Politician Urges Breast Cancer Examinations
Press Release
May 9, 2002 – State Representative Mary Sue McClurkin of Shelby County has come face to face with a new battle and not of the political kind. Mary Sue has been diagnosed with breast cancer and on this past Monday, May 6th, she had a single modified radical mastectomy. Some lymph nodes were found positive with cancer and they have been removed with no further cancer detected. Precautionary treatments will follow.
“I want women to hear me loud and clear, my cancer was discovered thru self- examinations. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women ages 40-59. Nationally, 200,000 cases will be diagnosed this year with 40,000 deaths. Here in Alabama, there will be 3,100 new cases with 600 deaths. With advances in medicine, the death rates have gone down while the number of incidents of cancer have increased. This means that more and more women are detecting breast cancer early,” says Representative McClurkin.
“If by sharing my story, I convince more women to do self-exams along with mammograms then I know that God has used me. The majority of women diagnosed have no known risk factors, including family history. Right now, there are women sitting on the fence who do not do self-exams and/or mammograms. Do not let fear of the unknown make you complacent. ACT TODAY!” says McClurkin.
Representative McClurkin encourages women and even men to visit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation web site at Komen.org and at BreastCancerinfo.com for information.
Mary Sue Mclurkin goes on to say, “I want to thank all my friends and supporters for your overwhelming support and prayers. I also thank the staff and doctors at Shelby Baptist Hospital. I am relying on my faith in Christ to give me strength thru this battle and I know he will use me for his good.”
Any further information and status can be directed to Jeff Caddell – Director of the Shelby County Legislative Office at 205-620-6610, fax 205-620-6611, email ShelbyLegislators@charter.net.
Posted May 13, 2002