Breast Cancer

The topic of discussion might have been cancer, but there was a strong sense of hope circulating among the crowd of more than 200 people who packed the La Cañada Thursday Club headquarters on Oct. 15 for an afternoon tea and breast cancer program. Among the attendees were La Cañada Mayor Laura Olhasso and State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who recently authored legislation that would force health insurance companies to cover the cost of mammograms. Thursday Club president and breast cancer survivor Judy Cooper said the event sent a “loud and clear message” that the community is unified in its support in the fight against cancer.

In an effort to make certain woman have the most up-to-date technology in the battle against breast cancer, Verdugo Hills Hospital has purchased a new digital mammography equipment. During the recent official “unveiling” invited were allowed to see how advanced technology is playing a role in catching breast cancer in its early stages. “The key to surviving breast cancer is early detection,” said Leonard La Bella, Verdugo Hills Hospital chief executive officer.

Art, literature and music will combine Saturday night at Vida Verde, Foothill Boulevard’s eco-friendly boutique, and at neighboring Foothill Bookstore, as local artisans join forces to raise money for the One in Eight breast cancer awareness project. One in Eight is a photography book currently being compiled by local breast cancer survivor Devon Williams, of La Crescenta, together with the Pasadena Arts Council. The book is a tribute to the beauty of the women who have been scarred by breast cancer.

Strength, courage, facing adversities and finding the power from within to continue ? these are just a few of the qualities that women fighting breast cancer call upon daily. To honor those attributes and to raise awareness of the research that has been done and still needs to be done in the area of breast cancer, a group of local mountaineers joined others to climb Oregon?s Mt. Hood last weekend. ?It was quite an adventure,? said Mike Leum. The climb was part of a fundraiser for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Q. My mother-in-law is Korean and she refuses to get a mammogram because she says that Asian women rarely get breast cancer. She won?t talk to her male doctor about the issue. My mother-in-law is Korean and she refuses to get a mammogram because she says that Asian women rarely get breast cancer. She won?t talk to her male doctor about the issue. ? Sue, La Crescenta ? In trends that echo those of Western countries, more Korean women are developing breast cancer, according to a study in the February issue of JAMA Archives of Surgery.

Three members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team have special plans for this Fourth of July: While most Americans celebrate by watching a fireworks display, the local men will have a bird's eye view of the world from atop Mt. Rainier. "The three of us will be doing the climb for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center," said Dr. John Rodarte. Rodarte, a pediatrician at Descanso Pediatrics in La Cañada and a member of Montrose Search and Rescue, will be joined by team members Mike Leum and Robert Sheedy on the climb, which is part of the cancer research center's Climb to Fight Breast Cancer.

La Cañadans formed Walk for Hope team On Sunday, Nov. 9, nearly 80 La Cañada residents walked in the City of Hope’s 12th Annual “Walk for Hope” to cure breast cancer. State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, also from La Cañada, was the keynote speaker, and walked along with the La Cañada team, named “Cheers to Friendship.” The local team raised more than $6,000 for the fight against breast cancer.   Gift program for foster kids underway Friends of Foster Children presents Annual Sugar Plum Tree, where holiday shoppers will have the opportunity to fulfill gift wishes for children in the foster care system by selecting tags listing three wishes off the Sugar Plum Trees, checking them out and returning them with unwrapped gifts to the Sugar Plum Tree tables.

It's a frightening statistic, but the 150 members of The Circle of Huntington Memorial Hospital understand far better than most that ignoring uncomfortable news won't make it go away. In the next decade, breast cancer is projected to strike more than 1.5 million women throughout the United States. Consequently, The Circle, a nonprofit auxiliary of Huntington Memorial Hospital which, since its founding in 1991, has raised over $1 million for programs ranging from children's special needs to cardiac care, has focused its efforts for the past seven years on supporting the Constance G. Zahorik Breast Center on the hospital's campus.

It started out as a small, personal gesture between friends. In October 2008, La Cañada Flintridge resident Kathy Waller gave her best friend a St. Christopher necklace as a sign of support and protection after her friend's diagnosis with breast cancer. "It is just a really scary time," Waller said. "There is so much information that you are getting from doctors and the Internet. It is so overwhelming. You just need to have a friend. " A few weeks later, during a visit to her obstetrician-gynecologist, Waller, 52, got her own diagnosis — there was a massive lump in her right breast and 17 "hot spots" in her left breast.

La Cañada Flintridge topped the list of average life expectancies in Los Angeles County, according to a report released this week. La Cañadans can expect to live an average life span of 87.8 years — 4.1 years longer than La Crescenta-Montrose residents (ranked 12th), 4.9 years longer than Glendale residents (ranked 22nd) and 6.6 years longer than Burbank residents (ranked 37th), according the report by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Robert Stanley, director of community development for La Cañada Flintridge, attributed the results to multiple factors, including a weekly farmers market, walkable streets and effective public education.

When doctors 10 years ago diagnosed Mary Strauss with breast cancer, the retired bookkeeper was forced to confront a condition that for much of her life went unnamed. ?Growing up, we never talked about cancer,? said Strauss, 76, of La Cañada. ?It was the big C. You didn?t tell people you had the big C, this dreadful, terrible disease. Who tells people about a looming death sentence?? This weekend she joined more than 1,000 survivors, their supporters and people who lost loved ones to cancer at American Cancer Society Relay for Life events in La Crescenta and Burbank.

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John L. Angier John L. Angier passed away March 8, 2010 in the comfort of his home in La Cañada. He was 72. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, his daughters, Catherine and Diane, his sons in law, Kevin and John, plus his two grandchildren, Helen and Hudson. He is also survived by his sister, Ruth and brother, Fred who both live in New England. Born July 22, 1937, John grew up in Newton, Mass. and moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. That is where he met his wife, Marilyn.