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PAGE 14A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. OCTOBER 7 2010
Fire Prevention Week. October 3-9
Is your home safe from fire?
Insurance and Safety Fire
Commissioner John Oxendine
and the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) remind
Georgians that Fire Prevention
Week is Oct. 3-9. The theme this
year is Smoke Alarms: A Sound
You Can Live With!
This year, Oxendine and fire
personnel around the state will
be spreading the word about the
importance of having a working
smoke detector in your home.
Georgia law now requires a
smoke alarm in every home. In
stall working smoke alarms on
every level, and inside and out
side of each sleeping area. If you
already have smoke alarms,
don’t forget to replace the batter
ies annually.
Two different technologies
are used to detect smoke: an ion
ization detector senses charged
particles called ions; the photo
electric kind detects a reduction
or reflection of light when smoke
flows between a light beam and
a sensor. Some detectors com
bine both methods and are prob
ably the most effective, though
either type will provide you with
sufficient warning to escape a
fire. Ionization detectors respond
more quickly to flaming fires
with smaller combustion parti
cles; photoelectric detectors re
spond more quickly to smolder
ing fires.
“Most fatal fires start between
11 p.m. and 6 a.m., while the
family is asleep” said Commis
sioner Oxendine. “Nine out of 10
fire victims are already dead be
fore the fire department is even
called, mainly from smoke and
toxic gases. The advance warn
ing of a smoke alarm can mean
the difference between life and
death.”
If the smoke alarm sounds:
Go to your closest exit and, if
you run into smoke, turn and use
another way out. If you must exit
through smoke, get low and go
under the smoke to your exit.
Don’t take time to pick up be
longings; just get out and help
others get out. Move fast but stay
calm.
Once out of the house, stay
out. Fatalities occur every year
when people try to go back in
side a burning home, usually to
retrieve possessions.
For more information on
planned activities, please contact
your local fire department or call
Commissioner Oxendine’s Fire
Safety Education Division at
404-657-0831.
PUBLIC HEARING
A public hearing will be held on Monday, October 18, 2010, in
the Commissioner’s meeting room at the Pickens County
Administrative Center located at 1266 East Church Street in
Jasper, Georgia. The public hearing will begin at 6:00 p.m. and
will concern proposed revisions to Chapter 74 - Utilities as well
as mandated state regulations regarding the standards for outdoor
watering of landscape. The public is encouraged to attend.
Copies of the proposed revisions and standards are available at
the Pickens County Water Department and available on the
Pickens County website pickenscountyga.gov.
WEST END GENERAL STORE
2881 Jerusalem Church Road
Jasper, GA 30143
706-337-3709
Shooting the Breeze for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Saturday, October 30, 2010
11:00 AM-3:00 PM
TEAMING UP TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER - Dr. Rosa Lan-
gella and Lauren McDermott, P.A. of Northside Surgical Associ
ates’North Georgia Breast Center in Jasper.
By Angela Reinhardt
For Breast Cancer Awareness
Month we spoke with Dr. Rosa
Langella and Lauren McDer
mott, P.A. of Jasper’s North
Georgia Breast Center about the
cancer that affects nearly
200,000 women each year. Dr.
Langella specialized in breast
health because she feels women
with breast cancer have special
emotional needs that she says al
lows her develop long-term nur
turing relationships. McDermott,
who joined Dr. Langella’s office
earlier this year, is daughter of a
nine-year breast cancer survivor.
The most common riskfactor for
breast cancer, they say, is being
female and aging, but these two
breast health specialists spoke
with us in more detail about
warning signs and misunder
standings of a disease they say is
more curable now than ever be
fore.
What are some of the most com
mon misunderstandings about
breast cancer?
Langella - That you have to have
a family history to have it. It’s
not true. 80 percent of breast can
cers occur in women who do not
have a family history. That’s
something that people say, “Oh,
Fve got a lump but I don’t have
a family history so I’m not going
to worry about it.” People also
avoid mammograms because
they say they’re really painful.
