Yoshiko Umezawa at WVRC on May 24th
Before I begin reporting, I must tell you all that I am personally very disappointed in the older members of Westwood Rotary! The reason is that only PP RON LYSTER and I have called KEN LEVER. He was a member for several years, and moved away, so he resigned. Now he is facing some tough health problems – and he needs to hear from you who knew him when he was a member. His phone is (818)222-6935, 24711 Via Modera, Calabasas 91302. I’m not kidding when I tell you that I will be checking with KEN, and I hope my next contact will show some concern on our part for him!
But returning to today, the Pledge was led by JACK HARRIS. Putting aside the cowardly anonymous voice asking if he had his notes, JACK did fine! LENNY bravely came forward to lead us in God Bless America, which is one of our very few good numbers…WARREN DODSON provided the Invocation. It was based on twenty statements, and the challenge they presented – examples; Life is a dream, realize it…Life is love, enjoy it…Life is a struggle, accept it, and ending with, Life is life, fight for it. Mother Teresa added, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing, It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving”. Good thoughts, WARREN – thanks.
There were a number of visitors. NICK KAHRILAS brought his wife, Laura, and another friend, John Lavall, who is a Venture Capitalist. PP PETER MORE was pleased to introduce his son, Jeff – and note that Jeff designed our original website, when BOB WESSLING was President! SLOS VIAU introduced his eldest son, Skip. MARK ROGO brought his daughter, Marcie. PDG BILL GOODWYN came with Leah Vriesman, who is an Asst. Prof. and Associate Director of the UCLA School of Public Health. PP DON NELSON reported on how ROZ was getting along after her surgery of last week. She is feeling better every day, and should be up and around shortly.
PP PETER MORE was pleased to introduce his son, Jeff
CHRIS BRADFORD noted that the Invitations are in the mail for Prexy MIKE”S Demotion – It will be Saturday the 23rd of June, at Riviera Country Club. Save that date! He also was pleased to report that BOTH our Ambassadorial Scholar Candidates were selected by District 5280. The District only chose three – and we got two of them – Congratulations to a hard working committee, which was composed of LENORE MULRYAN, ANN SAMSON, BARRY MARLIN, SHANE WAARBROEK, PEGGY BLOOMFIELD, PP RUDY ALVAEZ and CHRIS, as Chair. ANN SAMSON will be the Councilor for one of the awardees, and CHRIS plus SHANE WAARBROEK will share being Councilor for the other. Their destinations are not yet settled, but one would like Lebanon – security permitting – and the other is leaning toward Singapore or Malaysia. Last announcement – July 12th is a Thursday, and it just happens to be the 100th Birthday of HENRY TSENG! Plan to be there, certainly. And for the record, I am here repeating the new address for JAN and GEORGE DEA: 1465 65th St, #312, Emeryville, CA 94608, (510) 595-1372.
PP STEVE DAY had more Rotary Foundation business for us. Two more from WVRC have become Paul Harris Fellows, which is accomplished by a donation of $1,000 to R.I. These funds enable us to carry on all our charitable activities, including Ambassadorial Scholarships, and our other worldwide programs. The two who have stepped forward are NICK KAHRILAS and his wife, LAURA, and their elevation was roundly applauded. It should be noted, however, that PP STEVE had forgotten his glasses, and upon borrowing another pair, clearly stated, “Wow!” since they did make the rest of the presentation easier for him.
The Joke followed. Our subject had just completed a most thorough Memory Course. It included all the latest techniques – visualization, association, telling a story –but at his first opportunity to show off his newly acquired skills, he failed! Unable to remember the name of the Course, he asked his questioner, “What do you call that flower with a long stem and thorns?” “You mean, a rose?” “ Yes, that’s it”. Turning to his wife, he asked, ”Rose, what is the name of that memory course?”
The last luncheon meeting for this year of Westwood Village Rotary Club Auxiliary will be June 6th, at the home of SALLY and HOMER NEWMAN, at 11:30 a.m. Volunteer work for Katrina victims will be discussed by Rotarian DAVE WHITEHEAD and KAREN, who have twice visited and helped with clean-up operations in New Orleans. They will show films and talk about the work that is being accomplished. Lunch will be under the direction of JUDY WESSLING and ELOISE SISKEL. The new Auxiliary Board, headed by co-presidents KATHY GAULD and ELOISE SISKEL, will be installed by PEGGY BLOOMFIELD. CHRIS BRADFORD, incoming Westwood Rotary's incoming president, will also give a preview of events scheduled over the summer and into the next year's calendar. JANICE DEA, flying in from Emeryville, will preside. For reservations, please call MARGIE DOWNIE (310)394-4827.
Yoshiko Umezawa was introduced by Prexy MIKE. She came to UCLA to earn her PhD as an Ambassadorial Scholar in 2001. SUSAN ALLEN was named her Councilor, and the two of them have attended many of our meetings together since that time. Yoshiko got her Masters from Tokyo University, and she comes from an academic background – her mother has a PhD in Chemistry. Many of us knew Yoshiko slightly, but we were looking forward to a more ‘in-depth’ picture of her activities over the past several years. The title of her presentation today was For Latinas, Breast Cancer Treatment is a Family Affair.
Yoshiko thanked us for the opportunity to speak to us today, and noted that much of her presentation would also be covered by the power point presentation that played along with her talk. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among older women. Most breast cancer is diagnosed at early stages. A major consideration should be the quality of life after breast cancer. For most women, breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by radiation therapy is preferable to a Mastectomy. The survival rates between the two are equivalent, and BCS usually provides a better quality of life. The choice of BCS between 1988 and 1999 almost doubled in California. However, BCS is chosen less frequently over Mastectomy among ethnic minority groups compared to whites.
This brings up the question of the role of patient, family and healthcare providers in treatment decisions in ethnic minority patients. Participating in this study were 99 Latino, 92 white, and 66 African-American patients, aged 55 or older, all newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Among Latino patients, the average age was 69, with 58% having less than a high school education, 47% partnered, and 52% having an income of less than $20,000. With Latinos, the less-acculturated group split evenly on BCS vs. Mastectomy, while the more-acculturated group favored BCS by 69% compared to 31% choosing a Mastectomy. The final treatment decisions for the less-acculturated Latinas were 37% by self, 10% by the physician, 4% by their partner and 49% by other family or friend. Among the more-acculturated Latinos, 75% made the decision themselves, 7% by physicians, 0 by partners, and 18% by other family or friend.
This shows the powerful role of the family in older Latinas. There is clearly less choice of BCS when the family made decisions. It might be a question here that this is possibly due to a misconception that Mastectomy was more curative than BCS. In other words, it could be that family members wanted to make sure that the woman survived.
What conclusions might be drawn from the above study and figures? The healthcare provider must realize that the family may not merely be translators – the families may be actually making treatment decisions. This would suggest that not only the patient but also the family must be educated in order to make the best choice. The language barriers must be addressed to enhance communications between patient, family, and providers.
Yoshiko, thank you for presenting one of your research projects. It certainly was a learning process for all of us.
—YOE, Ernie Wolfe
