Jose Feliciano Featured Singer at Forman's Foundation Gala Dinner in Napa

Join us this October 1, 2011 for the Inaugural Celebrity Gala Dinner Event featuring Jose Feliciano.

Our fundraiser benefits Breast Cancer Patients in Northern and Contra Costa Bay Area counties. This spectacular night features a live performance by Jose Feliciano. More celebrities and special guests will also be attending. It’s a night of music, fun, and an opportunity to help breast cancer patients.

We hope you’ll join us at the beautiful Lincoln Theater in Napa Valley, Yountville. Click here to download the brochure and to learn how you can sponsor this event.

Mark Forman and Jane Seymour in The Catalyst For Good

The Catalyst For Good is the story of one man’s experience of losing his wife to breast cancer and his journey to help other breast cancer patients survive. Video journalist, Phoebe Chongchua of Live Fit Magazine & Films, follows Mark Forman, founder of Forman’s Foundation, and other key volunteers, sponsors, and celebrities as they create funding programs for patients, influential partnerships, and a two-day celebrity golf tournament and gala dinner in San Diego, California to raise money to help those living with the disease.

As the Foundation’s third annual celebrity golf tournament approaches, The Catalyst For Good: Improving Breast Cancer Patients’ Lives is released for air in San Diego on ABC.

“I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet that cancer hasn’t touched,” says actress, Jane Seymour in the documentary. Seymour attended the Forman’s Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament and gala dinner in 2010.

In a short period of time Forman’s Foundation has attracted influential and well-known celebrities, athletes, and San Diego TV personalities, such as Jane Seymour, Tony Gwynn, Kevin Sorbo, Fred Lynn, Nick Lowery, Charlie Joiner, Ted Kwalick, Jeff Barnes, Phoebe Chongchua, and Lynda Martin.

Jeff Barnes and Phoebe Chongchua in The Catalyst For Good

The half-hour short film also follows Iris Reed through her chemotherapy. “My mother had colon cancer. My niece had heart cancer and colon cancer. And my father had cancer. You think about it because your family has it but you don’t think about you having it. I still don’t believe I got it,” says 79-year old Reed.

The film explores the need for funding for testing of two genes well known for predisposing to cancer. Two breast cancer patients share their stories about testing positive for BRCA.

“About 10 percent of all breast cancers are what we call familial or genetically related, meaning that for 10 percent of patients, they may have inherited a genetic mutation that predisposes them toward developing breast cancers and other cancers,” says Dr. Cathie Chung, a featured doctor in the film from The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute.

However, mutations in the large BRCA genes pose a 60 to 80 percent risk of developing breast cancer compared to the general population.
The BRCA testing is a simple blood test much like testing for cholesterol. But, this test costs thousands of dollars and often isn’t covered by insurance companies.

“I was fortunate my insurance did cover it. The cost that was billed to my insurance company was $3,120 for the test. The insurance company didn’t pay that. Obviously, they write down a certain portion of the cost. But for people who don’t have insurance that will pay for it, that is the cost that they are facing. And it’s extraordinary,” says Carol Shinee, a breast cancer survivor featured in the film.

“Even with insurance, a lot of stuff doesn’t get paid for and people have to scrape by,” says Jordon Benson, Sponsor/Pacific Beach AleHouse.

Mike Scifres in The Catalyst For Good

The film carries a powerful educational message about needing to not only raise money for cancer research but also funding for patients suffering from the disease. The Catalyst For Good brings home the importance of a community bonding together to create good from tragedy. The film is sprinkled with celebrities and athletes who add a sense of levity to an otherwise serious matter. One scene shows NFL Chargers player, Mike Scifres, suiting up in padding. But it’s definitely not shoulder pads!

Padres Hall of Fame star, Tony Gwynn, who also battled cancer recently, tells Chongchua, “I think a lot of us feel like sooner or later one day there will be a cure. There will be a cure not only for breast cancer but for a lot of things that ail the human elements.”

Editor’s note: The Catalyst For Good premiers in San Diego in June 2011. For interviews and information about the film please contact, Phoebe Chongchua, info@livefitmagazine.com
(858) 259-3646
San Diego ABC 2011 air dates:
Fri 6/17 – 4:30 a.m.
Sat 6/18 – 6:00 a.m.
Sun 6/19 – 6:00 a.m.
Fri 6/24 – 3:20 a.m.
Fri 6/24 – 4:30 a.m.

We appreciate this year’s support from our Title Sponsor, Helix Electric, for our upcoming Napa concert featuring Jose Feliciano.

About our Title Sponsor

Helix Electric, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful electrical contracting companies in the nation. We dare to take on tough projects and there is no compromise on quality and safety. Experts in every aspect of electrical design and construction, we are thoroughly committed to a philosophy of ultimate client satisfaction through dedication and realization. At Helix Electric, we achieve extraordinary results. Visit their website, click here.

We thank all of our many sponsors for their support and concern. We couldn’t help as many women as we do without these companies lending not only their financial support but also their enthusiasm and hard work to help us make each event special. Click here to see more…

Well over 100 thousand new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and 15 to 20 percent of those cases are lobular breast cancer cases.

If you have been diagnosed with lobular breast cancer, you may like to know more about it as any breast cancer diagnosis can be quite frightening.

