SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHT
You &Your Breasts
My advice to ALL women – Be responsible for your own breast health! Ignorance or fear does not make cancer go away.
—Dr Evelyn Ho is a consultant clinical radiologist. She is the immediate past president of the College of Radiology as well as the founding editor and creator of www.radiologymalaysia.org. In 2005, Dr Ho received the Inaugural Novartis-Malaysian Breast Cancer Council Award for her leadership in breast cancer advocacy.
Photographs by courtesy of Dr Evelyn Ho, Webeditor, Radiology Malaysia.
It is everyone’s business to be Breast AWARE! If you are a husband or wife; father or other, brother or sister; son or daughter; friend or relative - You SHOULD attend this session. Yes, males can also get breast cancer, although their risks are very much lower than that of females. Breaking the Silence Saves Lives —Take Charge of Your Breast Health NOW!
TIME/DATE
3-5pm, 19 September 2010 (Sun)
VENUE
Mosaic Community Studio
S20 (2nd Floor), Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya
SPEAKER
Dr Evelyn Ho, Consultant Clinical Radiologist
(BBGSian, Class of 1979)
TOPICS
The Basics About the Human Breast
How to do Effective Self Breast Examination
How to React/Interact with People with Breast Cancer
Is there Life After Breast Cancer?
The Right to Take Control (Patient Autonomy)
COST
RM10 per person to cover hall rental and refreshments
ENQUIRIES
SY Phang (012-292 1460); Dolly Foo (012-679 7856)
bbgsoga@gmail.com, www.bbgsoga.blogspot.com
As we can only accept payment from members, we encourage BBGS OGA members to coordinate payments from their families and friends attending the talk and bank in the money into:
Bukit Bintang Girls’ School Old Girls’ Association
EON Bank Account: 2044 1000 55514
Please fax bank slip to 03-6157 0191 (state names and purpose of payment).
The BBGS OGA is truly proud of Dr Evelyn Ho’s contributions to women’s health in Malaysia and beyond. We caught up with the busy radiologist over dinner and began to understand why she is so passionate about promoting breast health. Her maxim is: “If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing to the best of your ability”. Sounds familiar? Please scroll till the end for enlightenment.
MY PASSION & MISSION...
Public Education: Creating awareness and educating the public from all walks of life is essential for empowering people to act appropriately for their own breast health. I believe in the holistic approach without all the doom and gloom—from early detection (which coincides with my work as a radiologist) to rehabilitation from cancer or living with advanced cancer based on palliative medicine principles.
Radiology Malaysia Website: The website is bi-lingual (English and Bahasa Malaysia) to reach a wider audience.
The website http://www.radiologymalaysia.org gives information about our
professional body, directory for palliative care and support groups, general health information, as well as a subweb on breast health. Breast Heath is not only a female problem. Caregivers must also be given knowledge and support. In many instances, the person with cancer has to tread on glass just to support or protect their loved ones from the disease.
Book: I have written a short guide entitled The Art of Being Breast Aware, now in its 2nd edition. This helps everyone perform systematic breast examination without fear or anxiety. It is very sad that old wives’ tales and gossips have greater impact on women than listening to the professional healthcare expert.
College of Radiology Value Added Mammogram Programme: I organised the first subsidised value added mammogram programme in Malaysia in 2001. The money donated for this programme is almost fully channelled into paying for those underserved to access mammograms. We try to keep administrative costs to the minimum.
OutRageously Pink Nite 2004 and 2009: Together with my breast health partners, we organised the first Street Party in 2004 in Bangsar. This was an innovative fun event to raise the awareness of breast health among the public. It was exhausting as we did everything on our own, with no funds to start off with. But God has been good, and sponsors were generous when we asked for freebies for goodie bags. The event was an outstanding success! In 2009, we organised another Outrageously Pink Nite in a more controlled environment. It was held at Bangsar Village II, Kuala Lumpur, where the young and old had a great time. We even had Harley Davidson bikers promoting breast health awareness!
For more information, check out:
www.radiologymalaysia.org/breasthealth
OPN 2009
http://www.radiologymalaysia.org/breasthealth/BCAC/2009Reports/1107_Outrageously-PINK-Nite-II.htm
OPN 2004
http://www.radiologymalaysia.org/breasthealth/BCAC/2004%20Reports/OPN/index.htm
MY BBGS MEMORIES...
Miss Cooke: She is, of course, the headmistress par excellence! Miss Cooke left a remarkable impact on me. She was strict about punctuality, neatness, politeness and cleanliness (aah...those snow-white school shoes!). I also remember the handshake Miss Cooke taught us and her advice about “exuding confidence but not arrogance”. Not forgetting her favourite maxim: “If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing to the best of your ability” (reinforced by my mum’s similar credo). Wherever you go, leave the place as clean or cleaner than when you found it.
Activities: Choral speaking and debating competitions; Maths and Science interschool quizzes; singing in parts during school assemblies was wonderful; and folk dancing—I really loved that!
