Breast Cancer

Thirty-eight thought-provoking women's undergarments were on display Friday night at Robinwood Professional Center for the 2012 John R. Marsh Cancer Center Designer Cup Challenge. More than 100 tickets were sold for the event and a silent auction was held for the whimsical brassieres and other donated items, said Trudy Joslin, who co-chaired the event with Carrie Starkey, both of Meritus Medical Center's Make a Difference Cancer Screening program. The Washington County Health Department held this event the past two years, but in 2012 the cancer center took over so it could be used as a fundraising event, Joslin said.

Linda Carter of Hagerstown knew she had a lump in her right breast. The lump was so large that she characterized it as "bigger than a golf ball, but not softball size. " "You could see it through the shirt," the 48-year-old said. But, she kept telling herself, she couldn't afford to take time off from work to get the lump checked out. And she didn't have insurance to pay for it. Carter said that's when her landlord first mentioned Meritus Health's Make A Difference Breast Cancer Screening program, which gives free screenings to women who are uninsured or underinsured.

Enthusiasm and pink were big players Saturday on the campus of Hagerstown Community College. Outside, people strode with spirit and purpose as triumphant music blared across the grounds. Inside, others shimmied and thrust to saucy Latin tunes.                                      The signature pink of breast cancer awareness showed up high in the air on balloons. It waved on tribute flags and decorated the shirts of hundreds. It was the color of a Gumby-like ribbon costume that wrapped around the neck of a woman and extended the length of her body, and it dyed the hair of humans and the fur of dogs.

By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI / Staff Writer photo: YVETTE MAY / staff photographer Lying on her back with her eyes closed, Mary Bock of Greencastle was the picture of relaxation. For half an hour, massage therapist Susan Martz of Sagittarius Hair Designs had been helping Bock, a breast cancer survivor, release her tension and take her mind off future chemotherapy treatments. "It feels great," said Bock, 34, who has been in remission for the past six months.

MIDDLETOWN, Md. -- Louise Virginia Snodgrass, who represented parts of Frederick and Washington counties in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1995 through 2003, died Friday at the age of 66 after a long battle with breast cancer. Friends and fellow legislators remembered her Saturday as a grass-roots-oriented public servant who went to great lengths to solve problems for her constituents and braved breast cancer with positivity and grace. Del. Richard B. Weldon Jr., an independent who represents parts of Frederick and Washington counties and a longtime colleague and friend of Snodgrass, said he liked to describe her as "having a heart as big as the Middletown Valley.

The symptoms are silent, but the diagnosis of breast cancer can sound deafening to those who hear it. Once the words "You have breast cancer" are absorbed by the patient and his or her loved ones, quiet might set in again. Despite the prevalence of breast cancer and all the information available about it, many people still want it to remain a "hush-hush" disease, said Lou Lichti, Ph.D., a psychologist with City Park Psychological Services & Associates LLC in Hagerstown. In order for the patient to move forward physically and emotionally, however, Lichti said the silence must be broken.

Brent Borreson could be spending the night partying with Sting. But instead of attending a celebration with the rock star on Saturday, April 13, he'll be in Hagerstown raising money to fight breast cancer. Borreson, a Redken global artist, will be the creative force behind An Evening of Hope-Fashion for a Cure, a hair-inspired event benefiting Breast Cancer Awareness-Cumberland Valley. The show is being sponsored by Bella Salon & Spa of Hagerstown, in partnership with The Maryland Theatre, where the fundraiser will be held.

Melissa Hetzer of Hagerstown will spend a weekend walking to help eradicate breast cancer by participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington D,C., in May. The Avon Walk Washington, D.C., is one of a series of weekend fundraising walks taking place from April to October to help raise awareness and funds for access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer events are non-competitive, offering participants a choice of completing the distance of a marathon (26.2 miles)

Breast cancer can be treated successfully when caught early. According to Patty Hanson, administrative director of the John R. Marsh Cancer Center at Robinwood Medical Center in Hagerstown, the first defense is regular mammograms, clinical breast exam and breast self-exam. Knowing the factors that increase the risk of having breast cancer is another. According to the American Cancer Society, men can develop breast cancer, but breast cancer in women is about 100 times more common.

For women who are at a higher-than-average risk for developing breast cancer, research is being done to determine if drugs can reduce the incidence of breast cancer. One way results can be determined is through clinical trials to research ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. According to Patty Hanson, director of the John R. Marsh Cancer Center at Robinwood Medical Center in Hagers-town, clinical trials may help reduce the side effects from treatment, lower the risk of developing cancer, improve quality of life and increase survival rates.