Cancer Awareness Day

Yesterday November 13, 2009 was Cancer Awareness Day. Our school had two special guests come in to talk about cancer. One of them was Trenda Bates who's family and herself had been affected by cancer. Two of her grandmothers had skin cancer and one of them passed away. Then she got skin cancer at age 15. She told us how she had gone to tanning beds and that is how she thinks she got the cancer. But the doctors managed to get the cancer out and save her. The other special guest was Ms.Gigdet Overton from the American Cancer Society. She talked to us about some diffrent types of cancer and also gave us a sheet on how many people in Alabama had cancer and how many died from it in past years. It also included the risks for people at current ages and behaviors. Ms.Overton then told us how the American Cancer Society helps patients who have cancer by providing them a home-away-from-home for those whose treatments are not local with a program called Hope Lodge. It not only provides them a home-away-from-home but also pays thier expenses. The last thing Trenda Bates said was that you should always wear sunscreen because if you got more than five sunburns that that could give you the risk of getting cancer.