MedStar Fights Breast Cancer With Pink Hands
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Paramedics with MedStar will be wearing pink examination gloves throughout October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "The color really stands out," said MedStar paramedic Shannon Rucker. "Hopefully this will encourage people to think about breast cancer and talk to their doctors."
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in American women, after skin cancer. The American Cancer Society expects that an estimated 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year. About 40,000 women are likely to die from the disease in 2013.
"It's nice to be able to recognize those who have fought the disease," said Rucker, "especially those we have lost."
However, there are also about 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States, thanks to extensive research funding and awareness campaigns -- like those pink examination gloves. Healthcare supplier Medline will donate $1 to breast cancer research for every box of pink gloves that they sell in October. The order from MedStar will add $300 to this donation.
MedStar services nearly 900,000 residents in Fort Worth and other Tarrant County cities.
Early detection is the key to fighting breast cancer. Doctors recommend regular mammograms, which can detect breast cancer up to three years before it can be felt during a self-examination. Medical experts also say that women should look for visual symptoms including a new lump in the breast or underarm, redness or flaking, irritation or dimpling, changes in size or shape of the breast, thickening or swelling, and discharge such as blood.
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