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Healthy Aging By Sharon Johnson Women must cope with cancer test fears Being a woman and getting older: These are the greatest risk factors of breast cancer. A group of women in the Rogue Valley � many of them over 50, but not all � have decided to examine that risk more closely. The Family and Community Education (FCE) organization has a membership of more than 100 women. They used to be called the County Home Economists or County Home-makers. They care about their homes and the economics of managing them, but that is not all they care about. A woman named Carol Cheney previously led the FCE organization. Interest in breast cancer started under her leadership. Robin Rohrbacker, whose family has a history of breast cancer (a mother or sister with the disease increases a woman�s risk), currently leads FCE. However, this is not Carol�s or Robin�s story. This is the story of Dee Hutchison. Dee is an attractive 70-year-old woman with a ribald sense of humor. She is a breast cancer survivor. She readily talks about the removal of her right breast 15 years ago. She discusses the fast but thoughtful decision-making that took place before her surgery. She openly discusses the heaviness of the prosthesis she wears. Dee and the FCE organization know a lot about breast cancer. They know that the incidence of breast cancer is higher in Oregon than other areas of the country and higher for their age peers � women over 50. They know it is a more likely cause of death than heart disease for women. In addition, they know the greatest risk is between 60 and 64 years, an age range that some of them have entered or passed. These women are trying to understand breast cancer and how women deal with the possibility and the reality. With assistance from the Oregon State University Extension in partnership with the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program and the Jackson County Health Department, FCE women have surveyed themselves, asking why they put off visits to their health provider or fail to make (or keep) mammogram appointments. Some unexpected findings emerged from the analysis. These are rural women, many of whom live in the hills overlooking the Rogue Valley. One might think that transportation was a factor in getting to their health provider. Not so. Cost and/or lack of insurance were factors for many, but it was fear, the fear of the pain of the mammogram, or the fear of the pain associated with a diagnosis of cancer, that deterred many of them from seeking diagnosis and treatment. Fear of pain is not well addressed in literature about breast cancer. You do not often see the recommendation that women take aspirin or ibuprofen before their mammograms to address the pain that may accompany the mammogram procedure. You do not see a lot of encouragement for women to take a friend with them when they see their physician or have a mammogram � as moral support and to offer perspective and an additional listening ear. Fear is a real issue. Dee Hutchison is a strong, no-nonsense woman who handles her fears head-on. But she understands women who are overwhelmed by fear to the point of inaction. And her response is an arm-around-the-shoulder, "you can do it � and you must." Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.