Making Strides: Breast Cancer Awareness Special

Welcome, everybody, to a special edition of Tampa Bay Live. It is the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. I'm Linda Hurtado. I'm your host, and I'm going to be chatting with you for the next 30 minutes, and we are going to be talking about all things breast cancer. We are going to start by talking about some tech, what has changed, and what is helping doctors in the OR and helping patients stay out of the OR. We're also going to talk about some great events coming up this weekend. The weather is going to be perfect. you can consider this my personal invitation to come join me at two big events. And we're going to talk about those. And you're going to meet some hope ambassadors for the American Cancer Society and some local women that are advocating for breast cancer survivors. And of course, because it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I have to reiterate over and over again, it's time to get your mammogram. It's time to schedule it. A mammogram is what caught my cancer. In fact, this is me 15 years ago when I just got out of the operating room and had a double mastectomy family there waiting for me. You can see my little girl is walking down the hall, really kind of emotional still when I talk about it. But the mammogram caught the cancer early and it saved my life. And that's why I'm here 15 years later talking to you. So this is Dr. Charles Cox. He was my surgeon. He is just one of the best human beings I know. So many women in the Tampa Bay area have had him as a surgeon. He is retired, but you are going to meet his brother, Dr. John Cox, and he's going to be talking about what you see right now. This is an image called the clerics, and it is helping doctors real time in the surgical ward. There you can see Dr. Cox right there. And it's preventing women from having to go back and have second and third and fourth surgeries. And I'm going to let Dr. Cox talk to you a little bit more about that. He's coming up in just a few minutes. Then we're going to talk about making strides against breast cancer. This is one of my favorite events of the year. Also, for the American Cancer Society, it's one of the biggest events in our country. We get about 25 to 30,000 people, not all survivors. Raymond's there last year. I don't know. He'll be busy with the World series this year but maybe we'll have captain fear out but it's really a fabulous event then i'm going to take you to odessa where we are going to talk about uh shoot for a cure i love this event because it's affiliated with advent health where i got diagnosed but also as you see it's what gets men involved in the advocacy they love trap shooting we have some pink clay traps that they shoot it's a competition a whole lot of fun so we're going to talk about that then we are going to jump across the bay and go to savor st pete if you have not been uh to to this event you are missing out it's one of the premier events of our area every year i've been a couple of years and the reason we're talking about it today is because the founder of savor is a breast cancer survivor and she donates a lot of money to different organizations around town so she's in studio Tammy Gale and she's going to talk to us as well. Let's head out to Raymond James Stadium. Look how beautiful it looks. This is where the walk is going to be. We start things off at about, well, I get there about 730 in the morning, but I don't expect everybody to join me at 730. The walk kicks off at 9 a.m. and it's just full of vendors and all sorts of hospitals with information for survivors. We're going to tell you more about it from one of the American Cancer Society ambassadors in just a few minutes. But now we're going to check in with someone who I am sure is going to tell me it's going to be beautiful weather for all of these events this weekend. Hey, Nash. Hey, Linda. Yeah, I was so glad you asked me and invited me on here to share the forecast because it's about as good as it gets this time of the year. We've got mostly sunny skies as the sun comes up to the race's end. Temperatures will be somewhere in the 60s, so a little bit cool for some. Maybe you want to throw on a jacket or windbreaker, at least at the start of things, but you can certainly shed that by the afternoon. Rain is not going to be a concern for this event. Any showers and storms we track this weekend will be geared towards the second half of the day. Sunshine from start to finish Saturday. Sunday, a few more clouds, but nothing to worry about. It is going to be breezy throughout the event. The next seven days shows those windy conditions stick with us through the weekend, so not ideal for boating. Otherwise, chances for rain here in Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota, they stay on the low end of things, and high temperatures hover around the 80s. Linda, about as good as it gets, though, Saturday morning for this time of the year. And no one's going to be boating, Nash. They're either going to be