IBC Correction

Hi Buddies,

This sleep deprived blogger must make a correction regarding my August Buddy Check 9 report. The 9th of the month is next Thursday the 9th. not Friday. Please make a note in your datebook. During the 5am newscast, I will report on a new method for Early Detection. It is the Halo Pap; some have called it a "pap test" for the breast.
Also on our 9am newscast that same Thursday the 9th, a special health advisory on Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Dr. Shawna Willey of the Ourisman Breast Center @ Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center will discuss all aspects of this deadly, often misdiagnosed breast cancer.
Please share this blog with your Buddy and make sure they are watching too. If you have a question about IBC, send it to me at aroane@wusa9.com. We'll ask it of Dr. Willey during our live newscast next week.

Wishing Robin Roberts the best

Good Morning Buddies,

In case you haven't heard, Good Morning America Anchor, Robin Roberts, announced today she has breast cancer. The picture of health, Robin is among the 80% of women with no family history, who are diagnosed annually with breast cancer. But because she found the cancer at its earliest stage, her prognosis is excellent. She will have surgery later this week.
How Robin found her cancer is the message of Buddy Check 9. Every month I remind you to take charge of your health by performing a breast self exam, scheduling a clinical exam and a yearly mammogram. Then you urge your Buddy to do the same.
Robin's "Buddy" was the late GMA entertainement correspondent, Joel Siegel. She learned her cancer diagnosis on the same day the network paid tribute to Siegel who lost his battle with colon cancer. His lasting message is check it out! Whether colon cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer or breast cancer, practice Early Detection. Take charge of your own health!!!! Siegel's doctor told him if he had been checked for colon cancer at age 50, his life could have been saved.
I've never met Robin, but my husband and I worked with her sister, Sally Ann Roberts, in New Orleans at the CBS affiliate, WWL-TV. Sally Ann, who lost her husband to cancer,
co-anchors WWL's early morning newscast.
Keep Robin in your prayers and check it out yourself. Don't delay performing your BSE, scheduling a visit with a doctor or nurse practitioner and if you're over 40, make that appointment for a mammogram.
While I have your attention, don't forget, next Thursday is the 9th of the month. Call your Buddy!!!!!
On August 9th, my Buddy Check 9 report will feature the HALO PAP. It is a new advance in Early Detection. Some are calling the Halo Pap a "pap test" for the breast. Watch my report on 9 News Now at 5am, Thursday, the 9th of August. Tell your friends to watch too.
And on 9 News Now at 9am on Thursday, August 9th, an important discussion on Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Dr. Shawna Willey, Director of the Betty Lou Ourisman Breast Health Center at Georgetown, will join us for this special health advisory. We will also have an IBC survivor sharing her story.
I'll have another reminder of this special Buddy Check 9 segment on August 9th so you can spread the word to your Buddies.

Take care,
Andrea Roane

Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Hi Buddies,

Thanks to the Buddies who sent me the e-mail video on Inflammatory Breast Cancer. You should know that Buddy Check 9 has you covered on this subject. In fact, my first Buddy Check 9 report on IBC was 8-years ago. That's when the now standard, aggressive treatment of the disease was in its experimental stage.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer is a rare, aggressive form of cancer that accounts for only 1 to 4% of all breast cancers. You may not be familiar with it, but IBC is not a new disease, as I learned from the doctors at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center @ Georgetown University Medical Center. This form of cancer was first identified more than 100-years ago.
Noted Washington area oncologist Dr. Fred Smith says that with Inflammatory Breast Cancer early diagnosis doesn't really exist---the symptoms are often mistaken for an infection. At that point, Dr. Smith says, the cancer has spread with the aggressiveness of a wildfire. “It's already zinged thru the breast and the tissue so the name is very apt, very correct." With IBC, "the breast looks red, very inflamed. It's sometimes tender and then you have this little cobblestone- like orange peel appearance to the skin.”
To learn more about IBC and how it is treated now, click on the links below. Please be a Buddy and email this information to your Buddy.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=24487
http://www.wusa9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=50416

Remember to call your Buddy on the 9th of August and look for my Buddy Check 9 report on 9 News Now @ 5am and 9am.

Bye for now,

Andrea

Sisters Need to be Buddies

Hi Buddies,

Yet, another reason why sisters of women who've been diagnosed with breast cancer should take part in the Sister Study. Finding the possible environmental links to the causes of breast cancer is the focus of this multi-year study of Sisters.
Researchers are hoping to recruit 50-thousand sisters. They're especially interested in enrolling women of color, blacks, Latinas and Asians, who are routinely underrepresented in clincal breast cancer studies.
I'm including two links. The first is my Buddy Check 9 report explaining the significance of the Sister Study.
The second is a link to a "Black America On the Web" article on the need for African-American women's participation in the Sister Study & clinical trials in general.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=36070
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/sisterstudy716

In a related item, Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation has awarded two grants to the Black Women's Health Study. One study will look at whether neighborhood characteristics affect a woman's risk for breast cancer. Even though education and income levels may be equal, in many instances, a black woman's neighborhood is less advantaged than a white woman's. Could that contribute to a cancer diagnosis?
The second study will consider whether exposure to neighborhood violence increases a woman's risk for the disease...perhaps through its effects on her immune system.
These BWHS investigators are from Boston University & Howard University. To learn more about BWHS and its mission, here is their web address: www.bu.edu/bwhs