Well that’s not true anymore.
They used to be more uncomfort
able, but a lot of places including
Jasper and Canton hospitals have
digital mammograms and they
don’t have to squeeze as hard at
all. They are much more com
fortable. Another thing people
ask me about a lot is the amount
of radiation in a mammogram.
The amount is tiny. In fact, you
get much more radiation on a
sunny day at the beach than you
do with a mammogram.
McDermott - I think there’s a
misconception, too, about breast
cancer being deadly. They think
if they get it it’s a death sentence.
That’s just not true. Some people
understand because they’ve seen
someone go through it, but then
they hear old stories about, “Oh,
I don’t want to go through chemo
because chemo’s going to kill
me.” Or, “I don’t want to have
surgery because it’s going to
make it spread.” What they don’t
understand is that cancer was
probably already far advanced.
They didn’t have the scans then
that we have now. The chemo
now is easy. Some lose their hair
but many don’t have a day of
nausea. The treatment is much
easier. It’s very curable if it’s
caught early.
Does breast cancer always come
in the form of a lump? Some
thing you can feel?
Langella - That’s where the
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more capable of converting blood
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While individual results vary, one
patient in the study lowered his
blood sugar from 220-245 to the
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NORTHSIDE PHARMACY
55 Burnt Mtn Rd • 692-1171
mammogram comes in. It’s not
always something you can feel.
Sometimes you see a dense area
on the mammogram or some cal
cification. But sometimes you
may not see it at all on the mam
mogram. You may just see a
change in the shape or the texture
of your breast, the firmness of
your breast. So, no, it doesn’t al
ways come in the form of a lump.
What about cysts? Can a cyst be
cancerous?
Langella - If you can tell some
thing is a cyst with the ultrasound
there’s no way it can be cancer.
If there’s any question about it a
biopsy can be done and we can
easily find it out.
What are some of the most com
monly overlooked signs of
breast cancer?
Langella - I would say people
overlook a lump. They think,
“Oh, well, it’s probably not any
thing.” They think there’s noth
ing to worry about because they
don’t have a family history or
whatever. Then the other thing
people might ignore that is a
common sign is a change in the
shape of the skin or the nipple.
Sometimes the nipple can be re
tracted or the skin might have a
dimple in it or it looks different
than it had looked. They say,
“Well, it’s not a lump,” but the
shape of the breast has changed
and it has maybe firmed up. Also
lumps in the tissue underneath
the underarm.
McDermott - Yes, because you
have breast tissue that extends up
into the underarm.
Is there a demographic of peo
ple who tend to overlook those
signs more than others?
Langella - I think anybody can.
It’s something that has to do with
more things that are going on
with a person’s life and they
can’t deal. They’re busy and
have other stressful issues in
their life.
McDermott - The older demo
graphic, though, many don’t do
breast exams because they’re not
able. They’re embarrassed to talk
about their body and their family
members don’t notice until it’s so
far down the road.
Langella - Yes, that’s right.
Maybe the very elderly aren’t
aware of self-breast exams and
mammograms. The other thing is
the older population may not be
comfortable talking about breast
issues and breast problems and if
you look at the family history in
some families, their mother may
have died of cancer but nobody
knows what kind of cancer be
cause nobody would talk about it
being breast cancer. It was kind
of a taboo issue.
What are some lesser-known
warning signs that are more un
common than lumps and dim
pling?
Langella - The only other thing I
would say, the more rare ones,
are sores on your nipples or nip
ples that bleed or scab. Also,
sometimes people can have their
whole breast get swollen up and
get red. If it doesn’t go away
with antibiotics then you need to
have it checked. It’s called in
flammatory cancer.
How important are self-breast
exams, and if you notice a lump
should you come in immedi
ately?
Langella -1 say they are very im
portant because noticing changes
in your body can lead you to
finding that problem sooner. As
soon as a person feels a lump
they can wait a couple of weeks
to see if it goes away, but what I
tell people is don’t wait any more
than four weeks. You can go see
a doctor immediately if you want
to, but don’t wait more than four
weeks because time tends to get
away from you.