Types of Breast Cancer

• Invasive
• Non-Invasive

Invasive breast cancer can be one of two types:

• Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer, accounting for nearly 70 percent of all cases. Cancer cells form in the lining of the milk ducts and then break through the wall surrounding the duct, infecting more of the breast tissue. Though the tumors may be easier to detect, the prognosis is frequently not as good.
• Invasive lobular carcinoma or lobular breast cancer is less common and may be harder to detect but the patient generally has a better prognosis. This type of cancer starts in the lobules that actually produce the milk and then spread to surrounding breast tissue.

In both cases, the breast cancer has spread outside of the original location to infect surrounding breast tissue. The cancer cells are now in danger of spreading to other locations of the body.

Non-invasive breast cancer or “in-situ” breast cancer is breast cancer that has not spread outside of it’s original location. Ductal carcinoma or ductal breast cancer in situ (DCIS) is one where the linings of the milk ducts have become cancerous but the cancer cells have not spread to any surrounding breast tissue.

Other more rare types of cancer may arise from other tissue in the breast such as inflammatory breast cancer and some breast cancer tumors may emerge in other parts of the body and spread to the breast (metastatic breast cancer).

Symptoms of Lobular Breast Cancer

Many women who have lobular breast cancer will not feel a distinct lump but instead may feel a fullness or thickening making it harder to detect by Breast Self Exam (BSE). Invasive lobular breast cancer is also less likely to show up on a mammogram. Tumors that are found are often larger when discovered than with other types of invasive breast cancer but the prognosis for the patient is often more positive.

Symptoms include:

• Swelling or fullness in an area of the breast
• Thickening in a portion of the breast
• Change in the appearance of the skin or texture such as thickening or dimpling of the skin
• Nipple retraction (the nipple can turn inward)

Invasive lobular breast cancer begins when cells in one of the milk glands begin growing abnormally. In the beginning, the cells have not spread but stay within the lobule. This is known as lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) but at some point the cells may break out of the lobule developing invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). About half of lobular breast cancer cases are caused by mutation in genetic material. Risk cancers for the development of ILC or lobular breast cancer include older age, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and genetic susceptibility due to a condition known as “hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome” which causes and increased risk of stomach and breast cancer.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosis of lobular carcinoma may be difficult using BSE or mammogram techniques as the tumors are not solid and spread in a weblike fashion. A breast ultrasound may be more effective but will often underestimate the size. Actual diagnosis will involve a biopsy and a following MRI or CT scan will help determine the exact size and extent of the lobular breast tumor. The cells removed at biopsy will help to determine the stage of cancer and will also be tested for hormone receptors, both of which will help to determine the type of treatment that will be needed.

Lobular breast cancer is more likely to develop in both breasts but is slow to spread or metastasize outside of the breast to other organs such as the GI tract, the abdominal lining and the ovaries which may make the prognosis more positive. Treatment will often consist of surgery and one or more additional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation or hormone therapy.

Surgery to remove lobular breast carcinoma may be a simple lumpectomy if the tumor is small, but if it is large, a complete mastectomy may be required. The lymph nodes will be tested during surgery to determine whether lobular breast cancer cells have spread into the lymph system. If they show infection with cancer, they may be removed as well.

Chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy may be used before the surgery to reduce the size of the tumor or after the surgery to ensure that any cancer cells remaining behind after lobular breast cancer are killed and not allowed to spread.

Though invasive lobular breast cancer is more difficult to detect than other types and often not discovered until a later stage when the tumor is larger, it is considered to have a better survival rate and prognosis for staying cancer free for a longer period of time.  All patients are reminded, regardless of what type of cancer they have, to never turn their backs on this unpredictable disease for the rest of their lives.  Regular testing is always recommended no matter how long it has been since the last detection of cancer.

Phoebe Chongchua & Tony Gwynn in June

When we first spoke with Hall of Fame Outfielder, Tony Gwynn, in June of this year, he was generously offering his time to help support and raise funds for breast cancer patients by participating in the Forman’s Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament. Phoebe Chongchua spoke to Gwynn just before the San Diego State baseball game in honor of Forman’s Foundation To Find A Cure. He took our Live Fit Magazine news crew inside his office and showed off the pink caps the team would wear that night on the field to raise awareness about breast cancer. Founder of the organization, Mark Forman threw out the game’s opening pitch.

Today, we’re sad to learn that Gwynn announced recently that he is fighting his own battle. The San Diego Union Tribune and New York Times are reporting that Gwynn has cancer and had surgery to remove a tumor on the parotid gland–the largest of the salivary glands. Reports indicate that doctors for the 50-year old San Diego State baseball coach, caught the cancer early and that “there was not much of it there”.

Previously Gwynn had surgery to remove a parotid tumor in 1997 and again three years later but cancer was not found in those instances. Gwynn is being aggressive with his treatment. “Gwynn said he faces seven to eight weeks of five-day-a-week radiation treatments and once-a-week chemotherapy treatments,” according to a report on SignOn San Diego.

Gwynn believes his cancer may be linked to his years of chewing tobacco during his long baseball career with the Padres.

Editors note: Our thoughts and prayers are with Tony and his family as he endures this treatment. We thank Tony for his support of Forman’s Foundation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxn83jcyf_w

Video produced by Phoebe Chongchua of LiveFitMagazine.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2g-k7vBpOA

Lori A. Sorbo, author of Eleven Years Later, documents the journey of her battle with breast cancer. An extraordinary tale of the fight to survive and the complications that she endured from her 28 surgeries in 11 years. Phoebe Chongchua from Live Fit Magazine shows how Lori and her family were impacted and today are thriving after she made some tough decisions.