Breast-cancer scare makes friendly warning fashionable (Author: Emilie
LeBeau)
Leigh Hurst wasn't supposed to have a lump in her breast. She was only 33 and
toned from marathon running. But she felt the lump during a shower and told her
doctor she was concerned. "The first doctor said, 'It's nothing; don't worry
about it,'" said Hurst, a Northwestern grad and former Old Town resident now
living in Harrisburg, Pa.
Hurst saw a second doctor who was equally uninterested in her lump. A third
doctor also wasn't worried but, in April 2004, ordered a mammogram.
"It was difficult to get doctors to take it seriously because of my age,"
Hurst said.
The mammogram showed that Hurst's instinct was right: She had breast cancer.
She underwent a lumpectomy, radiation and 12 weeks of chemotherapy. Now
cancer-free, she credits her self-exam for catching the cancer early.
One in seven women will develop breast cancer, according to the Y- ME
National Breast Cancer Organization. And having been a rare case for her age,
Hurst wants to educate other young women to examine their breasts on a regular
basis.
Women under 40 typically do not receive mammograms, according to Hurst, so
self-exams are a young woman's only defense against the disease. "I haven't met
a woman under 40 yet who has been diagnosed who hasn't found it on her own,"
Hurst said.
As her treatment ended, Hurst was making preparations to walk with friends in
a two-day breast cancer fundraiser. She wanted her group to wear T-shirts, and
she also wanted them to attract attention. So she picked a provocative slogan,
"Feel Your Boobies," and ordered 100 shirts.
Hurst thinks the organization's name draws the attention of young women who
otherwise might ignore the usual uninspiring warnings about the "importance of
self-breast exams."
Instead, Hurst is using her experience as a corporate trainer to speak to
groups of young women through colleges and communities. "I think I can make a
difference by telling my story and showing them what I look like," Hurst said.
"It's not an overweight 60-year- old."
Hurst also sells Feel Your Boobies apparel, such as the fitted T- shirts
popular among young women visiting her Web site, feelyourboobies.org.
Proceeds fund the awareness campaign and are donated to organizations such as
Y-ME and the American Cancer Society.
