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(Address: 1104 Ireland Way, Birmingham, AL 35205). We meet at noon and lunch is provided.

Upcoming Meetings:

• Jan. 15 -- We'll catch up on each other and introduce some topics for discussion. This month's topic: How to Talk Effectively with your Dr. and Nurses.
• Feb. 19 -- Dr. Elizabeth Kvale be speaking on managing depression.
• Mar. 19 -- Speaker will be Debbie Tinker, long-term cancer survivor and friend of Brenda

Ovarian Cycle Ride Registration

Registration for the Ovarian Cycle Ride to Change the Future is now open!

We have several members participating in the event, so even if you do not wish to ride, please consider supporting their efforts. Log on to www.ovariancycle.org and go to the events tab to choose Birmingham. This will give you a list of all participants currently registered.

Please see the following information from the OC website:

About Ovarian Cycle

We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has developed a unique fundraising program. Our spinning events consist of six weeks in training to help build your endurance. Training culminates in the virtual century ride we call the RIDE TO CHANGE THE FUTURE(TM). That's 100 miles -- virtual miles -- as this is indoor cycling. Don't be intimidated! You can do it at your own pace, or you can share the distance with team members.

In addition to providing you with a complete FREE training program at local area health and fitness clubs, we also have a registered dietician on board to provide tips and tricks on maximizing your weight loss opportunity while making sure you build your strength so you can complete the virtual century ride.

Calendars Available!

The CanSurvive Support Group calendar is available! It is filled with pictures from our events of patients & staff along with their family and friends. Calendars are $10 each plus $5.00 if you would like it mailed to you.

To order a calendar, please mail checks made payable to CanSurvive and send to:

Jennifer Smiley
100 Canyon Park Circle, Ste. C
Pelham, AL 35124

Calendars can also be purchased from Margaret Keeton in the clinic office.

For other questions or contact please email or call Jennifer Smiley at jsmiley@bandhcpa.com or (205) 621-7554.

Calendar images are shown below. Click on each image to see a larger version.

News

Beth Hosmer, the director of CanSurvive since its inception, recently resigned from this position. She does plan to be active with our group as her schedule permits. Our gratitude for her service can never measure up to what she has done for all the women who reached out for support and found her helping hand and listening ear. Thank you, Beth!

We also wish Dr. Larry Kilgore and his wife Tricia the best in their move to Knoxville. We already miss you, Dr. Kilgore!

Welcome to Dr. Charles Landen. Dr. Landen will have a big focus on research.

Southern Women's Show

September 24 -- 27, 2009

BJCC

At our awareness table at the Southern Women's Show we spoke with many women about the signs and symptoms of gyn cancers and about the HPV vaccine. We handed out literature and emery boards and also had awareness items for sale.

Special thanks goes to the Doubletree Care Committee for providing their wonderful cookies for us to give away and to the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation and the Clinical Trials folks at UAB for helping us wo-man our booth along with our members.

Ovarian Cancer Car Tags Generate $48,000 for Research

On September 25, 2009, the first monies raised from the ovarian cancer car tags were presented to UAB. Dr. Alavarez accepted the $48,000 check. He said the money will be used to collect tissue samples from ovarian cancer patients for understanding and investigating the biology of this cancer. This should lead to new ways of treatment. Some of the funds will be combined with federal grants being used for clinical trials with gene therapy.

Also on hand were the Waldrep family who brainstormed the idea for the tag in honor of Brittany Waldrep; Dr. Mack Barnes; Dr. Charles Landen; Lori Livingston and Tiffany Denson of the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation; and Brett McBrayer of the Birmingham Auto Dealers Association (BADA). You may recall that BADA's charitable arm provided more than $35,000 for folks to order free tags this first year so that our pre-order quota of 1,000 tags would be met. In honor of that, the tags have "Drive Out Ovarian Cancer" on them. The Birmingham News and Fox 6 News covered this event.

The date for the presentation was a special one: it would have been Brittany's 28th birthday.

UAB Receives Grant for Cervical Cancer

UAB will be one institution testing 4 vaccines -- 2 are aimed at prevention of cervical cancer, one that is aimed at pre-invasive cervical cancer, and one at invasive cervical cancer. Read more about it at the link below.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/10/uab_partners_to_share_cervical.html

2nd Fashion Show Luncheon and Silent Auction a Success

CanSurvive's 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 models and 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)