Art and Design – Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in Singapore and all over the world, and for the past week or so I’ve had my head, on and off, in Breast Cancer information. We’ve been creating a website for the amazing team at the Breast Centre at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and in the process I’ve learned a lot about prevention and treatment.

I did a straw poll of the women around my office to find out how they kept tabs on their breast health, and the answer in general was that none of them went for a yearly checkup.

I’ve seen the numbers. It’s incredibly important that you catch breast problems as soon as they start showing symptoms, and it’s easy to do that, so ladies, please, take a look at the site and take care of your health.

Breast cancer is classified into stages, from Stage 0 (pre-invasive in-situ cancer or DCIS) to Stage IV, which is the most advanced metastatic cancer. Everyone is unique, but on average the 5 year survival rates are:

• Stage 0: 99%
• Stage I: 96%
• Stage II: 85%
• Stage III: 54%
• Stage IV: 20%

So, with modern adjuvant therapy, the odds of a cure in the first few stages are incredibly good. If you’re over 20, learn the 5 easy steps for self examining once a month and pop in to see your doctor once a year. If you are over 40, then a yearly mammogram is an essential part of your healthy lifestyle and, to help you out with that, throughout October there’s a discount of 30% on the price at KKH.

The doctors at KKH are the only ones in Singapore who are dedicated 100% full time to treating breast conditions, and actually I suspect it’s more like 120%. The team there are truly wonderful people doing great work, and they’ve got the latest technology for digital radiography, computer-aided detection and vacuum-assisted biopsies.

So it’s a really big deal. There’s enough terrible things happening in the world without them happening inside your own body. Think of it as a sleek racing car pulling into the pit stop to get the once over from the mechanics before the next lap. They’re there to make sure you finish the race with glory and enjoy the flowing champagne afterwards.

Seul Contre Tous means “I Stand Alone”, which is how many women feel when they face breast cancer.

But when Creative Director Dawn Geary, the force behind the Art For A Cure collective, was diagnosed with the disease last year at the age of 26, she chose to stand with some very talented people and make a difference.

Together with the amazing rock n’ roll photographer Dale May and tattooist Seth Wood she’s created the just-released Art For A Cure pin-up calendar, flying off shelves in the States but sadly, as far as my Google can see, not being sold online. Celebrating women of all shapes and ethnicities, the message is that women are diverse, but breast cancer doesn’t discriminate, it can affect anyone.

Paying homage to the old style sailor tattoo artwork of the early 1900’s and the pinup genre of the 1940-50s, it draws its inspiration from the close ties between tattooing and the cancer community. Cosmetic tattoos such as areola re-pigmentation often help cancer survivors return to “normalcy” after the trauma of breast cancer. It can also be used to mark areas for radiation therapy during treatment. Many survivors choose to get something beautiful or meaningful tattooed afterwards, as a symbolic mark, or simply as something beautiful to look at on their bodies.

If you’re in the Brooklyn area then head down to their art show at the Saved Gallery, where you can not only pick up the calendar with profits going to charity, but also catch an amazing array of art by tattooists, fine artists and street artists on the gallery walls. And if you do, and you’ve got one spare, give me your Pay Pal details and I’ll take it off your hands in a “flash” (that’s a tattooing joke).

Images: top BreastTalk@KK, bottom: Seul Contre Tous Art For A Cure Calendar

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Filed under Art, Community, Design, Photography, Singapore

Tags: breast cancer, tattoo