with me at Raymond James Stadium at the Breast Cancer Walk, or maybe recovering from watching baseball, right? Yeah, you don't need to go boating. Exactly. Forget that. We've got plenty of weekends to go boating. All right, Nash Rhodes, thank you so much for joining us. All right. So coming up, we are going to talk a little bit more about what this is and why this image is helping doctors like Dr. John Cox keep women like me out of the surgical suite many times over. All right. We're taking a break. We'll be right back. Okay. You are looking at images of the Clarxa. As I understand it, during breast cancer surgery, let's say you're getting a lumpectomy, a surgeon will remove the tumor along with the rim of healthy tissue, which they call the margin. And this is a specimen scanner located either in the operating room or adjacent to it. And it can give the doctor a full 360 degree digital image of the cross sections of the tissue in real time while the patient is still on the operating table. And Dr. John Cox is going to join us now and he is going to explain to us why that is so important, Dr. Cox. Obviously, we don't want to have to go through more surgeries than necessary. So what does Claritys do to help you? Hi, Linda. I'm Dr. John Cox, the medical director of the Breast Health Program at AdventHealth Tampa. You know, breast cancer is changing faster than any time in my 20 years as a surgeon. It starts with your mammogram, and new artificial intelligence can now look at a normal mammogram and help us predict your risk years down the road, even if no one in your family has had breast cancer and in the operating room we use tiny markers to guide us straight to the tumor and 3d imaging to confirm that we've removed it all and you've seen the pictures there of the actual tumor that we're using and what it does is it's allowing us and you can see the cancer very clearly visually with this instrument and it allows us to know before we leave the operating room that we've done our very best to remove the cancer in all of its extent um this is a breakthrough technology uh came from out of the university of Chicago uh a fellow uh by the name of Zhao the CEO of Claric i've gotten to know pretty well and um we're we're just excited to have this technology to offer our patients now and across the country, you know, new options mean smaller incisions, faster recovery, and for some women, no surgery at all. So the goal is simple, more precise, less invasive, and more personal care. But it all begins with one step, schedule your mammogram. Okay, let's talk about that. Why is that so important? Well, if you think about it, for screening mammogram, that remains the foundation. But we're also looking at family history, genetics, breast density to determine who needs earlier screening or additional imaging like an MRI. For treatment, we also have learned that some people can actually safely receive less. So for carefully selected patients, you know, we understand that the mammogram is the first place that we start. And that can see through the breast tissue, see whether you have dense breast tissue, and help us determine maybe you need something more so that's the first place to start and it's so important because many many of our women that we diagnose can be diagnosed so early that the cure is is almost evident before we start and they don't have to go through all the various things so early detection is really the cure for breast cancer in this day and age we got about a minute left and i know that you want to talk about an event because not only are you one of the best surgeons in town you're also it's a rock star you have a band as well so talk about the event that's coming up again this weekend friday night yeah friday night we're um it's it's something that uh i've been doing since uh a long time now i used to be super nervous but at this point um we are seasoned and uh i play in a band with my boys um and our the name of our band i was pretty excited to see that you had the weatherman on because that's the name of our band weatherman and the radio so we're gonna have some good weather friday night we're going to have a dinner and uh we're going to play some live music for for all the people we we are we're a yacht rock band i don't know if you know what that means but we play all sorts of uh fun things but then then then on sunday shoot for the cure where you get to do this the clay shooting and this is all to benefit the the K K Meyer Breast Care Center which is where we we work here and i think where you went absolutely it is dr cox i'm gonna have to let you go we are going to talk more about a shoot for the cure in a little bit and k meyer herself but i certainly do appreciate um you taking the time to be here with us thank you so much all right now we are going to talk about making strides and i have um one of the loveliest women with me right now anita arnando she is a hope ambassador uh anita welcome to the program Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Tell us a