Ride for the Cure - PonyExpress 2000

Incidence and Epidemiology

• The American Cancer Society estimates that in the United States in 1999, over 175,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 43,300 will die from this disease.
• In the United States, breast cancer accounts for 29% of all cancers in women.
• One woman out of eight will develop breast cancer sometime during her life.
• Although earlier detection results in higher cure rates, breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death of adult women under 54 years of age and the second most common cause after age 54.
• Among women of all ages, breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women.
• Less than 1% of all breast cancer cases occur in men. The course of disease and its clinical management are very similar to that in women.

University of Pennsylvania, December 1999

Diagnosis

• The basic component of the breast is the "mammary gland." Each mammary gland contains multiple lobules connected to ducts and surrounding tissue, which includes blood vessels.
• Diagnostic tissue can be obtained using "needle biopsies" or "fine needle aspirations". Palpable (large enough to feel) masses can be directly excised.
• The the pathologist pays special attention to tumor size, type and grade, size of invasive component, lymphatic or vascular invasion, extent of the in-situ component, surgical margins, lymph nodes (when available) and background changes.
• Malignant cells may be confined to the ducts and acini (lobules). In these cases the tumor is called "in-situ" meaning that it has remained where it began and has not invaded the supporting stroma. In-situ carcinomas are divided into (1) "ductal-carcinoma- in-situ" or "intraductal carcinoma" and (2) "lobular-carcinoma-in situ". Lobular carcinoma in-situ (LCIS) generally lacks specific clinical or mammographic signs and occurs more frequently in premenopausal women.
• Malignant cells that have moved out of the duct or acini (lobule) into the stroma are called "invasive" or "infiltrating" mammary carcinomas. Invasive (infiltrating) ductal carcinoma is the most common cell type, comprising 70% to 80% of all cases.

University of Pennsylvania, August 1999 and University of Pennsylvania, December 1999

 

Why Am I Doing This?

Two years ago, I rediscovered motorcycles. When the Pony Express riders passed through Seattle, I joined my friends Barb and Jim Horton for the lunch. All I could do that year was write a check -- I hadn't bought a bike yet! But I vowed then that in 2000, I would be a participant.

When I began riding in 1998, I didn't envision becoming an every-day rider. I didn't envision becoming a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor, either! But both transpired.

This trip is allowing me to meet some personal challenges (6K miles, basically solo, on new roads, new states, desert, mountains) and at the same time, to feel that I am helping to ever-so-slightly make the world a better place (by helping raise money to fight breast cancer).

No, there's no breast cancer in my family. But I have had friends and friends-of-friends who have been touched by the disease. My mother had a stroke 10 years ago; I well remember the helpless feeling, trying to cope with this disease. Somehow, fighting the fight for breast cancer just feels "right."

So I'm off on 1 July for a grand adventure! Through the generosity of friends, family and co-workers, I have raised almost $4K for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This accomplishment gives me a small glow.

Back to My Main PonyExpress/Komen Page
Kathy E. Gill