Newsletters

Dear Reader,

If you couldn't make it to one of these events then at least we can catch you up a little bit!  Please don't hesitate to contact us directly here if you have questions. 

The month started with ZBC returning as exhibitors and participants at the 17th Annual Cancer Prevention Institute of California's (CPIC ) Breast Cancer Conference at the Golden Gate Club in the San Francisco Presidio.  In the next segment below, ZBC Education Coordinator Lianna Hartmour, shares her highlights from the conference.

The following week ZBC Board President Melissa Felder, Treasurer Kevin Gay and I tabled at the annual San Francisco Board Match event and met some incredible people interested in the mission of ZBC and board service. We are looking forward to staying in touch with our new found friends and hope that some of them will become deeply involved in the ZBC fold over time. If you are interested in knowing more about the ZBC Board please contact me This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Last weekend was the 11th Annual Marin Teen Girl Conference created by the Marin Women's Commission.  As the Marin IJ reported the energy was truly contagious. This is a teen powered event and we were so encouraged by the programming designed by the teens for teens.  Our message that breast cancer risk reduction includes lifestyle and environmental factors was strongly consistent with, and reinforced by, breakout sessions on physical activity, healthy eating, body positive and sessions to raise self-awareness on the use and abuse of smoking, drugs and alcohol.

Its quite fascinating how the star of each of these events turned out to be the low tech, high fun ZBC 'Wheel of Knowledge". You can see the girls lining up to take their turn in the middle image on the right hand side of the picture above.

IMPORTANT BOOK REVIEW ANNOUNCEMENT:  We have moved all the book reviews to a separate page of their own on our web-site.You will be able to find them at https://www.zerobreastcancer.org/book-reviews.  Alternatively you can find them on the main navigation bar on our web-site.  They will be housed under ZBC Does and then on the drop down menu select Book Reviews. We have tagged them all to make them more searchable and the list of the common tags will appear on the right hand side of the screen on desktops and tablets.  For smart phones the list of tags will be underneath the the last of the reviews on that page.  The direct link to the most recent book review is in the last segment of this email.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all you readers who observe the Jewish Festival of Passover 'Chag Pesach Sameach' (a happy festival) and also send a message of joy and blessings to those of you for whom Easter is meaningful.

It was wonderful to have all the rain here in Northern California during March but I hope you agree with me that its time to enjoy the spring flowers and the sunshine!

Yours in health,

Rose Barlow 

Executive Director

From the Desk of Lianna Hartmour, Education Coordinator.

Zero Breast Cancer's Rose Barlow, Catherine Thomsen, and Lianna Hartmour were excited to be at the CPIC Breast Cancer Conference on March 3rd! The ZBC display of information about the Girls' New Puberty and 13 Ways to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer campaigns attracted a lot of visitors and great conversations. The conference attendees include breast cancer patients, survivors and professionals in the field.

Highlights include:

• Scarlett Lin Gomez, M.P.H., PhD., a research scientist at CPIC, presented on breast cancer disparities. Did you know that immigrant status is associated with an increased rate of breast cancer? For more information, see her slides here.
• Rabbi Lori Klein, director of the spiritual care service at Stanford Health Care and a spiritual leader in Santa Cruz County, shared her experiential knowledge from working with people diagnosed with breast cancer. She noted that beginning survivorship can be as emotionally difficult as diagnosis. Her slides are available here . ZBC places a priority on this transition too; Catherine Thomsen, ZBC Program Director, is on the steering committee for the Breast Cancer Survivorship Navigation Project (BCSNP). Ask us if you’re interested in more information.
• Judith Luce, M.D., a nationally-recognized breast cancer expert, reported on the latest breast cancer technology, such as photoacoustic imaging being developed as a technology to improve breast cancer screening. Her slides are  available here. She also encouraged patients in the UC medical system who do not have breast cancer to enroll in the WISDOM study to contribute to data about the best timing for breast cancer screening. See our blog for more information about the study and how to enroll!
• Paula Kushlan, M.D., a board certified medical oncologist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, explained that metastatic breast cancer is a chronic disease that is highly treatable even though it is not curable. Although it has a higher stigma than heart disease, quality and quantity of life after diagnosis is similar. Diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer does not predict how long one will live; some people live 20+ years.
• Jennifer Vickerman, R.N., M.S., A.O.C.N., C.B.C.N., an oncology clinical nurse specialist at the Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center of Mills-Peninsula Health Services, informed the audience about breast cancer symptoms and how to address them. She noted that cognitive symptoms are not only related to chemo but experienced by women taking other medications as well. Her slides are available here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS LAST MONTH!