Jasmine+Ho

I am a sophomore, majoring in biology at SU. I was born in South Korea, and I moved to the States, when I was 9 years old.

My academic interests seem to always change through out my life, however, I ’ ve decided this year that I wanted go to medical school and do Pre-med. And also to major in Biology and stick with it!!

Although writing hasn ’ t been my best subject in the past, I am willing to challenge myself in this course.

=**Dialogue: **=  Sources: 1. Cultural Perspectives of International Breast Health and Breast Cancer Education by Karen Dow Meneses, Connie Henke Yarbro 2. Preventive health care, 2001 update: Should women be routinely taught breast self-examination to screen for breast cancer? By  Nancy Baxter

This takes place in Syracuse, NY, at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure event to raise money. I happen to attend the event with my friend who is diagnosed with breast cancer, and I overhear Connie and Nancy’s conversation:

Connie: Hi Nancy! It’s been so long since we last met!!  Nancy: Yes, it’s been a while, wow you look great! How is the Train-The-Trainer (TTT) International Breast Health Program coming about?   Connie: Oh, it’s going great! The TTT program is teaching -learning strategies to foster cultural exchange among participants and help and explore lessons learned about cultural influences on breast health TTT educational programs.  <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; text-align: left; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; msofontkerning: 0pt; msofareastfontfamily: 굴림; msobidifontweight: bold;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nancy: Yes, I heard that The TTT curriculum was supports that nurses can effectively deliver breast health and breast cancer education, that educational program must be culturally relevant and sensitive to the needs of the target population, and that an urgent need exists worldwide to reduce the burden of breast cancer. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; text-align: left; mso-ansi-language: EN; msoansilanguage: EN;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: Sorry for budding in, I’m writing about the educational research about breast cancer in my writing class, and from what I’m hearing from you guys, the TTT program to educate the participants worldwide seems very beneficial.

Connie: Yes, I believe that the teaching -learning strategies incorporated cultural values into a TTT program to engage participants in sharing their individual and collective experiences about women with breast cancer is very important and it’s a step toward the end of breast cancer someday.

Nancy: Like today’s event to raise money for breast cancer, the money we raise will go to the research that’s being done for the cure for breast cancer, and our goal is to educate people about breast cancer and how to prevent breast cancer. And someday, like Connie said, to end breast cancer for good…

Me: Wow, that’s very inspiring! Although I don’t have breast cancer, my friend has recently found out that she has breast cancer. And now I want to know more about it since I am a woman myself and to support my friend go through and fight breast cancer.

Connie: More women should be aware of what breast cancer is and that it’s the number one leading cancer death for women in the world. And it’s very nice of you to support your friend, because it is very emotional and tough for someone to go through all the pain by themselves.

Nancy: Yes, more women should support breast cancer!!

Me: Thank you so much for teaching me about the Train-The-Trainer (TTT) International Breast Health Program!! And there are so many organizations that support breast cancer. I’m going to do more research on the teaching-learning strategies and I hope that more women are aware about how dangerous breast cancer can be and the importance of research and education about breast cancer. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: left; mso-ansi-language: EN; msoansilanguage: EN;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nancy: Yes, we definitely agree and I hope that you support Susan G. Komen for the Cure after you are done with your writing class!!

Me: Of course, I’m going to support breast cancer all my life from now on, and thank you for all your consideration.

Connie: No problem, everyone here are to support and encourage one another! <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Me: [Smile] Thank you! And hope I see you again, bye! <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connie: Bye-bye!

Nancy: See you again!

=Draft:=

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Breast cancer leads more than 500,000 deaths each year worldwide. And among women, breast cancer is leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Most people have a misconception about breast cancer; men can also develop breast cancer although it’s more common for women to develop breast cancer. To understand the health concerns and diseases that affects the breast, it is best to frequently to visit the doctor and get a check up. Breast cancer is one of many types of cancer, in which the breast tissues divide and grow uncontrollably. Breast cancer develops very slowly within years, and by the time a lump in the breast is felt, the cancer may have been growing for more than 10 years or more. There are different classification of breast cancers, invasive cancer and carcinoma in situ. The invasive cancer is the more dangerous of the two types. The invasive cancer develops from inside the lobules and ducts forms abnormal cells, which surrounds the breast tissue. And these abnormal cells have the chance to spread to other organs like the liver, lungs, and bones. For the reasons of how dangerous breast cancer is and how many women and men are unaware of the risks of having breast cancer, many organizations formed like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The organization was found in 1982 supporting the research for breast cancer. Susan G. Komen for the Cure has been very successful in the past years and raised over $1 billion for research, education, and health services. The organization also created many events to bring those who are suffering from breast cancer and those who survived breast cancer, and those who support the expansion of education of breast cancer together to share ideas and to encourage one another to fight breast cancer. I feel that education not only comes from reading and writing but also in different forms. Not many people are educated and know how to read and write, thus creating events will bring all different types of people to come together and share experiences, by influencing and giving encouragements to those who are in pain. Millions of different events, like the Race for the Cure and Breast Cancer 3 day bring people together to help raise money and share experiences with each other. And not only the big events help those who seek courage and support for their diagnose with breast cancer, there are many programs that educate and help to understand breast cancer. A research has been done by Karen Meneses and Connie Yarbaro, about the cultural influences on breast cancer and breast health. The program that the research used was the Train-The-Trainer (TTT) International Breast Cancer Program and the purpose of the research was to get the perceptions of cultural influences on breast cancer and breast health. And also to explore the lessons learned about cultural influences on breast health TTT educational program. The participants were 32 nurses from 20 different countries. The teaching and learning strategies influenced cultural values to the TTT program to help participants to share their individual experiences about women with breast cancer. The results showed that the developing countries show that there is shortage of international trained health professionals to care for and the teach women about breast health and breast cancer. Finding out that even the nurses in some countries are unaware about the relevant studies about breast cancer shows how much many people are just as oblivious. However, the TTT program was beneficial in educating and giving knowledge about the current information about breast cancer to the nurses. The TTT program was ideal for the participants who were oblivious about the current information and helped to educate over 900 healthcare providers and provide care to over 1,400 patients. The program was very successful in reducing the burden of breast cancer worldly. There are some who are not as fortunate as those who are educated and had an experience to learn how to read and write. However, this doesn’t mean for those who cannot read and write should be eliminated to know the health problems and the dangers of having diseases. Knowledge comes from experiences; it doesn’t always come from textbooks and lectures from teachers, sometimes we gain knowledge meeting new people and sharing ideas, and at times by getting involved in situations that supports the knowledge of interest. In the programs that are created by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, millions of people are involved in influencing others to fight breast cancer. There is a variety of events from golfing to cooking and even bowling and all these events are to help spread the awareness of battle against breast cancer. <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Breast cancer, a life treating disease, is fortunate to have such a beneficial support from organizations such as American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The billions of dollars raised from active events go to research, education, and health services all over the world. I feel that creating events for anyone to join and get involved to know more about breast cancer is the greatest achievement that has been done. Events like the Relay for Life and Breast Cancer 3-day bring different people with different background together, and everyone can benefit from these events. It’s a way to gain knowledge and know more about breast cancer. It’s a different way for education to take place by sharing personal and collective experiences about breast cancer and health.