Annual 5K at Red Rock Resort to spotlight efforts to beat breast cancer

Think pink on Oct. 30.

Pink is the color of choice for the American Cancer Society’s annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. The Las Vegas 5K is slated for Oct. 30 at Red Rock Resort, 11011 W. Charleston Blvd.

It’s not just women who get breast cancer. Nicholas Bressler, Making Strides Las Vegas coordinator, was at the kickoff breakfast Aug. 10 at Red Rock Resort, a corporate sponsor of the event. His mother fought breast cancer when he was a teenager.

“I saw her fight and I know that means I have a higher chance to develop breast cancer as well, so I think it’s very important to reach those aspects of the community who don’t have the means to (cover medical visits),” he said. “You’ve got to get yourself checked. Anyone can get breast cancer. Just because you don’t have a family history doesn’t mean it can’t happen to you.”

The walk is expected to have 28,000 participants. The Making Strides effort has launched a program, Real Men Wear Pink, aimed at getting more men involved.

“It’s a powerful image to see that large a group, out for a cause,” Bressler said.

This year’s goal is to raise $1 million.

Jennifer Nordstrom, 48, knows all too well what the color pink represents for those with breast cancer. For her, the research supported through Making Strides was a lifesaver.

It was Dec. 8, 2004, a special day. She’d just started a new job. Plus, it was her son’s birthday. She left work for her annual checkup.

Her doctor found a lump, and a mammogram was ordered. It revealed three suspect lumps in her right breast. It was bad enough news, but further testing would reveal 26 of the 52 lymph nodes in her arm were also affected.

The verdict: Stage 3 breast cancer.

“My first thought was that I needed to fight this battle and win it,” she recalled. “My children were 9, 11, and the oldest was going to be graduating middle school … plus, I was just starting my career.”

She underwent surgery, followed by chemotherapy, which caused her to lose her hair.

“It came out in clumps,” she said. “My oldest son shaved my head. It was hard for a kid of 12 or 13 to shave his mother’s head. Hard for him. Hard for me, too.”

Because the cancer was deemed so invasive, she eventually opted to have both breasts removed. She underwent radiation. It dried out her skin and her eyes. She developed a cataract from it in her left eye.

But there was hope.

Nordstrom was put in a clinical trial. That trial drug, Herceptin, is now widely used to treat cancer.

It beat hers. Herceptin works on the surface of cancer cells, blocking the chemical signals that can stimulate its growth.

In November 2005, Nordstrom’s PET scan detected no trace of cancer — the same with subsequent scans. She now volunteers to share her story to see that Making Strides events are successful.

“It saved my life because the type of cancer I had, it was guaranteed to come back in five years. I had a 85 percent chance that it would recur in five years,” she said. “So, literally, I am cancer-free due to research funded (by American Cancer Society).”

The statistics given out at the breakfast were sobering: 246,000 American women will be diagnosed this year with breast cancer. More than 40,000 will die from the disease. In Nevada, 2,010 women will be diagnosed, and 308 are expected to die.

What message did Nordstrom have for other women who are newly diagnosed?

“I would tell them to stay strong and definitely speak to other survivors so that they know they’re not alone,” she said. “And that even if their breasts are removed, they’re still beautiful.”

Registration for the walk starts at 7:30 a.m., with the run/walk set for 8:30 a.m. Visit tinyurl.com/zyd79ud.

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.