Educational Moment

I wanted to take a moment to educate you a bit. For those of you planning to wear the shirt (and those who are just reading). The objective behind the shirt is to make people ask questions. We didn't want something so obvious because then people would read it and walk on. This way, people have to ask you about the shirt which gives you the opportunity to talk to them about ovarian cancer.

Here are some facts to learn: You can let them know that 1 in 70 women will develop ovarian cancer and 1 in 100 will die from it. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 26,000 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed each year with approximately 15,000 deaths.The death rate is over 4 times that of breast cancer. It is known as the disease that whispers because symptoms are not prominent and they can be overlooked as something else.Many women with early stages of ovarian carcinoma have no symptoms. The unfortunate result is that two-thirds of all women with ovarian carcinoma have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis.

The NOCC has a campaign called Break the Silence to educate women on symptoms and to know what to talk to their doctor about. Someone close to you could be affected by ovarian cancer.

Since its inception in 1995, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) has been committed to raising awareness of ovarian cancer in communities across the country and to providing education and support for women with ovarian cancer and their families.

NOCC has established itself as an important national advocate for patients and families struggling with ovarian cancer. Committed volunteers continue to build chapters throughout the country and work together to advance NOCC’s education and awareness efforts.

The Chapter network is the heart and soul of NOCC. It continues to grow and provides services in local communities throughout the nation. NOCC volunteers promote patient, public, and professional education, provide peer to peer emotional support, and conduct advocacy and awareness efforts. They organize events, sponsor educational programs, distribute literature and participate in NOCC’s speakers bureau.

Programs
*NOCC 1-888-OVARIAN toll-free information and helpline
*Comprehensive on-line ovarian cancer resource www.ovarian.org
* Publication and distribution of informational literature about the disease, its symptoms and risk factors, treatment and care issues, and community outreach to diverse populations and healthcare providers throughout the United States
* Availability of peer-to-peer support
*Special education and awareness projects
* Distribution of a national newsletter circulated to a grassroots national network of women living with ovarian cancer,families, friends, healthcare professionals, physicians, NOCC Chapters, supporters and the interested public
* Physician and healthcare professionals education through a Symptom Card program and Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs
*Aggressive September Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month national public information campaign and special public awareness and education projects

If you have anyone interested, let me know size and color preference. Checks can be mailed to our house made out to Jana Bush. Once we make the donation, we will be sending out a letter from the NOCC recognizing the donation, so people will see that their money made it to the right place!