. This tour has volunteers from the student health centers on every campus (of the 10 schools participating in the tour) so students can be more familiar with each other or with those (health care providers) they may see in the clinic.
“I feel that this helps take the edge off women who may feel like it’s strange or scary to get examined.”
At each stop on the tour, people can create and write words of encouragement on an 8-foot “graffiti wall” so they can share a memory – perhaps of a loved one – or just pledge their personal support to end breast cancer. Some of these “walls” will remain at VCU’s Health Center not only so students can observe what’s written on the walls, but also to remind them that they are not alone in facing health problems.
“Just by signing the wall, I felt like I gave some women more strength in dealing with breast cancer,” Taylor said.
Christopher Cayton, a senior art major, said he had to deal with a relative’s fear of being examined for the disease.
“One of my aunts was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999, and since then my sister was scared to even get an exam because of what she might find. I told her I would even go with her just so she could be sure that she is not alone,” he said. “I have been going with my sister each year to get her breasts examined. She loves the moral support.
“The support from men can also encourage women to take control of their own lives and take the time to get an exam. I also overheard some girl saying that it was nice to see so many guys wearing the pink ribbon. It made me feel even better about my support to the cause.”
One woman assisting the sponsoring group in promoting the tour, Abigail Hecht, an account executive for Fleishmen-Hillard Inc., an international communications company in New York City, strongly agrees that men’s support is just as important as women’s support for each other.
“Men should also get examined because they, too, are at risk for breast cancer,” she said. “Support from the man in a women’s life will help her become more comfortable with discussing or seeking treatment for breast cancer.”
Hecht also said it’s a rewarding experience just to be involved with the tour.
“I enjoy empowering younger people with knowledge about breast cancer so they can become more aware of how easily it can be dealt (with),” she said. “I also want women to know that they are not alone and can take control of their life and turn this fear into something positive. . . . The help is out there, the facts are out there and all people have to do is get those exams each year and encourage others to do the same.”
The pink vehicle will continue traveling the East Coast during September in its college tour. The next stop will be Sept. 20 at University of South Carolina.