News & Events

Breast Cancer will affect around 1 in 4 women in their lifetimes.  In 2024, more than 360,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer.  Here are a few library articles for people navigating the trail of breast cancer in their lives.

“You Have Breast Cancer”   How can the four words every woman dreads mean something different each time they're spoken? Four brave survivors share why breast cancer and its treatment are now more personal--and personalized--than ever before.

Pictured: LaTonia Taliaferro-Smith, PhD, a researcher at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, is working hard in finding a cure for cancer in 2012. Eight women in her husband's family have been diagnosed with breast cancer. She specializes on triple negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer that disproportionately affects black women and Latino women.

Breast Cancer: A Family Affair  While breast cancer can strike young women--one in 227 thirtysomethings will develop it--there's no denying the risk increases substantially as you get older. Figuring out what form, exactly, that vigilance should take can be particularly difficult for those who've watched their mothers battle the illness. Do you make over your lifestyle, start mammograms early, or even submit to prophylactic surgery?  Meet three women who changed their lives as a result of their mothers' breast cancer diagnoses--and find out how their experiences can help you protect your health.

Pictured: Breast cancer survivor Marisa Gefen, right, shares a moment with her daughter, Estella Gefen, 5, prior to the Living Beyond Breast Cancer's Reach & Raise massive yoga event on the Philadelphia Art Museum's steps on Sunday, May 19, 2019. 

Men with Breast Cancer Fare Worse  Researchers say male breast cancer rates rose from 8.6 cases per 1 million in the 1970s to 10.8 cases per million in the 1990s. But the increase was much smaller than that for women, who had a 52 percent increase.  Consistent with past analyses, the study also found that male breast cancer patients were older when diagnosed and more likely to have advanced disease.

It's Men's Health Week.    While you may celebrate Dad or Papaw's health on one particular Sunday, these articles describe different important aspects of health for men, of all ages and all backgrounds.

Have you ever wondered whether the men in your life would be struck with the so-called "widow maker"?   The most prevalent cardiovascular issues among African-Americans are heart disease and stroke.  A gene also makes African American men susceptible to high blood pressure, even when eating right and moving a lot.  All of these factors are precursors to the early brewing of fatal and long-term disabling diseases. For these reasons, we should be looking for the early signs of disease as early as childhood.  To keep their hearts healthy -- as well stave off other diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's disease -- doctors study markers from a surprising source: inflammation.

Today’s proposed “crisis of masculinity” suggests that boys remain under immense pressure to fit a specific mold of boy and manhood.  The boy code transitions into the man box, in which many academics argue that boys suppress their emotional vulnerability to preserve a macho bravado and appear strong and tough no matter the circumstance.  No one wants to be rendered an outcast by failing to fit the mold of manliness.   Studies have found a surprising way to open up boys (and the men they become) to other possibilities: camping.   A traditional, overnight boys’ camp could provide an emotionally and physically safe space for boys to eschew gender role stereotypes.  Camps have a unique role in crafting healthy conceptions of masculinity: to allow spaces to appreciate beauty, sanction physicality, model conflict resolution and celebrate ritual. 

More than 74 million guys in America right now identified as a father in a recent census--that's more than the entire populations of Texas and California combined, with room for the good people of Minnesota--and per a Pew Research study, 85 percent of fathers said that being a dad is the most or one of the most important aspects of who they are as a person. For a special issue in May 2023, Men's Health asked six dads to turn their attention to their stories, as tough and confusing as it can be raising a boy in a world that's not quite sure what to do with him.  From the dad who works (and parents) from home, to the one who had to make hard decisions about "man up"  and "you're fine" when his son was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, these dads are the epitome of modern fatherhood. 

On the American scene in recent years, millions of men nervous about their loss of cultural centrality have turned to hypermasculine posturing and regressive gender politics.  Jacob's Shadow: Reimagining Masculinity, by pastoral theologian Herbert Anderson uses the biblical Jacob story to offer a vision for a new masculine humanness. He challenges every young male he meets to practice the embodiment of two principles that he believes are fundamental to healthy masculinity: nurturing the capacity to love and be loved, and making the world a fairer place for everyone. Using Jacob's story, including his thirst for power and his eventual woundedness, highlights how a change in men's ideals can also change the world.

Are there real, actionable methods for optimizing one's path in today's world? Finding stuff that works is hard, but a lot of this advice is fundamental. Go for a walk and let ideas percolate. Sleep well and life might look better the next morning. We can't offer guarantees, but we feel confident that if you do this stuff, you won't come away with regrets. Men can make improvements in various aspects, such as listening skills, connecting with nature through birdwatching, decluttering, walking for exercise, and gardening. The goal is to optimize one's path in today's world and promote health and happiness.

It's that time of year when the pink ribbons come out.  Did you know the following information resources are found in our library?

Breast Cancer Overview

Flat Chance:  It's a controversial decision. When Kimberly Bowles faced a double mastectomy after months of chemotherapy and radiation  for aggressive breast cancer in 2017, she decided not to have breast reconstruction. "My surgeon was dominating and condescending and told me my skin would shrivel up like a raisin", says Kim, who cried after each presurgical visit and tried unsuccessfully to switch to another surgeon: "Up to the day before my surgery, and just before I went under, she still questioned my decision and doubted I would be happy with it."  But more and more women are choosing to remain "flat" after their surgeries, citing multiple down times, a lack of caring about what other people think, and the idea of putting a replacement material in their bodies that may cause future medical issues.

There's a whole playlist for Breast Cancer videos on Films on Demand. 

The Evolution of Breast Cancer Care: "Looking for a kinder, gentler way to treat the disease"  - When the Miami Breast Conference was founded in 1983, treatment for breast cancer was mostly the same: surgery first, and then chemotherapy, and then radiation, and then hormone treatment.   Here, Dr. Patrick Borgen discusses the latest trends in oncology and breast cancer treatment, including seeing the disease as a team of diseases rather than just as one single start that is treated the same way.

While the world has reeled in the wake of the global pandemic, you might be interested in reading a few educational materials related to the COVID 19 disease, understanding it, and how it has changed our culture.   If you have questions about these e-book titles or any other book in our Gale Virtual Reference Library, please contact the librarians at Big Sandy.