breast cancer - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T08:30:04Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/breast+cancerPay It Forward: Concert to headline benefit for Boca Regional’s breast cancer carehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/pay-it-forward-concert-to-headline-benefit-for-boca-regional-s-br2023-03-28T18:23:40.000Z2023-03-28T18:23:40.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11004873454,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11004873454,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="11004873454?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong><em>The nationally known Bon Jovi tribute band Living on a Bad Name will perform at the April 8 fundraiser. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Amy Woods</strong></p>
<p>The first-of-its-kind Go Pink Rock N Roll Dinner promises to catapult guests back to the ’80s with a special performance by a nationally known Bon Jovi tribute act.<br /> Boston-based Living on a Bad Name will take the stage April 8 at Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton in a benefit for the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation’s Go Pink Challenge. <br /> Proceeds support breast cancer care at the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute and the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute.<br /> “We’ve had such great feedback,” Alyssa Kern, the foundation’s events coordinator, said of the five-man band that bills itself as the only Bon Jovi tribute act to have been chosen to replace the real deal. “Our staff is very, very excited for this event. I think it’s going to be so awesome.”<br /> Francesca Thompson, the marketing director at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, said the concert more than likely will sell out.<br /> “We’ve had, so far, a good response for tickets,” Thompson said. “And this is our first time working with the Go Pink Challenge.”<br /> The Go Pink Challenge kicks off following the Go Pink Luncheon, an October mainstay at The Boca Raton that draws more than 1,000 guests and generates $1 million-plus. A yearlong campaign, it encourages people in the community to step up and support the cause by organizing third-party fundraisers in the fight against breast cancer.<br /> “Anything we do is a win,” Go Pink Challenge Chairwoman Nicole Flier said. “Not only will we be the recipient of what money is raised, but more importantly, it gets the word out.”<br /> Alan Rose, a member of the foundation’s Philanthropy Guild, is underwriting the event. The local philanthropist plans to fly the band into town for the show and cover the costs of a VIP experience that will include an open cocktail hour and a gourmet burger bar.<br /> “I felt it my duty to support the efforts of the hospital,” Rose said. “I’m in part two of my life. I’m going to be here for, hopefully, a few more decades if I live as long as my father did and just wanted to ensure that there is good health care.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>If You Go</strong><br />What: Go Pink Rock N Roll Dinner<br />When: 6 p.m. April 8<br />Where: Crazy Uncle Mike’s, 6450 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton<br />Cost: $35 show ticket, $75 VIP ticket<br />Information: 561-931-2889 or crazyunclemikes.com<br /> <br /><em> Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net</em></p></div>Health Notes: Grant to help FAU study marine products’ use on breast cancerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/health-notes-grant-to-help-fau-study-marine-products-use-on-breas2019-05-28T22:08:50.000Z2019-05-28T22:08:50.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1">Researchers from <b>Florida Atlantic University</b>’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute received $801,000 from the Florida Department of Health’s Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program to investigate the use of marine natural compounds as potential treatments of triple negative breast cancers. The five-year survival rate for this very aggressive form of breast cancer is about 77 percent compared to 93 percent for other breast cancer types. About 12 percent of breast cancers diagnosed in the United States are triple negative.</p>
<p class="p3">The objective of FAU’s project is to discover compounds from the extensive marine natural products library at FAU Harbor Branch. The researchers hope to identify clinically active compounds that will revolutionize treatment regimens and provide more effective treatment options, with fewer side effects and greater survival rates.</p>
<p class="p3">For more than 10 years, <b>Amy Wright</b>, Ph.D., a research professor of natural products chemistry and co-investigator in this project, has developed libraries of natural compounds isolated from marine organisms — many from deep-water habitats around the Atlantic and Caribbean.</p>
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<p class="p3">Adjusting the frequency and dosage of medications is a complication in managing <b>Parkinson’s</b> disease. This is due to motor fluctuations that alter the patient’s “on” state, when he responds positively to medication, and “off” state, when symptoms resurface. </p>
<p class="p3">Currently, the only way to address these on and off states is by a clinical exam, history-taking or relying on the patient’s self-report. These methods are not always practical or reliable. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and collaborators have developed a new way to automatically and reliably detect a patient’s medication on and off states.</p>
