Breast Cancer Survivors of Color Pamper Up to Raise Awareness

When Diane Patterson visited the doctor’s for a breast reduction surgery last February, she was expecting a simple procedure to downsize her chest.

But after going through several examinations, she discovered that there was a much more pressing matter to deal with: breast cancer.

“It was a small enough tumor where I didn’t have to go through chemotherapy,” said Patterson, 45. “I still had to go through radiation. It was a very excruciating process.”

Following the diagnosis, she braved through 25 treatments of radiation in five weeks. However, complications arose when her breast MRI revealed that she also had thyroid cancer.

After courageously fighting two battles in one year, Patterson is now cancer-free. And as a survivor, she said she does not want to sit idly by while others experience the same mental and physical pains.

“My thing is, I took my breast cancer as a blessing,” said Patterson, who works as a payroll administrator at Catalina Express. “And if I can go out and help some other woman who has breast cancer, that would be my goal in life. A lot of times we’re just stuck in a rut, where we don’t know where to go.”

So she single-handedly organized the Women of Color Breast Cancer Survivors Day of Luxury in collaboration with Beauty 360 of Manhattan Beach on Oct. 23, where around 50 survivors and volunteers participated to enjoy a free day of pampering, entertainment and food.

“I organized this event because I wanted other

survivors to come out to enjoy a day of luxury and be around other survivors,” Patterson said.

Several services were at the participants’ disposal around the store: a hand and arm massage, a makeover

and a before-and-after photo shoot.

Patterson, who is a member of the Women of Color Breast Cancer Support Group in Inglewood, said the planning process for the event took about two-and-a-half months, after first conceiving the idea back in July.

She collaborated with Keith Carmody, the store manager of Beauty 360 in Manhattan Beach, who helped bring her idea to life.

“We are all about catering to women and their causes,” Carmody said. “It’s just something to give back to the community, a day of pampering, something for the women and survivors to have a good time and spend a few hours with us.”

This is the store’s third breast cancer awareness event since its opening in February, Carmody said.

In addition to pampering services, another strong incentive for the event was to increase breast cancer

awareness in the African-American community, Patterson said.

“Unfortunately, as African Americans we are dying the fastest,” she said. “We have the highest rate of dying for breast cancer.”

Patterson said she attended a breast cancer research conference in Oakland in September, where she learned that African-Americans severely lack participation in clinical trials that may be essential to finding a cure for the disease.

So the event also urged both African-American survivors and non-survivors to sign up with Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation for Breast Cancer, Patterson said.

“Studies show that we are not being included in these trials, so when we’re getting treated, they don’t have studies to compare how to treat us for breast cancer,” she said. “Women feel that because of the Tuskegee incident where the guys were injected with syphilis, they feel like if they participated in these clinical trials, they may die.”

According to Columbia University Medical Center, breast cancer is less common in African American women than white women; however, breast cancer death rate in African Americans is 37 percent higher than whites. This discrepancy is partially socioeconomic, according to the press release.

“Because of economics, they don’t go to the doctor, and even if they do, they’re in denial, so they don’t

follow up with their appointments,” said Charlene Ingram, a nine-year survivor and another member of the Women of Color Breast Cancer Support Group in Inglewood. “Sometimes their tumors are biologically more aggressive.”

The event also raised funds for breast cancer research initiatives by accepting donations and selling raffle tickets. Raffle prizes included donated gift cards from Costco, Sam's Club and Ralph's, Patterson said.

Jeri Hawkins, a volunteer and Patterson’s co-worker at Catalina Express, said being a part of this event helped her realize the ubiquity of breast cancer.

“I think there’s a lot for everybody here,” said Hawkins, 56. “I know many survivors, a lot of friends who are very close to me, and this has given me much more cause to think about that. Breast cancer affects all of those so close to us who we don’t think about until we do something like this.”