Breast Cancer

On Oct. 10, more than 100 employees from Brook Lane Health Services in Hagerstown participated in “Pin on the Pink Casual Day” to support breast cancer awareness. The event was particularly poignant for the hospital staff because the previous week, a friend and co-worker, Nancy Leab, underwent surgery for a recurrence of breast cancer. Aubrey Rainbow, activities specialist, produced 25 pink T-shirts for the hospital staff to wear to show their support for Leab. The staff “put on the pink” for the entire day.

Cathy Socks had more than 12 inches of her hair cut off to donate to the Locks of Love program, a nonprofit organization that uses donated hair to make hairpieces for children who have lost their hair due to illness. During her battle with breast cancer, Cathy lost all of her hair. She decided after her treatments, to let her hair grow until it was exactly five years later from the day she was diagnosed with cancer. She said she is very thankful to be a breast cancer survivor.

One month after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Kay Bergstrom of Hagerstown found a perfect place to talk to other women who shared her affliction: At an annual event at the Sagittarius Hair Skin & Nails at the Venice Inn. She was one of about 90 people at a "Life is a gift - day of beauty - hairdressers target breast cancer" event organized by Sagittarius owner Marsha Knicely as a memorial to her late mother, E. Rosemary Finney, who had...

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Orrstown Bank recently held a fundraiser in honor of employee Christine Yohe, who was diagnosed in February with breast cancer. Yohe, of Shippensburg, works as a teller at the bank's King Street office. Customer service representative Heather Fisher and teller Pamela Varner, of the King Street office, coordinated the fundraiser. A Longaberger mug raffle and cash donations from Orrstown Bank employees raised $1,200. Yohe chose the Cumberland Valley Breast Care Alliance (CVBCA)

The Summit Health Bike Club, in partnership with Highmark Blue Shield, will hold a cycling event on June 18 in Franklin County, Pa., to benefit breast care services offered by Rhonda Brake Shreiner Women’s Center, an affiliate of Summit Health, and the Cumberland Valley Breast Care Alliance.   The Franklin County Metric Century will begin at 8 a.m. in the Summit Health Center parking lot, 757 Norland Ave., Chambersburg. Check-in begins at 7 a.m. Advance registration is required and will be limited to 250 riders.

Kelli Ayers Cook, RN, 56, of Hanover, Va., and a Hagerstown native, died Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Savage, Md., after a three-year battle with breast cancer. Born Dec. 24, 1956, she was the daughter of Gladys Ayers Vollmerhausen of Savage and the late Norman H. Ayers. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her sister, Bonnie J. Ayers, and adored daughter, Emily M. Cook, both of Germantown; and many, many friends and loved ones. Kelli graduated from North Hagerstown High School in 1974, Hagerstown Junior College in 1976 and received a bachelor of arts from Shepherd University in 1978.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.VA. - A Walk for Women against breast cancer raised more than $4,000 Saturday, according to the event organizer. The fund-raiser, held on the track at Widmyer Elementary School, was the first Walk for Women in Morgan County and the Eastern Panhandle, event organizer Selma Straus said. The walks are being held throughout the state this month. Susan Webster, mayor of the Town of Bath and a breast cancer survivor, spoke to the crowd before the walk began. "It was the hardest day in my life when I was diagnosed with breast cancer," Webster said.

Historically, cancer has been treated by surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. While these remain the mainstays of cancer treatment, new variations of all three are providing patients with more effective and less toxic options. I am a medical oncologist. My focus is usually chemotherapy. Conventional chemotherapy has consisted of drugs that kill cells. Unfortunately these drugs can't tell the difference between cancer cells and normal cells. The killing of normal cells produces much toxicity, such as infections, decreased blood counts and hair loss, etc. The current trend in cancer therapy is to use more targeted agents.

On Oct. 10, the Grace Academy Missions Team participated in the United Way's Day of Caring and worked at the REACH Cold Weather Shelter. The team members sorted clothing, sheets, blankets, coats and boots. They cleaned out and arranged cupboards for personal care items. They cleaned and sanitized the laundry room, bathrooms, tables, chairs, windows and light fixtures. They also took out trash and weeded around the REACH building. On Oct. 6, the Grace Academy Missions Team volunteered to make scarecrows with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at Byron Memorial Park in Williamsport to benefit the Williamsport Food Bank.