<p class="p3">They combined an algorithm and a system using two wearable motion sensors. Data from the two sensors provide objective measures of patients’ on and off states, training the algorithm to detect each patient’s response to medication with an average accuracy of 90.5 percent.</p>
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<p class="p3"><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960869681,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960869681,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960869681?profile=original" /></a>Safiya George</b>, Ph.D., was named dean of Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. She will assume her role July 8.</p>
<p class="p3">George comes to FAU from the Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama.</p>
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<p class="p3">Doctors at <b>Boca Raton Regional Hospital</b> are exploring the use of the axillary fossa (the hollow of the armpit) as an alternative site to implant cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators, according to a recent article in <i>The Journal of Innovations in Cardiac Rhythm Management.</i></p>
<p class="p3">According to Dr. E. Martin Kloosterman, Dr. Jonathan Rosman, and Dr. Murray Rosenbaum, inadequate thickness of subcutaneous tissue in certain patients can cause problems for those with — or requiring — cardiovascular implantable electronic devices.</p>
<p class="p3">Normally, those devices are implanted below the collarbone. In examining the axillary fossa as an option, the doctors found several advantages: The area usually has a preserved fat pad; the site is not disturbed by arm movement; and the site is easily accessed.</p>
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<p class="p3">In April, <b>Baptist Health South Florida</b> and <b>Aetna</b> signed an agreement that allows members enrolled in Aetna commercial health plans in-network access to Baptist Health facilities in Palm Beach County.</p>
<p class="p3">The agreement encompasses Baptist Health’s Palm Beach hospitals and ancillary health facilities including Bethesda Hospital East, Bethesda Hospital West, Bethesda Health Outpatient Imaging facilities, Bethesda Health Urgent Care, Baptist Health Surgery Center at Northpoint, Baptist Health Surgery Center at South Palm, and Baptist Health Endoscopy Center at Flagler.</p>
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<p class="p3">The <b>2019 Annual Heroes in Medicine Awards</b>, selected by the Palm Beach County Medical Society, included the following Tenet hospital employees:</p>
<p class="p3"><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960869299,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960869299,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960869299?profile=original" /></a>Lisa Rocheleau</b>, administrator of the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, won the Bruce Rendina honor as a professional hero; <b>Rob Moreland</b>, EMS liaison for St. Mary’s Medical Center & the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, was named an outreach wellness prevention hero; and <b>Diane Schofield</b>, director of the Surgical Weight Loss Program at Delray Medical Center, was a health care provider hero.</p>
<p class="p3">Also, West Boca Medical Center was honored as a project access hero. </p>
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<p class="p3"><b>Delray Medical Center</b> recently received two awards: an “A” from the Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, in recognition of its efforts to protect patients from harm and provide safer health care; and a Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award for the second year in a row.</p>
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<p class="p6"><i>Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.</i></p></div>Health & Harmony: Bethesda fundraiser finds new device can save lives — including her ownhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/health-harmony-bethesda-fundraiser-finds-new-device-can-save-live2019-01-29T18:00:00.000Z2019-01-29T18:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960833282,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960833282,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960833282?profile=original" /></a></strong></em><em>Paula Henderson was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer<br /> on a new 3-D mammography unit. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Joyce Reingold</strong></p>
<p>In fall 2017, Paula Henderson, special events and communications director for the Bethesda Hospital Foundation, met with Dr. Carol A. Adami, medical director of the Bethesda Women’s Health Center, to find out what was on her wish list.</p>
<p>The 63rd annual Bethesda Ball was in the planning stages and Marti LaTour, who was co-chairing the gala with George Elmore, wanted the event’s proceeds to fund a vital piece of equipment for the Boynton Beach-based women’s health center.</p>
<p>Adami’s recommendation? The Hologic Selenia Dimensions 3-D mammography unit and breast biopsy system, technology the FDA had just recently approved. Bethesda was the first in Palm Beach County to offer 3-D mammography, Adami said, and with this new unit would be among the first to add biopsy capabilities.</p>
