October in these parts is known for the State Fair, Texas-OU, Cattle Baron’s Ball, Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness. Regarding that last one, North Texas has been a recognized leader is spreading the word and raising the funds in battling the disease. In addition to the one-day Komen Dallas More Than Pink Walk, Baylor Scott and White Dallas Foundation is providing stories about those in the battle throughout the month thanks to its Celebrating Women program.
To kick off the series of information, 2021 Celebrating Women Co-Chairs Marybeth Conlon and Elizabeth Gambrell arranged to have award-winning actress Patricia Arquette, who lost her mother to breast cancer, “share her commitment to this cause and remind women in North Texas that mammograms matter.”
Watching her video, one is struck that the person on camera is not reading a script written by someone else. She is a daughter whose face still shows the anger and pain of losing her mother to breast cancer years ago.
Perhaps it’s the fact that Patricia knows that had her mother been diagnosed before her 4th-stage breast cancer was discovered, it would have been a different outcome.
In pointing out that too many times women put their own health at the bottom of the list, Patricia urged women to make their mammogram “an anniversary for yourself.”
Editor’s note: It was interesting to note that in the background of the video message, there were butterflies in double-glass frames.
The rollout calls for emails to be sent on Tuesdays (October 13, 20 and 27) “with a focus on sharing impact through the lens of our patients and will highlight how BSWH is ‘here for you’ through two patient stories and our patient navigation program.”
If you would like to learn about the advancements that have been made thanks to funding, you can sign up for the emails here.
In the meantime, if you haven’t had your mammogram don’t dawdle. As Patricia knows, early detection is the first step to beating the disease.
* Graphic/video courtesy of Baylor Scott and White Dallas Foundation