Sorority holds inaugural breast cancer awareness event
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Nu Zeta Omega Chapter, in partnership with the Ivy and Pearls of Southern Maryland Community Charities Inc. and C-Datcher & Associates LLC, hosted its inaugural breast cancer awareness community impact day event on Monday in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The event, which took place at the College of Southern Maryland’s Business and Industry Building in La Plata, featured a survivors’ celebration walk, personal testimonies, breast cancer panel, giveaways and several presentations. Marilyn Hughes-Gaston, former Bureau of Primary Health Care assistant surgeon general/ director and U.S. Public Health Service rear admiral, was the keynote speaker.
“We’re hoping to tell more women in general about taking advantage of the information that we’re providing about health care [as it pertains to breast cancer],” said Carmella Watkins, a former president of the Nu Zeta Omega Chapter. “Dr. Hughes-Gaston made a wonderful presentation about breast health, especially among African-American women and the disparities between them and white women. She’s also given us a lot of information about how we can care for ourselves and prioritize things for our health.”
According to Alpha Kappa Alpha’s website, the organization elects a new leader every four years to establish the theme, focus and direction of the sorority’s international program which is implemented at the local, national and international levels.
Watkins said the sorority’s international president Glenda Glover, who was installed this past July, made the inaugural community impact day event as one of
her signature themes.
“October 1 has been designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Day by our international president,” current chapter president Denise Barnes said. “[Each year on Oct. 1], we will be doing a breast cancer awareness activity for the community. That’s why we called this event ‘community impact day’ — the goal is to make sure that we get involved with the community. Hopefully, the information that they get tonight will be helpful to them.”
“Most victims of breast cancer are African-American women,” Barnes added. “We have members in our chapter who are survivors. I think everyone knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer.”
For survivors like Margaret Marshall, early detection, combined with good medicine and a strong support system, is key.
But most importantly, Marshall credits her faith in God for helping her get through a rough time.
“After 20 something years of being cancer free and taking my annual mammograms, suddenly I had cancer,” said Marshall, who currently serves as a member of the Charles County Board of Education. “As a result of early detection, I received excellent medical care with surgery and radiation. I recently had my annual mammogram and as of last week, I found out that I’m still cancer free. I’m really happy about that.”
Fellow sorority member Lola Scott of Waldorf, who was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in January 2017, agrees that having faith and a fighting spirit go a long way toward surviving the odds.
“I never had breast cancer in my family. When you hear those words that you have cancer, it’s very scary and you just don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” Scott said. “I was 56 years old when I was diagnosed. But I had a very supportive family and my sorority sisters supported me. Many of them are breast cancer survivors so I had them to look at and be a role model for me to let me know that you can overcome this.”
Fortunately, Scott also received excellent medical care and made it her duty to get screened.
“If I had not gone, who knows how long it would’ve been before I got diagnosed,” she said. “Initially they told me I needed to get chemo, radiation and surgery. But I ended up only getting the chemo and surgery because they said I didn’t need radiation since the cancer did not spread. It was just a blessing from God.”
Scott said she is grateful to still be alive and would encourage all women to educate themselves about breast cancer.
“It’s not only important that you go get your screening but you also need to have good health care. I was able to go and get all the treatment that I needed,” Scott continued. “Everyone needs good health care but that is what’s lacking in our community. People are not aware of the symptoms. I didn’t know, until I was diagnosed, that I had a lot of the precursors to breast cancer. These type of events are crucial so the community will know that these are the things you need to do in order for you to take care of your health.”
For more information about breast cancer awareness, go to www. nci.nih.gov.