<p>“The 3-D stereotactic biopsy unit allows radiologists to perform needle biopsies on cancers in the earliest stage, even before they are detectable on 2-D mammograms or ultrasound,” explained Adami, a board-certified radiologist who has been the center’s medical director since 2004.</p>
<p>The March 2018 gala raised almost $700,000, and the Bethesda Women’s Health Center got its cutting-edge machine. With a slightly looser schedule now that the major fundraising events for the season were over, Henderson, 46, made time for her annual doctor’s appointments.</p>
<p>Her personal visit to the women’s health center brought unsettling news. A mammogram performed on the 3-D unit yielded a suspicious result. “I remember Dr. Adami zoomed in and showed me a nodule that worried her. It looked like it had branches that came off it,” she said.</p>
<p>“It was a shock and not a shock,” said Henderson, who has had annual mammograms since she was 35 because her family has a history of breast cancer. “I have been very religious about doing them. My mom is a breast cancer survivor, and her sister did not survive it. I was very aware that the possibility was always there.”</p>
<p>Further tests, including two biopsies and an MRI, confirmed it was cancer. Last fall, Henderson had surgery, radiation and began an anticancer medication she’ll take for at least five years. Her prognosis is excellent, with a more than 95 percent survival rate. “Now I understand personally how important it is to have the best technology,” Henderson said. “If I’d had a regular mammogram, they wouldn’t have found it for another year. Catching it early is what made all the difference.”</p>
<p>The 3-D technology is such a vast improvement over the 2-D that “I can’t even describe how much better,” Adami said. “It finds cancers so much earlier and it’s easier to detect them. We also have about a 25 percent reduction in callback rate.</p>
<p>“In a 2-D mammogram, overlapping fibroglandular tissue can mimic a tumor. With a 3-D mammogram, we’re able to take apart the tissue layers to see whether this is a true mass or a pseudomass,” Adami said.</p>
<p>Here’s how it works: “The 3-D mammogram is a digital reconstruction by the computer. Instead of just taking one flat photograph, the X-ray tube sweeps across the breast in an arc, taking multiple images of the breast,” she said. “The computer reconstructs the X-ray image, like a CAT scan. Then we can scroll through the breast slice by slice, separating out layers of the tissue. We can identify cancers by distortion in tissue architecture even before a mass is visible.”</p>
<p>Adami said the center offers 3-D mammography to all of its patients. Medicare now covers the 3-D screening, and many other insurance companies have followed suit.</p>
<p>Henderson said she thinks back to first hearing Adami talk about the need for the 3-D mammography and breast biopsy system. “I didn’t realize it would become so personal. I’m so glad we had this technology to find this so early.”</p>
<p>“Finding the cancer sooner is always better,” Adami said.</p>
<p>Henderson worked through her treatment, missing just two and a half days for surgery. Despite feeling some fatigue during radiation, she said working was good medicine.</p>
<p>“Going to the hospital every day, to raise money for the important things we do, gave me even more encouragement.”<br /> Henderson said she is not usually a “self-promoter,” but her story serves to remind women who may have forgotten to schedule, or skipped, a mammogram.</p>
<p>“Many of my friends immediately scheduled their 3-D mammograms locally and out of state,” she said.</p>
<p>“As women, we get busy, neglect ourselves, and let things slip off our calendar to do things for others. We can’t do that. We have to take care of ourselves.”</p>
<p><em>Joyce Reingold has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to joyce.reingold@yahoo.com.</em></p></div>Health and Harmony: ‘One foot in front of the other’ is cancer survivor’s prescriptionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/health-and-harmony-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-is-cancer-survi2015-09-30T14:54:03.000Z2015-09-30T14:54:03.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960603492,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="400" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960603492,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960603492?profile=original" /></a><em>Susanne Jorgensen stands triumphantly at the summit of Mount Shasta</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>in California after taking part in the 2015 Climb Against the Odds.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photo provided</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Lona O'Connor</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> Nobody would have faulted Susanne Jorgensen if she had decided to snorkel and walk the beach near her home. She had just finished a grueling year that began with a diagnosis of breast cancer, then surgery, then chemotherapy. <br /> Instead, she decided to climb 14,000-foot Mount Shasta in California, a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Fund.