The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 230,480 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer, while 39,520 women will die from it in 2011. There are currently more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

According to the NCI, nearly 27,000 African-American women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. While they are less likely than white women to be diagnosed with breast cancer, they are more likely to die from it than any other race and are more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Lack of medical coverage, unequal access to improved treatments, and barriers to early detection and screening, account for the striking racial disparities according to NCI . Across the board, the death rate for all cancers combined is 25 percent higher for African-American women than for whites.

What can be done? My years as a navigator taught me that outreach can be effective when done on a regular basis in churches  serving  African-American congregations. Survivors from the community and health care providers in the community can reach a significant number of women by speaking to the congregation when they are present for a service.

Community centers are also sites where African-American women gather for activities for themselves and for their children. A breast health fair, a presentation or a workshop can also get the word out.

Whatever the method of reaching African-American women, it must include information on where to go to access care from a mammogram through all the stages of treatment, if needed. Information must include how to pay for care…private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare and what is available for those who are uninsured.

During my weekly research for blog content I often come across sites that are worth taking a look at because of the services or information they are offering. What follows are three such sites:

Whether you are in active treatment, or on medications following active treatment, or need medications for health problems unrelated to breast cancer, traveling can be a challenge if you need to go through security checkpoints.

Should you choose to put your prescription medications in the luggage that you check in at the airport or cruise terminal, you risk of being separated from needed medications due to lost luggage.

Delayed delivery of your luggage can sometimes happen on cruise ships due to the sheer volume of luggage to be delivered to ship’s cabins.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests these precautions for air, ship and any distance travel where being without your prescription medications, for any length of time, would be a health risk

• Pack your medications in a carry-on (carry with you) bag, so they don’t get lost.
• Bring a list and keep it in your carry with you bag of your prescriptions, including brand and generic names.
• Have a letter, on your doctor’s letterhead, with his or her  prescription for any controlled substance or medication that needs to be injected
• Be sure that a family member or friend, at home, has an extra copy of your prescriptions for your medications

• If you are going to be traveling internationally, check beforehand with the American Embassy or Consulate to ensure that your medications are allowed in the country you will be visiting.

Happy Thanksgiving… a phrase we hear throughout this day from family members and friends, on the television and anywhere else we find ourselves today.

Happy Thanksgiving long-time survivors. You know why you are thankful. Hopefully over the years you have learned what is important to you and you know how to enjoy this holiday without getting stressed out by the demands of the day.

Happy Thanksgiving those of you who have recently completed active treatment. It’s over and you are on the mend. If you are cooking and entertaining, I hope you have lots of helpers. What I really hope is that you are a dinner guest of a family member or a good friend.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are in active treatment. For many of you, given how you feel,  the last thing you care about today is eating a turkey dinner. Take it easy. Pamper yourself, let others pamper you. Next year is soon enough to play your part in Thanksgiving preparations and entertaining, if that’s what you want to do.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you recently diagnosed and waiting for treatment to begin. Most of you are doing your best to join in with the festivities of the day. Not easy to do when your mind is elsewhere.  Don’t be hard on yourself, facing treatment is hard enough without the strain of putting on a brave face for family and friends. Be sure to surround yourself with people who respect your privacy and you feelings.  Avoid those who want to share war stories about women they know who have gone through breast cancer.

I hope, like me, you have reached a point in your life where you can give yourself permission to do what you want to do, not what you feel obligated to do this Thanksgiving holiday and throughout the upcoming holiday season.

Getting through Breast Cancer earns you the right to do it your way.

So…Happy Thanksgiving everyone and many more!

A study out of MD Anderson, published in the Nov. 7 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, finds that patients 65 and older are not seeing the same decline in death rates from breast cancer as younger patients.

The study found significant shifts in breast cancer mortality over time. In 1980-84, women aged 75 and older had the lowest 10-year risk of breast cancer death (24 percent) while the risk ranged from 29 percent to 31 percent for those younger than 75. However, by 1995-97, the 10-year risk of breast cancer death was 17.3 percent for women 75 and older and 15.4 percent to 16.6 percent for younger women.

“Given the fact that breast cancer is growing rapidly, we really need to focus research exclusively on developing optimal treatments for older women with breast cancer, evaluating how we can predict which older women can tolerate treatments, and develop new treatments that work better,” lead author Dr. Benjamin Smith, an assistant professor in the radiation oncology department, said in an MD Anderson news release .

“We found that the oldest women, regardless of their race, and blacks, regardless of their age, are not benefiting as much from improvements in breast cancer treatments,” Smith said.

More than 230,000 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, according to the American Cancer Society. About 40,000 of them will be 75 and older, which makes them the fastest-growing segment of the breast cancer population, according to Smith.

(SOURCE: MD Anderson Cancer Center, news release, Nov. 7, 2011)