JABSOM Library: Library Updates

Breast Cancer Screening: NOT CANCELED

From Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person by Miriam Engelberg.

It's October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We're not going to be doing any pinkwashing, don't worry. BUT we are going to remind you that even though the pandemic rages on and even though the wheels appear to be coming off the wagon on the mainland, NO ONE GETS TO SKIP THEIR CANCER SCREENINGS.

Ahem. 

Generally, breast cancer screening should begin at 40, with regular mammograms. The frequency of your screening and the type of imaging you may receive will vary based on your risk category. Some factors that may influence your risk category are: age, ethnicity, BRCA1/BRCA2 genes, breast tissue density, family history, activity level, hormone replacement therapy, and alcohol use. Under the ACA, your insurance should cover screening mammograms after age 40 with no out-of-pocket-cost.

Ask your doctor to help determine your risk category and appropriate screening!

Find out if you quality for a free or low-cost mammogram (and pap test) call 808-692-7480

And check out some of our great graphic narratives on the experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer:

Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person by Miriam Engelberg

Call Number: Graphic Medicine WP 870 E575c 2006

ISBN: 9780060789732

Publication Date: 2006-04-25

Engelberg was 43 and the mother of a 4-year-old when diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy in quick succession, and the cancer later metastasized to the brain. She lost her hair, experienced the seeming paradox of gaining weight on account of treatment, lost interest in sex, joined support groups in which she made new friends, and obsessed about what she might have done to bring on her illness or avoid it. She decided early on to make comics out of her travails, and if they are pretty rudimentary, they are very focused. Each one- to six-page helping of them centers tightly on a topic, incident, or such bits of fancy as an imaginary "Cancer Channel" and an infomercial for metastasis. Engelberg's daft sense of humor, never mean, gross, or flippant, serves readers, perhaps especially fellow cancer patients, as well as, maybe better than, it does her.
-Ray Olson

Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

Call Number: Special Collection Graphic Medicine WP 870 M317c 2008

ISBN: 9780307263575

Publication Date: 2006-09-26

Marisa, self-described "terminal bachelorette", meets her Prince Charming in Silvano, owner of the chic downtown restaurant Da Silvano. Three weeks before their wedding, she receives her diagnosis. She wonders: How will he react to this news? How will my world change? Will I even survive? And... what about my hair? In vivid color and with a taboo-breaking sense of humor, Marisa Acocella Marchetto tells the story of her eleven-month, ultimately triumphant bout with breast cancer--from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between.

Breast Cancer Screening by Nehmat Houssami; Diana Miglioretti

ISBN: 9780128022092

Publication Date: 2016-04-06

c. 2016
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