by Ned Gonzalez
“You have cancer” may be the three most frightening words a patient can hear a doctor utter. Over 214,000 men and women affected by breast cancer in the United States hear those words every year.
A diagnosis of breast cancer can leave a person feeling alone, afraid and hopeless. But having information and knowing where to turn for support can help patients with breast cancer regain a sense of hope and control.
Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization is an indispensable resource for anyone affected by breast cancer-- the newly diagnosed, those undergoing treatment, and their friends and family. The organization offers an informative Web site as well as a 24-hour hotline staffed by trained breast cancer survivors. Counseling is available in Spanish as well as English, and interpreters are available in 150 other languages.
Breast cancer patients and their families can call the hotline for information and for emotional support. Questions asked on the hotline range from “Am I going to die?” to “My wife was just diagnosed with breast cancer. What do we do?” Y-ME affiliates throughout the nation provide additional services such as support groups, early detection workshops, wigs and prostheses for patients with limited resources, and advocacy on breast cancer.
Often those friends and family of breast cancer patients are also completely devastated, overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness. Fortunately, there are currently a multitude of partnerships that allow both patients and family alike to show their support.
For example, Eaton Corporation’s Golf Grip Division, the world’s largest manufacturer of golf grips, has partnered with Y-ME through its “Grip for Awareness, Swing for Hope” campaign to help ensure that no one faces breast cancer alone. Eaton, manufacturer of the Golf Pride grip brand, will donate 25 cents for every one of its Tour Velvet Pink grips and Dual Durometer Pink putter grips sold in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom through January 2007.
“No matter what gender or age, we have all been touched by someone who has battled breast cancer,” says Dwight Miles, director of global sales and marketing for Eaton Corporation’s Golf Grip Division. “Eaton’s Golf Grip Division is honored to support Y-ME’s mission and to help provide recognition for its many programs.” The Tour Velvet Pink is currently available at most golf equipment retailers, while the Dual Durometer™ Pink putter grip will hit stores in early August.
In October, Eaton will also recognize National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by manufacturing a limited number of Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Pink grips imprinted with Y-ME’s pink inverted ribbon. The symbol represents how lives are turned upside down by the disease.
Many patients report that the time between their diagnosis and the start of treatment was the most difficult. If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, here is some additional information that may help:
* Taking action is the best way to cope with this anxiety. Learn as much as you can about the disease and treatment and support options available to you.
* This is a good time to reach out to people you trust: family and friends, a neighbor or co-worker, a Y-ME hotline peer counselor or members of a support group.
* When making treatment decisions, it is important to consider how a treatment will affect the quality of your life, as well as what is medically effective.
* You CAN make a difference in your life and the life of someone else by letting people affected by breast cancer know that they are not alone. Y-ME is here for you 24 hours a day.
For more information on coping with breast cancer, visit www.y-me.org or call the hotline at (800) 221-2141 for English or (800) 986-9505 for Spanish. For more information on Golf Pride’s “Grip for Awareness, Swing for Hope” campaign, visit www.golfpride.com. - ARA
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