little bit about your journey with breast cancer. I know, I mean, you had cancer, a different kind of cancer, before being diagnosed with breast cancer, right? I was diagnosed with melanoma first, and then after that, I was diagnosed with stage 2B invasive lobular carcinoma on my first mammogram. Oh, my goodness. And how did you was did you find the American Cancer Society, like many people do, is looking for a support system and just some some sisterhood to help you get through all of this? I did. I actually was involved in the American Cancer Society when I didn't know where to go to get a wig. I didn't know what to do. And they were giving away wigs 15 years ago. And so I went and I got a wig and I just wanted to get more involved. That was my first walk. Oh, my goodness. Well, you walk us through what we're seeing here. That was my first walk after recovery. That was the recent picture of me when I just decided that I was in 40 women to watch. You look so gorgeous there, by the way. That was last weekend. I was speaking at a Tampa Bay women's event. I'm trying to get the the word out to for women to know that they have to go get their screenings they have to be their own advocate we're so busy taking care of everyone else that we need to take a pause and take care of ourselves and that's how they found your cancer was a mammogram I just a routine mammogram and there was no lump no nothing and and they told me if I would have waited another year to get a mammogram, then it would have been stage four. And I probably would not have had a favorable outcome. Oh, my goodness. And now you have survived to become a hope advocate or hope ambassador, rather, for the American Cancer Society. What does what does that mean? What do you do? So last year I was the Portraits of Hope ambassador. And this year I'm the executive ambassador and we um get together we try to get businesses to help us donate and be a part of making strides because it's you know we need money for funding and we need you know people to get involved so we you know we speak i speak at events i try to get local businesses to donate and become sponsors and just be a part of what is such an amazing event and i think your husband is one of a member of the Real Men Wear Pink, right? He is a member of the Men Wear Pink and they're also involved in rallying to raise funds for Making Strides Walk as well. So if you could leave people with one, I don't know, rally to join us Saturday because you can just walk up. You don't have to be on a team and you don't have to have signed up ahead of time. It's always nice to be part of a team, but what would you tell people? Come. Experience the the electric atmosphere you've been there it is amazing there's so many people hugging everybody and you there's there's no strangers there we're all survivors thrivers caregivers you know it's a pep rally it is we celebrate each other we do and and it's just a really good feeling there's so many businesses and event tents that you can go to right and just this is a sisterhood of you know a sea of pink and it's it's just a beautiful feeling and then we walk and we get our 10,000 steps yes we do yes we do and it's been just a joy having you on and i will see you bright and early saturday you're probably one of the first ones there i will be because that survivor breakfast is pretty good all right anita thanks for joining us thanks for having us all right and coming up next we are going to jump across the bay to St. Petersburg but actually we're going to stay here tammy's going to join us on set but we're going to talk about her event that takes place over in St. Petersburg it is Savor St. Pete and we're going to ask her why she has generously donated i think it's what 75,000 right to local breast cancer organizations so stay with us we're back right after this welcome back to this special edition of tampa bay live making strides i get asked this question all the time okay i donate to a cause where does my money go so you're seeing right here where the money goes uh shoot for a cure which we've been talking about, this is a check for 75,000. It was, I think, 2025 so last year, but we have raised together over 250,000 for AdventHealth the K Meyer Breast Center to help women that do not have insurance or are underinsured get a mammogram. K Meyer in the pink jacket to my right, uh, holding that check or maybe it's backwards for you guys but anyway, she was just diagnosed with breast cancer herself, the woman whose name is on the breast care center and she is still putting together, the Shoot for a Cure, the uh, the band and the dinner Friday night, and she'll be out there Sunday, so she is just, um, a very brave woman but I wanted to share that with everybody because I get that question a lot: where exactly does the money go? and someone else who can answer that question is Tammy Gale. I turned your mic on. I'm so proud of myself, I should tell everybody this is my first time doing a show in Studio D, um, and you've been chuckling right behind the scenes because it is a lot. It's like flying a plane. