Other Cancer Awareness for September

National Ovarian Cancer Month
Childhood Cancer Month
Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month
National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week (Sept. 10-16)
Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Advocates and researchers at the University of Michigan hope that increased awareness about ovarian cancer can save lives.

Here is what they want you to know.

1. Symptoms do exist. Bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating, feeling full quickly, and frequent or urgent urinating are have been shown to be related to a possible case of ovarian cancer and if they persist you should see your doctor.
2. There is no early detection screening test currently.
3. All women should get yearly pelvic exams.
4. Ovarian cancer is difficult to treat because it's often resistant to current treatments.
5. Survival rates are better at the early stage.
6. Most common in older white women.
7. A small number of ovarian cancers are hereditary, linked to the same genes that are linked to breast cancer.
8. The best person to treat ovarian cancer is a gynecologic oncologist.

Caps

We received a lot of yarn as a donation. Really pretty yarn but we weren't sure how the yarn would look in a cap. Well, Vivian made some. Beautiful.

Luisa, one of our crocheters called. She is going to try and knit one of the caps for us.
I cast on 60 stitches but it is a little large. So I will start another one with just 50 stitches.
I told Luisa to wait until I had finished the cap so I could send her the pattern.
Angel brought us caps but they are a little large. She was sorry about the size and said she would make them smaller. She said that they fit her head. But I told her to remember that most of the people do not have hair. Angel is so nice...
The yarn is called Phentex....



Vivian,
I tried the new Phentex yarn. The outcome's beautiful! It took 1.5 hour to make one. It's very hard to know where the beginning, one has to mark the first stitch. I honestly had a tough time to do it. It could be done with a single string & turned out fine without too big a hole. I used a 1/9-5.50mm hook. It takes 1.5 balls to make a hat. If you have any questions please call me.

Correspondance Between Vivian and a Knitter, Anne Lee

Subject: information request
To: Chemocaps@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, July 12, 2009, 3:36 PM


Dear Joyce's ChemoCap Project
I would like information on your requirements for accepting hand-knitted cap donations. I recently sent a dozen or so hand-knitted caps to one group that responded that even though I used soft, washable yarns, they required that the caps be knit from one of their three recommended inexpensive yarns (which I hadn't known beforehand). I had already purchased a large stash of finer, soft, washable yarns; few were the specific yarns that they wanted. Since I am committed to continuing to make caps, I need to find another group that will accept caps made from very soft cottons, cotton-blends, and acrylic blends. Because my sister (in whose honor and memory I knit chemo caps) was treated for cancer twice in Dallas, I was interested in your group when I saw it on the Internet.

Any information you can provide will be appreciated.
Thank you.
Annejlee
--------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for contacting our group. We take crochet and knit chemo caps made with soft yarn. We have some yarn preferences but anything soft works for us.
All of the yarns that you mentioned are currently being used by our group. What type of pattern are you using to make the caps? I can E mail you the pattern we use if you wish. But all of the ladies just do their own thing with colors and patterns.
How exactly did you hear about our group? We are located in the Dallas area. Actually, are in Allen, Texas about 25 miles north of Dallas. Were are you located?
We tag all of our caps before we distribute them. If you would like to mail the caps to our group I will give you our mailing address. As you might know we distribute to 5 cancer centers in our area.
We have people across Texas making caps for our group. We also have a group in Pennsylvania where Joyce's sister lives.
I will give you the Texas mailing address. If you would like the Pennsylvania address I will send it Later.
Please feel free to contact us if you need additional assistance or more information.
And thank you again for contacting our group.

Vivian
Joyce's Chemo Cap Project

-----------------------------------------------------
Thanks so much for your quick response! I now live near Sacramento, CA but got my BS degree from SMU in Dallas and my PhD from UTD in Richardson in the 1970s. My sister, in whose memory I now knit chemo caps, was treated for Hodgkin's in Dallas (Dr. Weisberg) in the late 70s, and then again 25 yrs later for colon cancer. She had been a founder, or at least involved in the start of, Gilda's Club of North Texas (I think that's the proper name). She passed away 4 years ago next week.