<br /> She found the Breast Cancer Fund during an Internet search for information on cancer-causing substances in the environment. The fund focuses on prevention, including research on environmental toxins. <br /> “It was 3 in the morning and I said, ‘I have to do this climb for them,’ ” said Jorgensen. She had just taken her last treatment. <br /> Breast Cancer Fund founder Andrea Ravinett Martin, a two-time cancer survivor, organized the first Climb Against the Odds in 1995. Sheila Brown, director of development for the fund, said, “It’s meant to draw people who want to take on a big challenge, survivors or people climbing for a survivor.”<br /> The other members of the 2015 climbing team had been training for three months when Jorgensen signed on in March for the June climb. <br /> “I had just had my chemo port taken out,” said Jorgensen, 57, who lives in Ocean Ridge. She developed a hematoma in the area around the port. She had never climbed a mountain before, and she was the only one training at sea level.<br /> “I remember thinking, ‘Susanne is probably not going to make it,’ ” said Brown. “But she is incredibly determined.”<br /> Jorgensen, 57, concurs with Martin’s philosophy that you get through cancer, mountain climbs and all the other challenges of life just by putting one foot in front of the other.<br /> “Then, when the medical treatment is finished, you say, ‘What the heck happened?’ ” said Jorgensen.<br /> Trained in Britain as a psychologist, she makes her living coaching cancer survivors and others recovering from trauma. She estimates that it takes six or seven months just to assimilate the emotional trauma of cancer treatment.<br /> “You were in survivor mode. Then, suddenly, the magnitude of it hits you.”<br /> She worked out only her lower body for a couple of weeks, until the hematoma healed. Then she began intensive full-body workouts with a trainer. <br /> She also practiced a power breathing technique with her yoga teacher, to help her combat shortness of breath in the mountain’s thin air.<br /> Jorgensen pledged $6,000, some of which she is still raising through an online auction. She spent $2,000 to $3,000 more for travel, equipment and other expenses.<br /> Inside their 40-pound packs, each team member carried brightly colored Tibetan prayer flags with the name of a person for whom they were climbing.<br /> They started at 2 a.m., the stars above them, and only their headlamps illuminating the blue-black snow. The climb lasted three days. The last day, they were on the move for 14 hours, climbing down after the summit. The last few hours getting to the peak, she said, were very much like cancer treatment: one step at a time, focusing on nothing else. <br /> Then she looked up. There was the summit. <br /> The climbers unfurled their prayer flags. Jorgensen burst into tears. After such an accomplishment, Jorgensen could be forgiven for resting on her laurels. But no, she is already thinking about putting together a team for next year’s Climb Against the Odds.<strong><br /><br /></strong><em>Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to Lona13@bellsouth.net.</em></p></div>Play for P.I.N.K. Celebrity Golf Classic and Card Party Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach – March 4https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/pplay-for-p-i-n-k-celebrity-golf-classic-and-card-party-trump-int2013-05-02T16:00:00.000Z2013-05-02T16:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960446873,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960446873,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="538" alt="7960446873?profile=original" /></a><em>More than 350 guests attended the inaugural fundraising event in an effort to raise money for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Well-known sports figures who attended included Bucky Dent, Jim Palmer and Bill Parcells. Donald Trump also participated and Melania Trump served as honorary chairwoman. In excess of $300,000 was raised by the volunteer organization that coordinates grassroots events to help find a cure for the disease. Photo: Committee members Terri Schottenstein, Helen Bossman, Jane Zises and Robin Berman. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p></div>Celebration: Go Pink Luncheon Boca Raton Resort & Club – Oct. 26https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/celebration-go-pink-luncheon-boca-raton-resort-club-oct-262012-11-28T18:28:49.000Z2012-11-28T18:28:49.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960409862,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960409862,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="572" class="align-center" alt="7960409862?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p><em>Nearly 1,500 excited attendees welcomed celebrity couple Bill and Giuliana Rancic to Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s ninth annual Go Pink Luncheon, ‘Go Pink Goes Hollywood.’ Giuliana Rancic is a breast cancer survivor, and both she and Bill Rancic are advocates for breast cancer awareness and early-detection programs. The Go Pink Luncheon is the signature fundraising event for the foundation’s Go Pink Challenge, which supports the hospital’s Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute. The luncheon raised more than $750,000. <b> ABOVE:</b> Dick and Barbara Schmidt, Michelle Maros, and celebrity couple Giuliana and Bill Rancic. BELOW<b>:</b> Annie Green, Joan Wargo and Debbie Lindstrom. <b>Photos provided</b></em></p>
<p><em><b> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960410452,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960410452,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="572" class="align-center" alt="7960410452?profile=original" /></a></b></em></p></div>