How long is the average time for
what would be called “cure”?
Usually someone feels a lump or
there’s a lump on their mammo
gram or ultrasound and within a
week they get a biopsy and then
within a week to five days they
get a diagnosis, then within about
two or three or four weeks they
have surgery. After surgery we
determine what kind of treatment
they have. Then the oncologists
get together and figure out what
the treatment is going to be. They
have chemotherapy for three to
six months, followed by radia
tion, or they can be treated with
anti-hormone medication. I see
them every three months for the
first two or three years, then I’ll
see them every six months for
two more years and then once a
year after that. What they say in
breast cancer is that after five
years they consider it a cure. But
with breast cancer it can come
back any time, but the most
likely time it’s going to come
back is after between three to
five years, which is why after
five it’s considered a cure.
What is the BRCA Gene?
Langella - People who need to be
checked for that gene are people
who have had family members
with breast cancer pre-
menopausally, or who have had
bilateral breast cancer, people of
Jewish decent, people who have
any ovarian cancer in their fam
ily at all, people who have had
more than one first degree rela
tive, which is like a mother, sister
or daughter, have breast cancer.
Those are the main things. If you
do have the gene there are ways
we can prevent you from getting
breast cancer. It can also pick up
on ovarian cancer as well.
If you have the gene how likely
is it that you will get breast can
cer?
Langella - By the time you’re 70
it’s about 70 to 80 percent.
So, just because you have breast
cancer you don’t necessarily
have this gene?
Langella - You don’t have to be
a carrier for a gene where you
can pass it onto your family. Ob
viously breast cancer in and of it
self is a fault in the gene of the
cells, but it’s not necessarily a
fault in your entire body gene
where you can pass it onto some
body. Only about five percent of
people who have breast cancer
have the gene.
McDermott -1 think a lot of peo
ple were afraid to get the genetic
testing because they were afraid
their insurance companies would
drop them. I don’t think they un
derstand that a new law has been
passed and they can’t discrimi
nate for genetics.
Langella - And actually there
has never been a case of genetic
discrimination.
Cruise-In
♦ Antique Tractors
Antique Gas Motors
on display
Bouncy for the Kids!
Music
What about men ? Can they get
breast cancer?
Langella - Oh, yes. And that’s
another thing with the genes. If
you have a man in your family
that has breast cancer it puts you
at higher risk for breast cancer
genes. It’s much less common
and usually diagnosed a little
later, and it’s usually a little more
aggressive, but it’s treated the
exact same way.
Anything else that you think
would be beneficial for women
to know?
Langella - Just that all breast
cancer is different. What hap
pened to a friend or what they
heard may not be what is going
to happen to them if they get
breast cancer. Everyone’s treat
ment is different and from month
to month treatments are devel
oped and are improved and
changed. No matter what, no
matter how large the lump, it can
be handled.
If you would like to be involved
in a breast cancer support group
call Dr. Langella’s office at 706-
692-9081 for more information.
* Fall Festival
^ Saturday, October 9, 2010
* 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Foothills Community Church
13724 Highway 53 E
Marble Hill, GA 30148
( Just past Dollar General in Marble Hill)
Everyone Invited!
Games
Pony Ride
Pumpkin Crafts
Funnel Cakes
Cake Walk
770-893-2501
www foothillscommunitychurch.net'
Live Music
Food
& Fun!
Jasper Eye Associates
IS MOVING
Our new office will be opening
November, 2010
located at 800 West Church Street.
(behind Kiker Wealth Management)
To prepare for our move, we will be closed
October 13th, 14th, 28th, and the 29th.
Dr. Gilbert James, Dr. Kenny Holloway and the
entire Jasper Eye Associates staff look forward to
providing superior service to each of our valued
patients in our new, state of the art facility.
We specialize in routine and medical eyecare.
Please contact our office with any
questions you may have at 706-692-7510