I found your group by googling - "chemo cap donations," I think it was. When I first realized that there were groups who collected and distributed caps for chemo patients last spring, I downloaded a number of patterns from various chemo-cap sites, and also purchased a few, that looked interesting and were without seams. My yarn-buying frenzy yielded all sorts of interesting, soft, washable, non-wool yarns; since I'd never been too wild about knitting with acrylics, most of these were cottons, and various blends of cotton, acrylic, bamboo & nylon. I took my first nearly dozen caps to the Med Center in Sacramento. Then I found Knots of Love on the Internet and sent the next batch to them; but they then indicated that they only wanted caps made from 3 specific yarns, none of which I had. So I recently went back on line to find a group who might want the dozens that I'll be making from my yarn stash! I was delighted to find your group in the Dallas area because when I became inspired to make caps, I had wanted to support patients in the Dallas area.

I really want to make caps that patients want to wear - so if they really prefer simple rolled-brim, stockinette hats from acrylic yarns, for example, I can focus on making those. I'd love to know what patterns your group use, and yarn preferences.

Anyway, that's my chemo-cap story and my connection with Dallas. I'm going to be away for the next few weeks, but I'll send my next batch to you and you can let me know if you like them, or re-direct me!

Thanks.
Anne Lee
--------------------------------------

Hello, again Anne.
We currently deliver caps to Parkland and UT-SW in Dallas. Our friend Joyce took her treatments at those two centers. We would love to have your caps.
Joyce had mentioned that even the pillow case hurt her head at night. That is when we started our group. We still make the soft caps to wear at night. Our pattern has a seam but it is almost invisible. As I mentioned the ladies just do their own thing. Some use straight needles and some use circular needles.
The only yarn that we have found that is not real soft is the Red Heart Super Saver. Although if you wash the caps and dry them the yarn is softer. We mainly purchase yarn at Hobby Lobby. We like their brand I LOVE THIS YARN. But as I mentioned any soft yarn will work.
I am sending the basic knit pattern for you information. It sounds like you have done a lot of research and have the patterns necessary.
Thank you again and hope to hear from you soon.
Vivian
-----------------------------------------------
Hi Vivian

I have completed five knitted, and two crocheted, caps that I'd like to send you for distribution. If you donate to Baylor Hospital in Dallas, I'd be particularly pleased if mine were to go there - as that's where my sister received her last treatments... Do I need to fill out any forms to send with them? I put a tag on mine to note the fiber content; if you need additional information, please let me know. I just send them to you, right? at:


Joyce's Chemo Cap Project
1206 Thoreau Lane
Allen, Texas 75002

Thanks.

Anne Lee
-------------------------------------------------------
That would be wonderful Anne. You have the address correct.
We will make sure that they are donated to Baylor.
Thank you again for participating in the Joyce's Chemo Cap Project.
Vivian
------------------------------------------

Another Note From One of Our Crocheters!

I tried the new Phentex yarn. The outcome's beautiful! It took 1.5 hour to make one. It's very hard to know where the beginning, one has to mark the first stitch. I honestly had a tough time to do it. It could be done with a single string & turned out fine without too big a hole. I used a 1/9-5.50mm hook. It takes 1.5 balls to make a hat. If you have any questions please call me

Note from One of Our Knitters

From: Susan
To: "Chemo Caps"
Date: Friday, August 21, 2009, 3:11 PM


Vivan - A good thing happened today - A lady from New Orleans used to
live here while her house was being rebuilt. Well she has been back in
New Orleans for a couple of years and she showed up here today. Anyway
we started talking and she asked about what was on my table and I
showed her the caps and explained how it works. Her name is Mary -
While she was here, she made about half a cap and she is excited. I
gave her one of your cards. She said she had a friend named Julie who
died of cancer but anyway she is going to start making caps for people
in New Orleans. We decided people there have cancer too. She called it
"paying it forward." When she left she was on her way to Hobby Lobby.
See you Wednesday - Susan

Great news! We hope that our project reaches cities all over the states! The more knitters and crocheters making caps, the more 'happy cappers'!

Let's Cure Cancer by Brian Trent of the Dallas Examiner

Obama’s historic election was sandwiched between two cancer deaths – that of his grandmother the day before, and of bestselling author Michael Crichton the day after.
Why don’t we cure the damnable disease?

Roughly one in four American deaths are from cancer; approximately 1,500 every day. Globally, this sickle reaches 10 million people annually and is expected to sharply increase. Indeed, in a political climate marked by fanatical divisiveness, cancer is something of a wake-up call. It is not a disease of specific demographics (as AIDS was originally thought of as a “gay disease” due to its prevalence among homosexual communities) of social classes (Crichton led a blessed life of literary success and all the money that went with it, and yet was fundamentally powerless to defeat the disease.)

