Although October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for some ISU students the month has meaning as more than a time to raise awareness.

Mary Ellen Carano, coordinator for the Cancer Resource Center in Ames, said in 2005 it is estimated that more than 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,000 will die from the disease. In Iowa, 2,300 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 440 will die this year.

ISU student Sarah Campbell’s mother and grandmother have both had breast cancer, and is all too aware of the possibility that she could get the disease.

Sarah, junior in industrial engineering, learned her mother, Debbie, had the disease when she was in ninth grade. At the time, she said she didn’t really understand what it was. It was kind of like a veiled mystery, she said. Sarah remembers her mom getting chemotherapy treatments at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines a couple of times a month after the diagnosis.

“She would get really sick after chemo,” Sarah said. “But she still tried do her normal everyday things. She is really amazing.”

Only once does Sarah remember Debbie really being unable to do something. She said her mom always cooked and did everything for Thanksgiving, but she was really sick in 2000, so the whole family all helped out in making dishes for the dinner.

Debbie declined to be interviewed.

This October marks the 21st anniversary of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which was first sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians and CancerCare, Inc., to raise awareness of people like Debbie. The month is dedicated to increasing awareness of breast cancer issues, such as early detection and treatment.

Claire Jaksich, junior in art and design, has seen firsthand the effects of the disease.

Claire was 13 years old when she and her two brothers learned her mother, Julie, had breast cancer.

“She sat us all down before we were about to go on a ski trip. I didn’t think about it and we didn’t talk about it too much, but I pretended to sleep in the van, but was really crying,” Claire said.

Julie had an invasive form of the cancer – she had surgery on both breasts and underwent radiation treatment for six months. She was declared cancer free, but a year later doctors discovered a lump during a mammogram and she was forced to undergo chemotherapy. The treatment made her weak and she lost all of her hair, Claire said.

“Her hair used to be straight, but it grew back curly due to the chemo chemicals,” she said. It was kind of funny because she looked more like her mom, who has really curly hair.”

Julie’s disease has led Claire to get involved in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She is the Fine Arts Director for the Student Union Board and helped initiate a T-shirt swap on Oct. 13 and 14. Students made awareness T-shirts and swapped them with other students. Donations were accepted and more than $150 was donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Claire said.

Both Debbie and Julie, who could not be reached for comment, had successful chemotherapy treatments. Julie has been cancer free for more than a year, while Debbie has been for four years. Both women were in their early 40s when they were diagnosed.

Claire and Sarah said they are aware of their increased risks of breast cancer as the children of survivors.

“I do self checks and I will get a mammogram when I am about 30,” Claire said.

Both agreed that National Awareness Month is important for increasing knowledge on the disease that affects so many.

“It is easy going day to day without thinking about it,” Sarah said. “It is important to remind people this is a big deal.”

Carano recommended women do monthly self exams at age 20 and after age 30 get mammograms every three years. After age 40, women should get mammograms every year, she said.