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Breastfest 2006 to Benefit the Hoffberger Breast Center at Mercy

BreastFest 2006, an event to raise awareness about breast cancer, its diagnosis and treatment, will benefit The Hoffberger Breast Center at Mercy Medical Center, Saturday, October 14th, 3-8 p.m. at Nick’s Fish House at 2600 Insulator Drive in Baltimore City (21230). Last year’s fundraiser raised nearly $XX,000 for Mercy’s Breast Center, its services, treatment, education and patient care.

Started in 1999 as a tribute by the family of Tyanna O’Brien, a New Jersey mother who died of breast cancer in 1990 at age 48, BreastFest is a celebration of life designed to promote a greater understanding of breast cancer throughout the Baltimore area. The event is held in October in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Each year we see new developments in chemotherapy, in technologies like mammography and MRI, improving our ability to diagnose and treat breast cancer. Nevertheless, education and prevention remain our best tools in the fight against breast cancer. Events like /BreastFest/ help to raise awareness about this disease while raising funds for research and improving patient care,” said Thomas Mullen, President and CEO of Mercy Medical Center.

BreastFest features live music by The Real Geniuses and The Sara O’Brien Band; a live and silent auction, food, beer and Red Bull. According to Anne O’Brien, Tyanna’s eldest daughter and a resident of Baltimore, BreastFest 2006 is for everyone, “but we do want to reach out to younger women, those in their 20s and 30s, because these are women who too often think breast cancer can’t happen to them. We want these women at our event so they can be impressed with the message that breast cancer can happen to anyone, so be prepared. Do regular breast self-exams, exercise, eat properly and live a healthy lifestyle, and remember the importance of early detection,” Ms. O’Brien said.

“BreastFest supports the efforts of people like Drs. Neil B. Friedman, Bernard Chang, and Gauri Bedi of The Hoffberger Breast Center at Mercy who do battle with breast cancer every day,” she added.

The Hoffberger Breast Center continues to conduct cutting edge research in the field of breast disease and breast cancer. The center offers cryoablation therapy for benign breast tumors – where lesions are frozen in a procedure in the doctor’s office rather than being surgically excised in an operating room. Together, The Hoffberger Breast Center and the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery department under Dr. Chang provide women with the option to receive breast cancer surgery and reconstruction at the same time.

Anne O’Brien is one of five sisters, each of whom hold similar awareness-and-fundraising events. BreastFest began in Athens, Georgia after Sara O'Brien read the journal her mother had written while sick with cancer. Today, BreastFest has been embraced by all of the O'Brien sisters and is held in their cities of residence: Clemson, South Carolina; New York, New York; Westmont, New Jersey, and Baltimore, MD.

Though BreastFest remains a tribute to Tyanna, it is also a dedication to all those who have been affected by the disease. Anne O’Brien works closely with Marsha Oakley, RN, of the Hoffberger Breast Center. Marsha is a breast cancer survivor, recognized by the Reach To Recovery Program of the American Cancer Society; by Hadassah for her work with the CHECK IT OUT program; the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; and is a colleague and personal friend of nationally recognized author and breast cancer expert, Dr. Susan Love. Marsha, who has been honored at The White House for her outreach efforts, also orchestrates Mercy’s annual observance of National Cancer Survivors’ Day.

Tickets for this year’s BreastFest are $40 in advance, $50 at the door; $350 for blocks of 10 tickets. Tickets may be purchased at Su Casa, 2910 on the Square in Canton, The Healing Path, through the Development Office at Mercy Medical Center or online at www.breastfest.org. Call 410-332-9817 for more information.