Dr. Sharon Malone told a crowd of more than 500 people at the Clark County Fairgrounds the good news: If you learn when and how to get tested and do what you know you should do, you can protect yourself. You have a good chance of saving yourself and help your family and friends do the same.
Malone stopped in Springfield the day before Mother’s Day on a national tour to promote her New York Times bestselling book, “Grown Woman Talk.”
Here, the wife of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and a former board-certified physician not only happily participates in Sisters United for Prevention’s 20th Anniversary Cancer Awareness Luncheon and Fashion Show. , discovered that we are painfully aware of the damage cancer can do to the human body. local black community.
Proof of that is the fact that 36 of the event’s 59 dining tables were dedicated to people living with or dying from cancer, and all 15 models who appeared in the style show are survivors. It was the fact that he was a person.
(The audience was also told that three of the sisters are currently undergoing treatment.)
call to action
Malone, a nationally certified menopause specialist, acknowledged that there have been and continue to be barriers to African Americans receiving lifesaving early screening treatments.
The fact that birth ZIP code is the most reliable predictor of an American’s long-term health status, and that some women (and men) are unable to receive cancer treatment because they can’t afford a taxi, suggests that It gives me energy,” she said.
So is the fact that “we live in a health care system where most people cannot regularly consult a doctor.”
Nevertheless, Malone said the reality is: “You have to learn to be the captain of your own ship.”
Start
To advance that cause, she trashed the reasons and excuses for why black women (like all people) aren’t held accountable.
1. Volunteer suffering: Malone said that even in the face of discomfort, “we have the idea that we have come out stronger and absorbed it.” But it impedes access to timely (and lifesaving) care.
2. Doctor bashing: While focusing on “black women”, teeth “They are less likely to receive the recommended (ideal) type of (cancer) care,” she says, rather than “more women die from no care than from inadequate care.” emphasized an important fact.
3.”Ladies, don’t let them bother you. This will allow air to get in there and spread it out. ” Heads nodded when Malone called these comments “the kind of things my mother’s generation would say,” but it had deadly consequences.
She also mentioned a “cancer family” like hers, where her mother died of colon cancer and Malone’s seven siblings suffered from breast, prostate and blood cancers. .
“Family history…only tells you what you’re susceptible to, it doesn’t tell you what you’re destined to have,” she said.
It’s also a reminder to see when screenings are happening and to schedule them.
innovation and education
When Malone called on the community to “innovate and educate” on cancer prevention, he addressed a choir that had been singing the song for 20 years.
Host Grace Brown, a survivor herself, gathered emerging cancer educators from the audience before leading Malone into a discussion about her book. Everyone was asked to wear a decorative Sisters button left on the table in public, and if asked, to ask the person asking for screening updates.
Sisters United also received congratulations from longtime supporter and Springfield native John Legend, who sent a congratulatory video that was played during the event.
Pilar Mock, director of Mercy Health Springfield Cancer Center, praised Sisters United for “helping keep our mission alive,” before reiterating the importance of grassroots efforts: Stated. Talk to your family and friends. Be an advocate of early detection.the So Important things to save lives. ”
what mom said
And that’s a possibility, Malone added.
“Colon, breast, prostate and lung cancers, which account for 50% of all cancers, may be preventable or diagnosed early,” she said.
And many of them are completely avoidable.
“I want to emphasize the lifestyle message again and again,” she said. “That’s important.”
Lung cancer is no longer the leading cause of cancer death, “not because we have new genes,” she said, but because Black women have stopped smoking.
If you don’t exercise, eat well or limit stress, “not only do you increase your risk of heart disease, you also increase your risk of cancer,” she added.
The good news, she says, is that “the same things you do to reduce your risk of heart disease will also reduce your risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”
And they can lead to a better night’s sleep. It’s another thing that mothers tell us to do.
