Fix-It and Forget-It Pink Cookbook (4 page)

Anyone who's been part of an Avon Walk since its launch in 2003 has helped fund breakthrough research, improved access to quality care in their communities, and worked to ensure that all patients receive the breast cancer care they need, regardless of their ability to pay.

Since the Avon Walks began, Avon Walkers have collectively traveled the equivalent of more than 210 trips around the globe.

SEE PASSION AT WORK

There's a spirit you feel throughout an Avon Walk, a current of hope and joy that connects the participants. They cheer each other on as they achieve personal goals. They walk together with their hearts full and heads held high, knowing they're making a real difference to people living with this devastating disease, as well as those who may be diagnosed in the future.

When you join an Avon Walk, you share stories and laughs and make incredible memories. You form new friendships and deepen old ones. You hear how
Avon Foundation-funded organizations in your own community are helping breast cancer patients navigate the daunting journey from diagnosis through treatment. You realize you're changing the world by participating.

At an Avon Walk, complete strangers become friends, because everyone is connected by the same belief—that putting one foot in front of the other truly can help put an end to breast cancer.

Avon Walks take place in 8 cities: Houston, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, New York, and Charlotte. Every Walk route is designed to bring out the best that city has to offer.

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

All money raised by the Avon Walk is managed by the Avon Foundation for Women, a 501(c)(3) public charity that funds a comprehensive network of programs and services dedicated to serving breast cancer patients and their families through five areas of the breast cancer cause: awareness and education, screening and diagnosis, access to treatment, support services, and scientific research.

Show the world you're
IN IT TO END IT
. Bring your friends and family and come together for an unforgettable celebration of life and hope. Please visit
avonwalk.org
for more information.

The Avon Foundation places a special emphasis on reaching the medically underserved, including low-income, elderly and minority individuals, and those who are under-insured.

Dr. Mita Sanghavi Goel: Provider of Access to Care, and Survivor

Dr. Mita Sanghavi Goel is part of the Avon Center for Excellence and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

4-6 servings • Prep Time: 20 minutes • Cooking Time: 15-18 minutes

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2-3 zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise, and then sliced in half-moon shapes

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon, squeezed from half a lemon

salt to taste

pepper to taste

4-6 tsp. balsamic vinegar, or more (preferably a tangy, sweet variety such as aged balsamic or fig balsamic)

4-6 slices toasted French or Italian bread

1-1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (2-year-old Grafton or Cabot Hunter's Sharp are especially good)

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Saute onions until translucent, approximately 5 minutes.
   
2. Add sliced zucchini. Cook for another 5 minutes.
   
3. Stir in lemon juice. Continue cooking until zucchini slices are soft, approximately 5 minutes.
   
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
   
5. Assemble the sandwich as follows: Drizzle balsamic vinegar over slices of bread. Place cooked mixture in generous quantities on top of vinegar. Divide cheese among open-faced sandwiches. It will melt on its own from the heat. Serve.
   

“This is my made-up recipe that satisfies my entire family's taste buds (even our 2-year-old!), as well as my desire to eat healthily as a family. It is a wonderful weeknight dinner for a working couple.”

PROVIDER OF ACCESS TO CARE, AND SURVIVOR

In my work as a physician, I've helped to develop a video for patients to watch as they wait for their doctor appointments.

The video is in both English and Spanish and is a straight narrative—practical and efficient—about five minutes long. In it we describe how mammography detects cancer. We show a woman having a mammogram to demystify the process. The message is intended to encourage and motivate women to think of their doctors as partners. We want them to talk to their doctors about whether a mammogram is right for them.

I've had a long interest in the disparities in cancer care, especially for Latina women. I wanted to partner with an agency who worked actively with persons who were especially vulnerable because of their culture and economic standing.

The women we've met are quite interested in their health and want to learn more. We were afraid that the video might be too graphic, but they're very receptive to it. In fact, when we tracked who was having mammograms, twice as many who watched the video got ­mammograms compared to those who didn't.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer just about a year and a half ago, not long after I began working with the video. I underwent the full range of treatment. That has underscored for me the importance of this work—and how hard it can be to balance family life and a job alongside treatment.

I am very fortunate to have an outpouring of support. I have two young kids—5 and 2½. My mother came and lived with us for a few months during my surgery and treatments. We had friends bringing food and offering all kinds of help.

Dr. Goel with her Daughter

I kept working during my treatment, and I had wonderful support from my colleagues and my patients, too. In fact, I had to make a big effort to get them to talk about their situations and not mine!

One other thing I found helpful was keeping an online journal at CaringBridge.org. It was a wonderful way to keep my community and friends up to date. It allowed them to write back to me in a way that was comfortable and supportive. I found it therapeutic to write and then to read the wonderful messages I received. I am learning now that surviving is a very active process.

I had always been so healthy, so it's a new experience for me to focus on my health beyond making sure that I eat right and exercise regularly.

“I am learning now that surviving breast cancer is a very active process. Complications from treatment come up. I wasn't planning on any setbacks, but I developed some swelling in my arm that took me completely by surprise.”

Deb Wills: Survivor of 26 Years, and Avon Walker

Deb Wills is a 26-year survivor, and avid Walker (she's done 13 Walks), and has so far raised $400,000 for the Avon Foundation, including more than $101,000 in 2012. She spoke at the Closing Ceremony of the Washington D.C. Walk in 2010.

Makes 4 servings • Prep Time: 15 minutes