As you may have guessed from the abundance of pink everywhere you look, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Despite all the research and medical advances, Breast Cancer is still the most-diagnosed cancer among women, representing 29% of the 810,170 new cancer cases each year. The average American woman has a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime. Next to lung cancer, it is the second-most deadly cancer a woman can have, responsible for 15% of all cancer-related deaths. The good news is that the five-year survival rate has gone up from 75% in 1975 to 91% in 2010.

Mod Girl Marketing supports the fight against breast cancer, encourages mammograms after age 40 for early detection, and would like to take the time to give kudos to our amazing clients who are particularly passionate about the cause…

Mod Girl® Clients Leading the Way for Breast Cancer Awareness

Debbie Madden from Stride

Stride is an Agile consultancy in NYC that forms on-site partnerships with companies in need of code quality improvement and solutions to tech problems. Tech CEO Debbie Madden is a busy woman — not only in running her company, but also in fighting breast cancer. Several weeks ago, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer and penned this article about her experience. To get through this challenging time and the next five months of chemotherapy, Debbie says she’ll embrace these five mantras:

– “Embrace your new normal.”

– “Offload and delegate.”

– “Feel lucky — but allow yourself to feel whatever range of emotions you’d like.”

– “Embrace your 50,000 coaches.”

Strong and amazing women like Debbie will continue to lead the way for other newly diagnosed women to find the inner courage to face the disease and road ahead.

Dr. K. Roxanne Grawe

Our client, K. Roxanne Grawe MD of ROXY Plastic Surgery is the Medical Medical Director for Breast Services at Mount Carmel Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and a skilled plastic surgeon specializing in breast reconstruction. She was recently presented with the Breast Cancer Awareness Month proclamation from Westerville Mayor Diane Fosselman and Vice Mayor Kathy Cocuzzi.

“The number of women undergoing immediate reconstruction following mastectomy has been increasing at an average of five percent per year since the late nineties. About a third of women receive new breasts immediately to improve their self-image and start the healing process,” she said in a press release. “Implants are an increasingly popular trend for women recovering from cancer in the Midwest, in particular. Excellent results, improved techniques, new types of implants and expanded insurance coverage have all made breast reconstruction a more viable option for our patients.”

Her breast reconstruction surgeries can be done in about two or three hours under IV sedation and local anesthesia or general anesthesia, and are often done at the same time as the mastectomy. Patients are instructed to “take it easy” for the first two weeks, not lifting more than a gallon of milk, but are often back to work soon after. Advances in breast implant technology yields very natural, beautiful results that help breast cancer survivors move on from their diagnoses and mastectomy surgeries.

Dr. Grawe spent several years writing letters to members of the Ohio House of Representatives and State Senate to raise awareness about an issue she frequently came across in her practice: most mastectomy patients did not know they could have breast reconstruction surgery done at the same time as cancer removal. Last year, the fruits of her labor were finally realized when Ohio passed a bipartisan bill requiring all breast cancer patient surgeons to inform patients of their options for reconstruction. “It is a triumph for breast cancer patients who will now know and understand their options completely,” Dr. Grawe said.

Dr. David Halpern