Breast cancer awareness month

Breast cancer awareness month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Below is a list of resources you can use to share this important topic with family, friends, coworkers, and fellow medical students.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website

This site has important information for patients who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, survivors of breast cancer, support groups, and breast cancer Q&A. It also includes informational links on breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, male breast cancer, early detection, clinical trials, and screenings and mammograms. They also have an events section highlighting breast cancer walkathons and events in your area. You can share this information with your medical school class and get involved.

American Cancer Society

The ACS has information on the National Cancer Information Center, ACS site on breast cancer, guidelines for early detection of breast cancer, guidelines for breast cancer treatments, the Reach to Recovery program (a support group made of volunteer breast cancer survivors), the Cancer Survivors Network, and a host of other resources for women.

It was at this point that Gagnon decided to take an active role in raising money for breast cancer research, including her participation in the Making Strides walk. She and Stewart worked together to raise funds and promote the Making Strides event. This is Gagnon’s third year in the walk. “I decided that’s going to be my thing, to raise as much money as I can to find a cure,” she said. After experiencing low oxygen levels, Stewart entered the hospital this year, on the Tuesday after Easter. She kept working at her job until the Friday before.

Tim Pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, among the Republicans angling for a possible 2012 presidential bid, formally submitted papers today to the Federal Election Commission to launch a political action committee to help fellow Republicans -- and start collecting political IOUs. The Freedom First PAC "will offer financial support to candidates committed to putting freedom before government, and provide organizational support for Pawlenty to promote his innovative, conservative message," according to today's announcement.

It is similar to the Free and Strong America PAC that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney -- a potential rival in 2012 -- launched last year after Romney dropped out of the 2008 race. Like Romney's PAC, it also boasts a website. (The top item in "The Latest" section of the site is a link to a Wall Street Journal story today that says Pawlenty is laying the groundwork for a 2012 run.) “Right now, our freedoms are being challenged on many fronts,” Pawlenty said in a statement. “This organization is dedicated to putting freedom first again in America. By helping candidates and translating our ideas into policies that everyone can relate to and support, we can turn back the growth of Washington and renew the promise of freedom.”

The PAC's co-chairmen are William H. Strong, the vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Vin Weber, the former Minnesota congressman. “There’s a big debate about the role of government and personal freedom raging at the moment, and I’m excited to help promote fresh new ideas, and new leaders.” Weber said in a statement. “Given Tim’s successful record in Minnesota, he’s in a unique position to harness that energy and help other candidates.”

Zombieland Cameo

Zombieland Cameo

Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg head for Hollywood in "Zombieland," hoping to reach a rumored holy-grail in a world increasingly overtaken by the undead - a themepark that has somehow remained zombie-free. But when they get there, they apparently become star-struck, get maps to celebrities' homes, and end up shacking up with a major star whose cameo - playing himself - steals the movie, according to early reviews. (The film officially arrives in theaters on Friday).

Not the writers' first choice, according to ShockTillYouDrop.com. The Web site reports that screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick initially had their sights on Patrick Swayze, who passed away on Sept. 14 after battling pancreatic cancer. "That was many years ago, before he got sick," Reese said. The writers' grand plan was to have Swayze play a zombie version of himself who picked a fight with Woody Harrelson's character, Tallahassee, who would have lifted him into the air in a "Dirty Dancing" moment as they sparred. The scene also would have shown the undead Swayze coming up behind Eisenberg's character, Columbus, at a potter's wheel, a reference to his film "Ghost."

When Swayze did not pan out, they approached a laundry list of other actors, including Sylvester Stallone, Joe Pesci, Mark Hammill, The Rock, Kevin Bacon, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Matthew McConaughey, according to the Web site. But fans will be thrilled that none of those names wound up in the movie. We won't reveal the secret here. If you're still curious, head to theaters and see for yourself.