BOARDMAN High-schoolers learn importance of breast self-examinations

The presentation will be seen at various area high schools.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Boardman High School student Lindsay Scarazzo sat attentively with dozens of other junior and senior female students during a lecture and presentation in the school auditorium Friday morning.
This, however, was not an ordinary class lecture.
The learning materials here included a plastic gel model of a breast with two lumps, a breast shower examination card, brochures and a fact sheet. The teens were learning the importance of breast self-examination in young women.
After showing a detailed film on why self-breast examinations are important and how to properly conduct a self-examination, a Youngstown State University nursing student asked the audience if anyone knew a person with breast cancer. About 25 percent of the girls raised their hands. Scarazzo was one of them.
The 17-year-old senior said the presentation was very serious to her because a close family member was diagnosed with breast cancer and has since had a mastectomy. She said hereditary concerns make her take self-examination seriously.
Program sponsors
The "Check it Out" program was developed and sponsored by Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, and the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services at Youngstown State University. It is designed to teach 11th- and 12th-grade girls about the importance of breast self-examinations. Presentations are being given at various high schools around the Valley.
During the Boardman High School presentation, a woman related the story of how she, at 29, found a cancerous lump in her breast during a self-examination, after a mammogram did not detect any problems. She explained to the teen audience that breast tissue in younger women is "very dense" and sometimes a mammogram is not enough for early detection of breast cancer.
"Having breast cancer has changed my life," the woman said. "I wasn't able to have children after I was treated, so you can see it is a life-altering thing."
That message stuck with 17-year-old seniors Ashley Basile and Ashley Ambrosia. They both said hearing an actual survivor speak on the possible life-changing results of breast cancer is enough to make them do the routine self-examinations.
"That really made it more realistic," said Ambrosia. "You can hear about it a million times, but to hear someone who has actually been through it makes it all more realistic."
Starting good habits
Nancy Wagner, coordinator of the program and nursing instructor at YSU, said the goal is to reach the young girls now so they will have a healthier future. She said she hopes most of those who see the presentation will pass the information on to older family members.
"We want them to observe good health habits as young women so they can take care of themselves now and in the future," she said.
Senior Courtney Agnesi, 18, knows the importance of self-examinations and early detection. She said a close family friend recently died of complications from breast cancer that was not detected early enough to stop.
Presenters said breast cancer affects about 1,400 men and 183,000 women annually.
jgoodwin@vindy.com