Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 21/02) - The first thing one may notice is that the tiles are beautiful.

The colours are generally warm and bright, and only hint at the sorrow and anxiety residing in the hands that created them.

Deb Cook's tile shows a roller-coaster, with its single occupant speeding along a track filled with diving dips and soaring turns.

"I did the roller-coaster because just when I thought I was getting stronger my sister-in-law passed away (from breast cancer)," says Cook.

She is one of 11 women, breast cancer survivors, who painted the tiles currently on display at the legislative assembly.

Nine of the women are from Yellowknife, two from Hay River.

The idea to paint the tiles came from Dr. Marilyn Hundleby, a psychologist with the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. She led an NWT Breast Health/Breast Cancer Action Group retreat last March for breast cancer survivors.

"They're part of a program where we use art, the creative part of ourselves to understand our experience, particularly something like cancer," says Hundleby.

"People tell us from focus groups we have done, that for them, 97 per cent of their recovery is coping with the emotional part of a diagnosis and the treatment of cancer."

Hundleby says the use of bright colours is common. She has done similar workshops in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta.

"I think people are often surprised at the colours or the joyfulness that's in the tiles," says Hundleby.

"There's the whole breadth of emotion that when you're working with something creative has the opportunity to be expressed." The tiles are part of a display to focus attention on Breast Cancer Month. It includes "Banners of Hope" -- messages of love and encouragement from friends and families of cancer victims, scribbled onto a series of quilts begun in 1997.

After October the tiles will be on permanent display at the medical day care unit -- where chemotherapy treatment is done -- at Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Absolute shock

Cook never dreamed she would get breast cancer.

"I was absolutely floored," says Cook, who was diagnosed a year-and-a-half ago. "I consider myself a very healthy person. I'm very active in the outdoors. I climb, I sail, I paddle."

She underwent a lumpectomy -- a procedure where a tumour in the breast is removed as opposed to the entire breast -- then underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Life wouldn't be the same from that point onward.

"When I started my healing journey, it was like trying to put my new feet into an old pair of shoes," says Cook.

"Body image for a lot of women, people in general, is very important.

"It's all wrapped up with your self-confidence and how you present yourself. I had to learn to love myself in other ways."

Fortunately, she was not alone.

The NWT Breast Health Action Group provides a patient information kit to each woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer in the NWT. They also bring together other women who are suffering from it.

Interested women can also find information on the Action Group at the Status of Women Council of the NWT office in Yellowknife.

"Being able to surround myself with a group of women sharing the same challenges, emotional and spiritually, there's a sense of strength there and grace that I can take for my own healing," says Cook.

She also drew inspiration from her sister-in-law, who she says managed to stay focused and upbeat until her death.

Women at high risk

According to Dr. Andre Corriveau, chief medical officer for the NWT, there were 84 confirmed cases of breast cancer between 1995 and 2001. The annual average is varied, but appears to be going up. The National Cancer Institute of Canada reported 18,400 cases, and 5,100 deaths as a result of breast cancer in 1997. The institute also reports that one out of nine women will likely be struck by breast cancer during their lifetimes.

Corriveau says there appears to be links between delaying having children or having no children at all to rising breast cancer rates. Shortening the period of time spent breast feeding may also put women at risk.

The risk rates also increase with age, particularly after menopause. It's why he recommends women over 50 should have a mammogram every two years, but he acknowledges there is some controversy over the procedure.

Corriveau explains that cancerous tumours are easier to pick up in mammogram after menopause because that fat cell density in the breast is higher, and cancer cells more noticeable.

He says the number of cases of aboriginal women in the NWT who have come down with breast cancer appears to be lower than non-aboriginals, but will likely increase in the future as more have fewer children and eat fewer country foods.

"As their lifestyle becomes harmonized with the rest of the population the rates will increase in aboriginal groups as well," says Corriveau.

Action group co-ordinator, Ruby Trudel, a 12-year breast cancer survivor, says it's important that women are aware that they may be at risk.

She says 80 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer find lumps through self-examination.

It's also important family, friends, partners, and spouses encourage women to conduct regular self-examinations, or learn how to do if from their community nurse or physician.

She also advises women undergoing menopause to seek a mammogram, although the waiting list at Stanton Territorial Hospital can be long, says Trudel. According to the hospital, the wait is currently about 10-12 weeks.

"Men need to encourage the women in their lives to take care of their breast health," says Trudel.

"When a woman goes through breast cancer, if she has a male partner, that person can be a very significant part of the support system, and it's important for men to know they have that role... It's their breast or their life."