By GAIL MIYASAKI
Rafu Craft Editor
A shout-out to all you gals and guys! Time to get your girlie on and be darn proud of it.
October is Breast Cancer (BC) Awareness Month.
Think pink in spreading the BIG message to embrace early detection and treatment of BC through mammograms. Drop a hint to your wife, girlfriend, sis, auntie, grandma, cousin, friend, partner, co-worker, to be proactive and take care of their boobs.
Men do get BC, too. Six cases happen daily according to Susan G. Komen. Indeed a small percentage, but it’s out there.
Beside skin cancers, BC is the most common cancer diagnosed among American gals. Keep-a-breast.org notes that every three minutes, someone gets the bad news that they have BC.
FACT: Eight in 10 women will be diagnosed with BC this year. Count out 10 friends or family members. Someone you know is destined to be one of them.
MYTH: BC only happens if someone in your family had it. Not all cancers are inherited. Genetics played no part in my diagnosis over a dozen years ago or recently for my sis-in-law, Patsy.
Dr. Maggie DiNome of St. John’s Health Center’s Breast Center in Santa Monica says that five to ten percent of BC develops from a known mutation passed on from generation-to-generation. The majority 80 plus per cent is sporadic.
Macrophages? A new word to add to my vocabulary. An East Coast soon-to-be grandma is giving it a trial shot as a promising alternative treatment following her lumpectomy. Macrophages are helpful immune cells that engulf foreign matter by “eating” them, thus destroying them. In simplest of terms, imagine visions of Pac Man, gobbling up the bad guys.
Necessary research grants continue to be awarded to doctors studying the immune system in battling BC. Susan G. Komen awarded one such grant to Dr. Pamela Ohashi and Dr. Michael Reedijk of the United Health Care Network in Toronto. They’ll check out how macrophages interact with normal cells surrounding tumors within immune systems and how to make them more effective in attacking these tumor cells.
YOU, too, can make a difference! Be a part of this battle, on your own terms.
Donate. Support. Volunteer. Talk. Walk. Run. Bicycle. Swim. Make. Bake. Buy. Wear. Dance. Shop. Care. Share.
When all is said in done, a four-letter word stands tall at the forefront for cancer patients, survivors and care-givers. We call it H-O-P-E!
Put on the pink and shop ’til you drop this Saturday. Crafty Foxes welcomes all to their holiday boutique at the Joan Pisano Community Center in Saratoga.
Get into the spirit of the season. Chat with Susan Becker of Bunny Creek Designs who gets into the zone when she’s making tole painted wood products. “Each item makes me smile. I even talk to each piece as I put a face on him or her,” she said.
Blame it on her husband, a season ticket holder to the SF 49ers and Cal Bears football games. Left home alone, a football widow, she wondered what kind of mischief she could conjure up. Unlike most gals who head to the nearest mall, Becker drove to Home Depot to purchase a saw and belt sander.
The rest is history. Becker does all the wood work herself. From pattern transfers, to cutting with a scroll saw, to sealing and sanding each piece, then painting and embellishing to complete each project, it’s a true labor of love.
Thanksgiving decorations sell well. Her claim to fame is a four-foot-tall moose with a sign hanging from his nose that says “Welcome to our house.” Come December, simply flip over for a laughable “Merry Chrismoose.”
With a degree in drama, she opted not to be the drama queen. Instead she shined as a copywriter and advertising supervisor.
Recently retired, crafting for the holidays and giving character to little critters is her passion. Count on five more years of lifting lumber and sawing away.
Closer to LA on Oct. 27 is the Krafty Delites Fall Boutique at the Carson Community Center.
LIKE The Rafu on Facebook to keep up with Krafty Korner!
Saturday, Oct. 19, 9-4
Crafty Foxes Holiday Boutique
Joan Pisani Community Center
19655 Allendale Ave., Saratoga
408-356-2764, Carol Yuki
Sunday, Oct. 27, 10-4
Krafty Delites Fall Boutique #1
Carson Community Center
801 E. Carson St., Carson
310-329-5874, Stephanie Nakayama