Breast Cancer Awareness
CORRECTION (11/10/15): Removed misquote stating J. Erwin was at the grocery store, when she got the call. She was at home. Removed the misquote stating why she didn’t chose radiation to include the correct reason why she did not receive radiation treatment.
Breast Cancer Awareness Week was held from Monday, October 12 through Friday, October 16! Students in all grades dressed up in pink shirts, pants, shorts, dresses, jackets, skirts, socks, bandanas, and many more. They all celebrated by getting into spirit. It was a great turnout; many students participated and showed their spirit. The week of October 12th-16th was a great way to support and appreciate Breast Cancer because it is a serious issue. Many people suffer from breast cancer and many students at Lincoln know at least one person that has suffered from it. During lunch students got their faces painted with pink hearts and ribbons, and some students got their nails painted pink to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Week. The whole month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and every month has a different color that represents a different Cancer Awareness. Lincoln chose Breast Cancer Awareness to make as a spirit week just like they do every year. It was a great way to have all the students in every grade come out and unite for such a great cause. Overall, Breast Cancer Awareness week at Lincoln High School was a great success.
On Wednesday, October 14th, Julie Erwin came to Lincoln during advisory and spoke about her personal experience with breast Cancer to Lincoln Students. She explained the phases she went through. She started to feel a sharp pain in her breast when she applied too much pressure and it worried her, making her feel the need to go to the doctors. The pain would not go away and it hurt continuously when she touched it, so she got it checked. Once she got it checked after about 3 months or so it was not too bad. She was diagnosed with stage two Breast Cancer. She was put onto chemotherapy because she wanted the cancer gone as soon as possible. She explained how the chemo wasn’t as bad until the third day came around. She started losing her hair and feeling weak. After she talked about her experience she asked the audience questions that they had for her.
One question asked at the meeting was “How was your overall experience?” she replied with, “It was hard at first but I stayed positive the whole time and my family supported me continuously throughout the whole process; in no time it was gone”.
Another question asked was, “What happened when you got the call saying that you were diagnosed?” She said she was at home with her son when she received the call.
A third question that was asked was, “How did you deal with all of the chemotherapy, and why didn’t you choose to get radiation?” Julie, via email, told Lion Tales that “The reason I didn’t have radiation was because I chose Bi-Lateral Mastectomy (removal of both breasts) hoping to reduce the chance for the need for radiation. And only after the pathology after chemo and surgery came out it showed that the cancer was gone and radiation was not necessary. If I had a lumpectomy (which was what I was going to do in the beginning) I would have had 6 weeks of daily (M-F) radiation treatments. So the reason I chose the Mastectomy was to reduce greatly, my need for radiation.”
Overall, Julie Erwin gave a great speech and set a great example on how to stay strong. The audience was quiet and payed attention throughout the whole speech and stayed active by applauding. Julie was brave throughout her journey for overcoming her case of Breast Cancer.
Jacqueline Moncada is a senior at Lincoln High School, she was born in San Jose, CA, although she is part Mexican and Lebanese. She enjoys playing all...
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