CanSurvive Support Group

an ovarian, endometrial, cervical cancer support and awareness group

Birmingham, Alabama

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Most Common Types of Gynecologic Cancers

• Endometrial/Uterine is the most common GYN cancer. The primary symptom of endometrial cancer is abnormal bleeding.
  
• Ovarian cancer is the second most common GYN cancer. Since there are no effective screening tests, one must be aware of the earliest symptoms of ovarian cancer.
  
• Cervical cancer has been steadily increasing in incidence with the increased prevalence of pap smear screening. We encourage you to get an annual pap smear.
  

Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

• Because the signs and symptoms of GYN cancers may also be associated with other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, it is important that your physician take seriously the possibility that ovarian cancer may be present, especially if you have a family or personal history of ovarian, breast, or colon cancer, and have never borne children.
  

Mark Your Calendar

Monthly meetings: Monthly support group meetings are the 3rd Friday of each month at the American Cancer Society. We meet at noon and lunch is provided.

Awareness Month: September is GYN Cancer Month. We will have an awareness table at the Southern Womens Show in Birmingham at the BJCC. Dates are Sept. 24-27.

2009 Christmas Party: This year our party will be on Friday, Dec. 4 in the afternoon.

To see notes from our May 15, 2009 meeting, click on Recent Meetings on sidebar

2nd Fashion Show Luncheon and Silent Auction a Success

CanSurvives Fashion Show Luncheon and Silent Auction held on March 11, 2009 at The Club was well-attended and a fundraising success. Dr. Michael Straughn spoke to the group about the progress of ovarian cancer treatment. Dr. Austin and Rita Woods were our emcees. Patients, physicians, doctors children, and clinic staff and their spouses were among our modelsand we thank them. We also express our appreciation to our silent auction donors. For a listing of the program agenda, participants, and donors, see our Archive section.



MotherWalk

Many of our members participated in the MotherWalk on May 9, 2009 to help raise money for local ovarian cancer research. The walk is an event by the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation. There was also an Eggs 2 Ovaries fundraiser that evening. For more information go to http://www.nlovca.org.

Ovarian Cycle

Ovarian Cycle had an event in Birmingham and Atlanta. The 2009 fundraising objective was to raise an amazing $200,000 to promote ovarian cancer research leading to a reliable ovarian cancer screening test to enhance early diagnosis of the disease and more effective therapeutic interventions to enhance treatment outcomes and cancer survival rates.

The Birmingham Ovarian Cycle raised $30, 374.

Read more at http://www.ovariancycle.org. If you click on the Birmingham Event, you can see a list of all the participants, many of who have connections to CanSurvive.

Members of Team CanSurvive Cycling and Team CanSurvive Spin-Offs

(L to R): Jennifer Smiley, Sylvia Weeks, Barbara Blair, Dianne Baer, Criss Smiley, Halcyann Badham, Debbie Thompson (Dianne's sister)