Fundraiser At Dancing Skulls, Info On Anderson’s Aesthetics, Illuminations At Borrelli’s, Cancer Support Center Atlanta & More
Belmont at Park Bridge Apartments in Alpharetta, Georgia, is joining the fight against cancer by promoting National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NCBAM) this October, sharing news and information with residents of the upscale apartment complex and surrounding community.
Upcoming Events!
Walks, races, teas, galas, and more events organized to support fundraising for breast cancer research abound throughout the Greater Metro Atlanta Region this month.
One that promises to be fun will start at 8 p.m. Friday, October 22, 2021, at Dancing Skulls on John’s Bridge Road. Karen Tortoriello and Cats on the Creek will be playing and singing, and the $10 admission fee will get you a chance to participate in raffles, win prizes, and bid on silent auction items. Proceeds will go to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation—which, since its inception in 2006, has awarded over $3 million dollars to major research institutions working toward a targeted therapy. Karen Tortoriello is herself a survivor/thriver of this particular kind of cancer, which will makes the evening all the more meaningful.
Pumpkin Spice & Everything Pink & Nice
These days, with “Fight Like a Girl” T-shirts and bracelets available almost everywhere we look in October (kinda like pumpkin spice), it can be hard to imagine a time when we didn’t talk something that impacts so many people. Former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford was the one who led the change on this front—we’ll share a little bit more about her later in the blog.
Fortunately, in addition to public conversations and acceptance—and cute accessories that may or may not help fund medical research (think before you pink!)—there are now also resources to help breast cancer patients as they go through months of treatments that can bring on great mental, physical, and emotional tolls.
Support Groups
Cancer Support Community Atlanta is the local chapter of the world’s largest nonprofit provider of psychosocial oncology programs. Its mission is simple: Help people affected by cancer enhance their health and well-being by providing free programs of support, education, and hope. Learn about common side effects of chemotherapy, nutrition, and stress reduction through their virtual programming. And, if like so many members of the Collingwood Apartments community, you have an avid interest in the outdoors, join in one of their walking group outings at the Chattahoochee Nature Center.
Clinical Trials
With over 250 active clinical trials, the researchers at Emory Winship Cancer Institute are dedicated to taking new cancer treatments from bench to bedside. At Winship, patients have access to clinical trials for virtually every cancer type; in 2020, the institute enrolled more than 900 patients in over 300 clinical trials. (Winship Cancer Institute is part of Emory Healthcare, Georgia’s largest health care system, and is Georgia’s NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center.)
License Plate
Kaiser Permanente and the Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE) worked with the Georgia General Assembly to create the Breast Cancer License Tag program in 2002. Georgia CORE and the State Office of Rural Health have jointly administered the program since 2013. The purpose of it is to generate funds to provide education, screening and treatment to underserved Georgians; rural women and minority women have less access to care and are a priority of the program. Breast cancer accounts for 3 out of 10 new cancers in Georgia women, making it most prevalent of all cancers.
Permanent Makeup
The team at Anderson’s Aesthetics, founded and directed by Dr. Ken Anderson of the renowned Anderson Center for Hair, is committed to providing its clientele with discreet and customized services, including permanent makeup options. In 2008, Dr. Anderson was recruited from private practice in California to join the Emory Facial Center (a satellite office of the main Emory Hospital dedicated to facial cosmetic surgery) to offer hair restoration to Emory Healthcare patients.
The 10,000 –square-foot luxury medical spa and surgery center located at the decadent Avalon in Alpharetta—with free and private parking—was the first in Georgia to offer ARTAS® Robotic Hair Restoration Surgery. It also offers bio-enhanced surgical and non-surgical procedures, including permanent makeup eyebrows and permanent makeup areola pigmenting, which is often requested by breast cancer survivors.
Comfortable & Stylish Wigs & More
Nestled in the heart of downtown Alpharetta on South Main Street, Borrelli’s Salon is committed to helping breast cancer patients recover with confidence. Whatever a client’s hair loss needs might be, the experts at Illuminations by Borrelli’s have the experience and expertise to give them the hair and look they desire. The salon offers many solutions, including:
- Topical Solutions-Keratin Hair Building Fibers
- Wigs (Stock, Custom and Semi-Custom)
- Partial Hairpieces/Toppers/Top of the Head (Stock, Custom and Semi-Custom)
- Vacuum Wigs
- Full Line Of Hats, Scarves & Turbans
How It All Began With Betty
The annual effort to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer was established in 1985 as a partnership between the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries (now part of AstraZeneca, a leading manufacturer of oncology drugs). Former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford was the face of the campaign; she had changed how the country talked about this once-taboo women’s health topic when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a radical mastectomy in 1974, just seven weeks into her husband Gerald Ford’s unexpected tenure as president of the United States after the resignation of Watergate scandal-disgraced Richard Nixon.
Within hours of the operation, the White House held a press conference sharing the details of her surgery—including the good news that, largely because the cancer had been detected early, Mrs. Ford’s prognosis was excellent. According to History, what happened next was remarkable. “Women across the country lined up outside clinics to get breast exams; newspaper articles described how to perform self-exams; and in the first week after Betty’s surgery alone, the White House received more than 35,000 cards and letters.”
