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mmm - Orono Weekly Times, WednesdaySpebr2~19 October Breast Health Awareness Month Pat Irwin Lycett , Orono, tells her story Women Who face Breast Cancer Not Just Statîstîcs "October Breast Health'Awareness Montih" More and more Canadian women find themselves looking into the mirror one day and asking thcmnselves: "Why me? It can't be me. l'mi not a statistic!,", as tbey confront thc possibiity of breast cancer. Statistics tell us that 1 in 10 Canadian womcn will develop, breast cancer. But, these are cold, faceless calculations -that have littlc meaning until a lump or a dent or some discomfort is discovercd in a woman's breast. They bave even less meaning wben it's your breast, your partner's breast, your mother's breast, or your friend's breast. Suddenly, breast cancer bas a face ...tc face of someone you love . .. someone you sce everyday in thc streets, at Uic supermarket, or playing at the park with bier cbildren. Or, it could be you. Last November, Orono resident Pat Irwin Lycctt noticed a change in bier breast. "It just didn't look rigbt. I could sec, in the back of my mind, a page from a nursing text telling me somthig .. . that a breastL which seemed slightly dented, or not quite tbe right shape, needed some attention. " Pat's nurses training, and ber experience teacbing Breast Self- Examination at the, Boston Womcn's Healtb Collective la Uic 1970's,' gave bier enougb information to recognize that she needed to monitor lier breast. In December, the breast seemed normal. Maybe, it went away. Pat recalîs now, witb the benefit of hindsight, a poster in Uic office of bier naturopath which carnies what she calîs "the five most dangerous words": "Maybc, it wili go away." It didn't. Whiie vacationing in Barbados in January, Pat found a lump. Immediately upon bier returfi, Pat had an appointment with hier physician for an allergy shot andonly as an afterthougbt as she was leaving thc office did she mention that she thought she had a lump in ber breast. Witbin a, few days, Pat found berseif in consultation with a surgeon. One breast was removed in February, and a few months later, Pat found a lump in another. She bad ber second mastectomy in July. "It was casier Uic second time in some ways because the toughest questions bad been faced carlier. 1 was just relicvcd that 1 didn't have tbree breast! " Setting herseif on another bealing path, Pat had littie time te recover from Uic second surgcry wben a 'shadow' was discovered in one of ber ovaries. In August, Pat underwent hysterectomy surgery. "I knew that it would be negative, though," she says with a circumspect smile. Teri McKenzie, Newtonville, bas also been careful about Uic care she gives ber body and rouinely examines ber breasts as learned in breast health literature. "I bad been breast feeding my youngest cbild for a year and bad been handiing my breast every day. At.an annual examnination with mny doctor, a lump was found at the edge of my breast, leaning on a nib. 1 was sbocked! Then, I was angry. Angry at my body. I thougbt, this can't bappen to me! I'm too young!" Tests sbowed that Uiere were lumps in both breasts. Tbey were flot cysta, but ber dector could not tell ber that tbey were not cancerous. Surgery on both brcasts to remove the lumps revealed that the lumps were bcnign. Teni was given "a second chance." But, she doesn't forget the tears and thc worst of ber fears. "There I was, witb a four-year old and a one-year old wbo migbt flot grow up witb me around. 1 actually fcared that my life could be ever. It made me realize that I had to raise them to bc self- reliant, and Uiat our family had to be more careful about Uic way we live. Our diet, our physical wdll- being." The McKenzic family bas since donc many things to remeve negative cnvironmcntal health impacts from their lives . .. no use of home and garden pesticides, change in diet buying erganic food from a health food co-op and the Bowmanviile health food store as wcll as from their own garden, free-range chickens from a neighbour, and a switch to natural fibres both in their clotbing (sucb as cotton) and in home materials. Not a stranger to 'alternative' bcaith care, Pat Irwin Lycett is quick te reiterate what ail the cancer literature tels us: Uic bcst health care cemes from good nutrition wbich accentuates consumption of vegetables - raw, steamed, chopped, juiccd - and fruit, and lcss meat and dairy products, especially cheese. "Isn't it amazing that good nutrition is callcd 'alternative' healtb care?", muscsPat wbose positive outlook seems te stem from ber multi-facetted approach te personal health care. And Pat doesn't put alilber heaith wcll- being eggs into one basket. "Diet is important and.se is making your own choices." Pat is pursuing 'alternative' treatmcnts as she surives te take control of ber own personal bcaling path. Later this year, she will travel te Syracuse, MY for consultation and testing witb a doctor spccializing in environmcntal bealth issues. Pat aise scarches for treatments that treat the body naturaliy, holistically, such as essiac wbicb is deived from a very old Ojibwa recipe, and wbich is a combination of four well-known berbs. "Part of the reason that alternative care is important te me is because I feel that I can manage mýy own care. 1 choose my own path of healing, and 1 e-ven chose My dates for surgery." Pat found support for her personal health care programme from her Naturopath, Dr. John Hawrylak of Bowmanville who works closely with ber in building up ber immune system. Her family physician, Dr. Eleanor Vincent, conducts hypnotherapy in which Pat practices visualization-techniques to aid in her heaiing process. And, Pat takes ber healing inward with the practice of Rakid .. .bands-on- body healing wbich encompasses personal centering. "When you develop a very serious illness, it forces you to take a dloser look at yourself and work on personal spiritual development. For me, tbis bas been part of a long-term personai spiritual path and even more than ever, I am more open and listening more carefully to my body." Teri McKcnzic's 'scare' bas also made ber realize that women bave to take more control over their own-healtb and take a more active role in their bealth care. "We have a misguided idea that beaithpractitioners will take care of us. Tbcy bave expertise, but we must make choices and decisions based on our own preferences and needs." For her, the expenience was s0 forcefuily emotional, that it not only made ber take a deeper look at ber familys lifestyle and recognize the huge support systemn that existed within their circle of friends and neigbbours, but it aiso acted as an agent of greater bonding witb ber husband, Brian. It strengthenied us as a couple and gave us the opportunity to refocus and reprioritize. Stili, it's a terrible way to discover how mucb you need and love eacb other . .. roses would do!" 1 Both Teri and Pat express their gratitude to the numbers of people who supported them and their famiies. People who called. People wbo cared for children. People wbo prepared meals. Nursing and medical professionals wbo care, both at Memorial Hospital in Bowmanville and in Toronto. -And, especialiy for partners who saw them as more than breasts. Ail of these pcrmitted them to focus on their most important task. healing. And, their final words on breast cancer? "Women must like their bodies well enough to really look at them and care for tbcm. We must untrain the years of being told to flot' touch (C on tinucd page 11) PUBLIC/SENIORS AND FREE SKATING LOCATION: G.B. RICKARD RECREATION COMPLEX (formerly the Bowmanville Recreation Complex) TIME: 1:00 P.M. - 2:50 P.M. DATES: Sunday, October 2 Sunday, October 9 Sunday, October 16 Sunday, October 23 Sunday, October 30 Sunday, November 13 Sunday, November 20 Sunday, November 27 (ime change) 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sunday, December 4 (no public skating) Sunday, December il Sunday, December 18 SENIORS FREE SKATE - every Wednesday 12:00 noon -1:00 p.m. (except Wednesday, December 28) FREE SKATING - every Tuesday 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (except Tuesday, December 27) SPECIAL NEW VEARS' EVE SKATE 7:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. (admission fee- donation of non perishable food or cash donation) ONTARIO Dates of Publication. Wednesday, Sèptember 28,1994 P.O. 4854