Eisenhower Students Keeping Abreast on their Health

By: Jeannette Castillo

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - HealthA lot of times young women are not aware of the importance of breast cancer or ignored by their own families that don’t talk about it. Well, this was not the case for students at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. On November 8th, over 50 juniors and senior girls attended presentations on breast health education and breast self-examination from Dr. Sandy Goldberg, NBC 5 Nutrition Contributor and Founder and Director of A Silver Lining Foundation (ASLF) and Juancetta Smith, active leader of ASLF.

During the presentations, Eisenhower students were given breast models to find lumps on each breast and learn how to do a breast self exam. “In both groups, the girls probably thought it was a little awkward but as we kept rolling along, the students were becoming much more engaged as time went on and certainly when they felt the breast models,” said Dr. Goldberg.

Dr. Goldberg who is also a breast cancer survivor shared that by maintaining good breast health is easy by following the steps:

    1. Do a monthly breast self exam
    2. Have regular check-ups
    3. Get a mammogram starting at age 40. (Age 35 if there is a family history of breast cancer)

“Cancer is not a life sentence because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 36-years-old and lived 30 years after that and since then I’ve been very aware of my health my entire life,” said Smith.

Women need to be their own advocate and find who can help you. “We like what we’ve done here for the young women that we presented here at Eisenhower is to share basic information but most importantly the aspect of what an individual can do that may lower the risks factors in terms of the development of breast cancer and stress the importance of the role of these young women not only for their future health but also for their future families health and communities,” concluded Dr. Goldberg.

If you know someone that needs help and has not been checked out because they have no insurance, contact ASLF at (312) 345-1322. If women are diagnosed with breast cancer, ASLF and with the partnership of their hospitals will make sure to get women into funded programs. ASLF will help fund screening mammograms, diagnostics, ultrasounds and biopsies, if need be. For more information about ASLF, visit www.asilverliningfoundation.org.

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