Just a few days after the election, Washington University published their discovery of “cancer genes” responsible for the 5-10 percent of cancers considered to be hereditary. That study cost $1 million dollars; by contrast, the monthly bill for the Iraq War is $10 billion. Over the past several years, the U.S. government has spent a mere $100 million dollars on genome studies of brain, lung, and ovarian cancers. Again, just a fraction of our military spending.

Just where are our priorities? Imagine what we could be accomplishing if we diverted the cash flow, from war into cure.

To use a historical perspective, the human race managed to claw its way to the top of the food chain despite all odds. Without natural armor, poison sacs, or terrible fangs, we used social skills and intellect to survive and prosper. We defeated the perils of the prehistoric world.
Yeah, we fought her off too.

Transitioning from villages to cities, we devised ways of dealing with the scarcity of water and food. We irrigated the land, domesticated livestock, and perfected tool-making. We pioneered surgical techniques, and can now repair paralysis in lab rats. We have mapped the human genome, landed on the moon, split the atom, and sent probes into deep space.

Is anyone still willing to say that we can’t defeat cancer?

The bubonic plague which decimated Europe and Asia can be cured with a pill today. In 1665, a renewed outbreak of that plague led London’s newspapers to declare it was divine punishment. Being divine, all one could do was pray for deliverance. Yet more than a millennium earlier, the Greek physician Hippocrates addressed the subject of epilepsy (also considered a heavenly curse) and wrote,

“People think epilepsy is divine because they don’t understand it. But I propose that one day we will understand what causes it, and in that moment it will cease being divine.”

Cancer is a breakdown of cellular division, resulting in out-of-control replication. New discoveries have linked viruses like HPV to the cause of many cancers, while others owe to environmental contagions and genetic factors. There are numerous kinds, and it is doubtful that a single approach (barring some nanotechnological miracle) that will work for all. And yet it is still a mechanical process, and humans have a neat way of mastering the mechanics of the universe. We're really just getting warmed up.

It is too late to help Obama’s grandmother, Michael Crichton, or those in our own families who have died from this terrible disease. But it needn’t be too late for ourselves, our children, and our tomorrow.

Michigan Men Take It Off to Benefit Breast Cancer

BY CASSANDRA SPRATLING
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Two Michigan men have landed in a place neither of them ever thought they'd be -- naked, well, nearly naked, in a calendar.
It's slightly naughty, but it's for a good cause.
Jeremy Watmuff (Mr. May) and Dr. Ken Colton (Mr. October) are featured in the 60-Mile Men 2010 calendar.
It's produced and sold to support the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk, which raises money for research, treatment and prevention of breast cancer. The 60-mile walk begins today and Misters May and October are among the estimated 3,000 people who are committed to walking from Dearborn to Ann Arbor this weekend.
The 2010 calendar, which sells for $20, is the third edition of the calendar produced by 60-Mile Men Inc., a Michigan-based support group that raises money for the 3-Day.
Founder Matthew Pickus of Ann Arbor got the fund-raising idea while participating in the 2006 walk. He later appeared as Mr. January in the first calendar in 2008.
Men submit online applications to appear in the calendar. Participants must be men who work or walk in the 3-Day.
It's Colton's first time in the calendar, but his third in the walk.
Colton, 52, a family practice physician in Westland, and his wife, Amy Colton, 55, began walking in 2007, two years after she was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.
"I diagnose breast cancer on unfortunately a high rate of my patients," Colton says. "For the sake of my wife and my patients, we both wanted to do more toward ending breast cancer."
Mr. May, a.k.a. Watmuff, 31, a bank manager in Warren, also plans to walk in the 3-Day this year, something he did initially because he was looking for a way to give back.
"But once I started trying to raise money and talking with my friends and family, I realized how many people I know who I never knew are either affected by breast cancer or know someone who is," he says. "Each one gives me more reasons to walk."
As for the calendar, "It's something I never expected I'd be doing in my entire life," says Watmuff. "But it ended up being a lot of fun. It's all done in good taste. At times I felt like a star."

60 Mile Breast Cancer Walks Going On Now

If anyone has gone on one of these walks, please email any interesting stories to our email address: joyceschemocaps@yahoo.com.

A friend, Annette, in Michigan just completed her walk. She has the blisters and sore legs to prove it. But she's proud that she could contribute the $2500.00 to the cause! Her friend Michelle and her sister, Sarah, joined her in the walk. Annette and Sarah lost their sister to breast cancer and they walked in her memory. Here is a good picture of the group they walked with. Any stories? We'd like to post them.