Keeping pace with hope.Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard Nineteen days. That's how much time passed between Susan Crummett's move to Eugene in December and her breast cancer diagnosis after she felt a large lump in her right breast. That's how quickly cancer comes. That's how fast Crummett's world changed. She moved here to be nearer to her niece, Tiffany Kintzley, after Crummett's sister died of leukemia three years ago. Crummett, 54, gave up her dog grooming business in Spokane, and the basic health insurance that came with it. Fortunately, she qualified for funds to pay for all but $20 of a full mastectomy mastectomy (măstĕk`təmē), surgical removal of breast tissue, usually done as treatment for breast cancer. There are many types of mastectomy. In general, the farther the cancer has spread, the more tissue is taken. in January through the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, is an organization supporting breast cancer research. Since its inception in 1982, Komen has invested nearly $1 billion in research, education and health services, making it the program that provides funding to the Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Cervical Cancer Definition Cervical cancer is a disease in which the cells of the cervix become abnormal and start to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors. Program for uninsured women. Because she's unemployed, though, Crummett found herself in a precarious situation: how to pay for all the little things that the suddenness of cancer brings, such as gas money to get to doctor's appointments, or making a co-pay once she got there. Then Crummett got a second stroke of luck - from a special emergency fund created in 1993 for low-income women with breast and reproductive-system cancers by the Soroptimist International Clubs of Eugene, Junction City Junction City, city (1990 pop. 20,604), seat of Geary co., NE Kans., at the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers; inc. 1859. The rail, trade, and processing center of an agricultural and dairy area, it grew as the supply point for nearby Fort Riley, and the Emerald Empire. "That was a big deal, to be able to get to the doctor," says Crummett, who lives in east Eugene with her daughter and 3-year-old grandson, a floor above her niece's place. "The program is amazing - it does help." Saturday, Crummett will walk three miles with others along the Willamette River Willamette River River, northwestern Oregon, U.S. It flows north for 300 mi (485 km) into the Columbia River near Portland. Oregon's most populous cities are in its valley. The Fremont Bridge, a steel arch with a main span of 1,225 ft (373 m), crosses the river at Portland. in the Soroptimists' annual Walk for Life. The walk, which takes place every October during national Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure. , raises between $20,000 and $25,000 a year, and has brought in more than $245,000 since its inception, says Gretchen Matsuoka, a social worker at Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley (pronounced [wɪˈlæ.mɪt], with the accent on the second syllable) is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its Cancer Center in Eugene who administers the fund that is only for local women. "A lot of women have to take time out from work, and bills start going by the wayside," Matsuoka says of cancer patients. "I think every case is really heartwarming heart·warm·ing or heart-warm·ing adj. 1. Causing gladness and pleasure. 2. Eliciting sympathy and tender feelings: a heartwarming tale. Adj. 1. . This is just really unexpected to our patients." The national Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization says that uninsured women are 41 percent more likely to receive a late-stage breast or cervical cancer diagnosis, and are three times more likely to die of the disease. Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women, behind skin cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. . And it is the sixth-leading cause of death overall. In 2003, the most recent year numbers are available, breast cancer was diagnosed in 181,646 women, and 41,619 of them died from it, according to the CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation . The Walk for Life raises money through donations every fall. Matsuoka says many community resources have dwindled for women facing the predicament of dealing with cancer and trying to keep food on the table for their children or paying bills. And many of the recipients of the Soroptimists' fund, although low-income, still make too much to qualify for the Oregon Health Plan The Oregon Health Plan is the Oregon state healthcare program for low income residents of Oregon. Eligibility Basic eligibility requires that the applicant be a resident of Oregon, as a citizen or otherwise. , she says. "So they're really kind of stuck in a hard place," Matsuoka says. Crummett says her cancer has a 45 percent chance of reoccurring. In addition to her sister, Crummett also lost her adoptive mother to cancer, and her brother to heart complications at age 50. She says help from the Soroptimist fund has been a godsend god·send n. Something wanted or needed that comes or happens unexpectedly. [Alteration of Middle English goddes sand, God's message : goddes, genitive of God, God . "Life's fragile," she says. WALK FOR LIFE What: 15th annual three-mile walk along the Willamette River to benefit women with breast and reproductive-system cancer When: 10 a.m. Saturday (registration begins at 9 a.m.); minimum donation to walk is $10; $50 donation gets you a commemorative "Stone Soup" T-shirt Where: Eugene Water & Electric Board building plaza, 500 E. Fourth Ave. Online: Register and get more information at www.soroptimisteugene.com Local fund: To inquire about assistance from the local Soroptimist/Willamette Valley Cancer Center fund, call Gretchen Matsuoka or Lynda Godell at 683-5001 State help: Call (877) 255-7070 for information about assistance, in English or Spanish, from the Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Program for uninsured women with limited income between 40 and 64 |
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