Breast cancer affects students

In the face of loss, Truman students persevere to fight for a cancer cure, especially in  October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This disease has touched students across campus. Freshmen Katrina DeCoster and Nicolette Jerowski have witnessed the devastating effects of breast cancer. DeCoster is the only daughter of Jewells and Kathy DeCoster. When Kathy was 39, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

DeCoster was four. Initially, she said the prognosis seemed good. The doctors believed they had caught it early enough to save her mother, but the cancer spread faster than they expected. For the next year and a half, Kathy underwent chemotherapy, radiation and took             medications.

The family visited her in hospitals in Columbia, Mo.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Quincy, Ill. DeCoster said the hardest part was watching her mom's sickness. Kathy lost her hair, had no energy and              grew frail.

"Even at five, you can see all those changes," Decoster said.

The treatments were unsuccessful, and Aug. 18, 1998, her mother passed away at age 41. DeCoster said the timing made this loss more difficult.

"The funeral was on Aug. 20, and I started school Aug. 21,"                           DeCoster said.

The loss of Kathy drastically changed their           family.

"It made us grow up faster than probably most kids would," she said.

DeCoster received her mother's journals from her grandmother when she turned 16.

"Her journal was probably her biggest thing she did to just kind of cope," DeCoster said.

DeCoster commemorates her mother through her work with Relay for Life in Canton, Mo. She walks at Relay for Life events and gets school organizations to support    the cause.

Nicolette Jerowski is the oldest of Sheryl and Steve Jerowski's three children. Her mother was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in 2000. She underwent eight rounds of radiation and had surgery to remove the mass in her breast.

"I think what was hardest was when she lost her hair," Jerowski said. "When she lost her hair, it all became real to me."

For Sheryl, the best way to cope was to treat every day like it was any other and stick to routines as much as possible. After a year of treatment, her mother went into remission and stayed in remission for almost ten years.

Jerowski said her advice for others who are going through a similar situation is to "have faith."

Jerowski thinks this experience has made her family closer.

"Stay close with your mom," Jerowski said. "You never know what is going to happen."

DeCoster and Jerowski are not the only ones who have been affected by breast cancer.

Alpha Sigma Gamma, a locally based service sorority, is giving Truman students an opportunity to help these women.

ASG is taking steps to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer this month. Junior Teresa Poelker is co-chair of this year's annual event, Breast Cancer Awareness Week 2010. Poelker explained her interest in          the event.

"Who don't you know that hasn't had some sort of connection with it?" Poelker said.

One in eight women suffers from invasive breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. The organization also estimates that approximately 39,840 women died from breast cancer last year.

The week's events begin with "Bras on the Quad." Various organizations from campus have paid to decorate bras, and students will get a chance to vote on their favorite. The winning club will receive a pizza party.

A local breast cancer survivor from the American Cancer Society will be speaking about her battle with cancer Tuesday, in Baldwin Hall Little Theatre. Students can attend the second annual Passionately Pink Pageant, a beauty pageant of sorts, Wednesday for a freewill donation. This is the first year the event will be judged, and students can donate their pennies to their favorite candidate. True Men and Minor Detail, Truman's a cappella groups, also will be performing. There will be a vigil at 8 p.m., Thursday, around the fountain on the Mall. ASG also will be selling shirts all week long in McClain Hall and the Student Union Building. They would like to raise as much as they can, Poelker said.