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Coppell council designates
cancer awareness months
Blood cancer, breast cancer survivors recognized
By DAN EAKIN, deakin@starlocalnews.com
The council designated the month of September as Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and the month of October as Breast Cancer Awareness month.
In reading the proclamation designating September as Blood Cancer Awareness Month, Mayor Karen Hunt said leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will kill an estimated 54,000 people in the United States this year. She said blood cancers currently afflict more than one million people in the United States, with an estimated 140,310 new cases diagnosed every year.
She noted that the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which has an office in North Texas, accepts contributions to go toward searching for a cure for the diseases.
Jeff Stokes of Coppell, who accepted the proclamation from the mayor, said he was afflicted with leukemia about seven years ago. He said he would not be alive today had it not been for progress made through research for fighting the disease.
Stokes thanked the council for supporting efforts to raise funds for blood cancer research.
About 25 members of the Pink Soles in Motion (PSIM) were on hand to hear the mayor read the proclamation designating the month of October as Breast Awareness Month.
The mayor noted that the purpose of the designation is to educate women about the importance of early detection of breast cancer.
“Since the inception of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, mammography use has doubled and breast cancer death rates have declined,” she said.
However, she also noted that too many women still do not utilize mammography at regular intervals like they should.
“Breast cancer deaths could decline further if all women age 40 and older received mammograms at regular intervals,” she said.
Valerie Brunson, a member of Pink Soles in Motion, accepted the proclamation from the mayor on behalf of the organization. She was surrounded by several members of the organization which started in Coppell several years ago and now had members from several area cities.
One of the members present for the reading and passing of the proclamation was Elaine Linn of Irving, who has walked for the past six years in the annual Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure 60 mile walk in the DFW area. She plans to walk again in the next walk, scheduled for Nov. 2-4.
“After all that has been done for me, this is my way to pay it forward,” she said.
Brunson said, “Over the past six years, this team has raised about $700,000 to help end breast cancer. In the past four years, we've been among the top 10 DFW teams to raise funds. And in 2010 and 2011, we were the top DFW team. As a 2012 team, our goal is to make a big impact in the eradication of breast cancer.”
For information, go to http://www.3day.org/.
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