That's it for now,
Andrea

Sisters Need to be Buddies

A Proud Mom

Hi Buddies,

Sharing some good news from a Buddy who is also a very proud mother. Roscoe Dellums sent me this item on her son, actor Erik Todd Dellums. If you watchedTuesday night's episode of NCIS, you saw Erik as the DC detective who wouldn't back down to Mark Harmon's character "Jethro" over the need for a warrant.
In his next performance Erik won't be seen, but he will be heard. Erik is making his first big foray into series narration. "Mysterious Journeys" begins airing weekly on the TRAVEL CHANNEL, August 24th at 8 pm for twelve episodes. Check your local listings. The show explores legendary mysteries, phenomena and horrors throughout the world. It's like X-Files, Dark Shadows and Nova all rolled into one. Erik Dellum's voice will serve as your guide. Tune in and listen up.
All the best to Erik and thanks to his mother Roscoe, a Buddy, for sharing the exciting news.

Andrea Roane

Tattoos For Survivors

Good Morning,

Hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend as much as I did. went for a walk that took us 2-point-3-miles Sunday morning. What a great way to begin the day.
On my day off, the family took in the movie "Hairspray". My mother stayed awake for the entire film; that's always a good sign. Not a great film, but entertaining and a foot tapping way to spend the afternoon.

In my last posting, I put out an alert for a tattoo artist to help a Buddy who was getting ready to start another round of chemotherapy. She knew she was going to lose all her hair and wanted to get permanent eyebrows. Instead of a tattoo artist, she found help from a plastic surgeon. The eyebrows were created in the office of Dr. Sheilah Lynch, 5530 Wisconsin Ave, Ste 1111, Chevy Chase, 301-652-5933. To our Buddy, thanks for sharing and know that you remain in my prayers .

Also, to William: you are welcome and best of luck!!!! It sounds like your math equations could make a big difference in all our lives.

Have a great week,
Andrea

Andrea Looking for Tattoo Buddies

Good Morning Buddies,

I'm pretty sure this will be the strangest question you've been asked today. On behalf of a 9 News Now Buddy, I am looking for a tatoo artist. The Buddy is getting ready to battle another cancer recurrence. She will be receiving chemotherapy. Knowing that she will loose all of her hair, she is exploring having a tatoo artist create permanent eyebrows. Can you offer reputable suggestions? Just let me know so I can pass names to her.
Thanks for any help. Also, many thanks to Howard Bernstein for helping me access my Blog this morning. All the experts were stumped, but Howard came through. What a guy!
Andrea Roane

Morning Promo

Good Morning,

If you watch TV 9 regularly, you probably saw the Friday morning promo where I asked you to read our Blogs.
Well, keep watching this space for more Buddy Blogs from me. We're a competetive group in the morning and more people are clicking on Kim's blog. So, where are my Buddies? In the words of the late Petey Greene, "Talk To Me."
By the way, the legendary WOL Radio D-J is the subject of Don Cheadle's new movie opening this weekend. It's getting rave reviews for Cheadle's performance and Petey's colorful life.
In my Buddy Blog, I won't be talking about "cougars" and "kittens", but I will be sharing important information on breast health, breast events going on in our community. Plus, we will laugh together about some of the funny moments on 9 News in the Morning with me, Kim, Mike & Nicole.
I received a comment from Leenie Brown of Gaithersburg. MD. about Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Her friend recently died of the disease and she was amazed at how many women had never heard of IBC or knew of its symptoms.
I'm still learning the ins & outs of including links on my blog page, but I do want you to know that you can see several of my reports about IBC on the Buddy Check 9 web page. Type IBC in the search window and the stories will pop up. You can even email the stories to your Buddies.
That's it for now. Have a great weekend!!
Andrea

An Independence Day celebration of sorts in the area of cancer prevention. Cancer death rates are down again according to the American Cancer Society. Early Detection does pay off!!!!!

In July's Buddy Check 9 report, a report on the importance of taking charge of your own health. A recent study shows the average time for a doctor's exam is just 15 minutes. That has some experts concerned that doctors may be overlooking some big-picture problems -like breast cancer- when it comes to your health. But just a little time on the internet can help make the most out of every minute with your doctor.

Look for this Buddy Check 9 report Friday the 9th of July on 9NEWS NOW during our 5am news hour.

Also, Basketball fans and those who want to help defeat breast cancer; Buddy Check 9 is helping to spread the news about the Washington Mystics teaming up with Y-ME. The Washington Mystics and Y-ME Mid-Atlantic are teaming up to insure no one faces breast cancer alone. Here's how you can help them out.

Purchase a ticket to this year's All Star Game, to be held in Washington, DC at the Verizon Center on Sunday, July 15th at 3:30pm and automatically get a ticket to a Mystics regular season game of your choice. Ticket packages are $35 or $25. Y-ME Mid-Atlantic receives $5.00 for every package sold.

To purchase your tickets and participate in this wonderful opportunity to see both the WNBA All Stars and the Washington Mystics in action, please visit www.mysticstix.com/yme.html.

Have a great summer,
Andrea