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Just so amazed to hear $750,000 you've raised. Let's step back and talk about: you were diagnosed 22 years ago. Things were different. They didn't have as much as we have today. Tell us about your journey. So I was diagnosed on New Year's Eve as I was heading to a party and I stopped off at Moffitt to just get my results of my very first mammogram and had no idea what that even meant. I just had a mammogram and and it was positive. And I was certain, denial, the whole thing. And I had a single mom, had a child. What do you do next? I had sole custody, just a mess. But you think quickly and you, you know, one thing Anita said, which is you have to be your own advocate. You can't trust the information. You have to research everything because it's your body. Back then it was a different treatment. It was a much more aggressive treatment. I am so thankful that I had that and the access to having Moffitt here in our backyard. But it's different now, and people are afraid to hear the information, but knowledge is power. Oh, you need to get it early, right? Early. You just better get it early. It's a better outcome. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? It's covered by insurance. There are funds like... A foundation that we raise money for if you don't have... Let's talk about what you did afterwards. Okay. Okay, you formed the Glamathon, is that what you call it? Yes. Okay, tell us, we're seeing some pictures, feel free to reference what you're seeing, but what is the Glamathon? Oh, that's a 30-foot bra that we had made by the Art Institute, and every year the bra changed and had Swarovski crystals, that was our starting line. It was very in-your-face, it was very cancer-take-this, you can't take the me away from me, you might have surgery and you might be cutting things from me, but I'm still me. And it was very much an embracing the individual. We had all types. This was in Fort Lauderdale, very alternative lifestyle, more drag queens than you can shake a stick at. The shoes were outstanding. Pets, babies were dressed up. Yeah, everybody dressed up. It's very similar to the beautiful event making strides that you have here. And it over Over the course of the years, we had decided that rather than funding research, because we are a grassroots and it's a small organization, we would best be serving the local community. So if a woman is in need, the hospital would allow us to be able to help, whether it was funding for diagnostics or any particular treatments that were not covered or underinsured or uninsured, we covered it. And it was lifestyle needs. It was even housing. If you just couldn't afford to pay your rent, we covered that as well. I can imagine it's hard to start something like that from scratch. But also, what does it give back to you? Like, it feeds your soul, I'm imagining. What a great question. And it's, I feel that the organization, I'm from Brooklyn, so I take no, I don't take no for an answer. So that was automatic. We're going to make this happen. But it was also, I realized in doing this, it was way more for me. than it was for anything else. It just made me feel that there was a reason I was diagnosed and it was to use my resources and my contacts to be able to do something that was way bigger than I was. So we're going, I'm going to try and get on the right video. There we go. So this is some examples of fundraising and cancer initiatives. Tell us a little bit about what we're looking at. We do two events a year and one is called the High Heel Hike and it's exactly what it is. It's, You cannot imagine the shoes that come out to this event. And it gives women and men a reason to buy new shoes and sport their stuff and sport these shoes. And then we do the Lipstick Lounge, which is a swanky event at the W Hotel, and it raises a lot of funds. And, again, another great opportunity to shop. If you see the trend here, it's all about we want to go out, we want to do something great, and we want to spread the message in a way that isn't sad and morose, but it's fun and what's next and the future. And let's talk about Savor St. Pete because we're running out of time. And I know this is your one of your signature events. So this is our baby. 14 years this year. We do a massive food and wine festival in Vinoy Park overlooking Tampa Bay. Great chefs. We have celebrity chefs. We have local rock stars. We anticipate about five or six thousand people to come out this year, November 7th and 8th. And Moffitt is a beneficiary. We've so far donated to Moffitt. We've donated to Morton Plant Meats. We do donate this year to, hopefully, a new program Moffitt just initiated called The Pearl Kitchen, which is how to use food as medicine. I love that. And it's going to be the next wave of cure for cancer, eating right and knowing what you're supposed to put in your body for your particular type. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Linda. I look forward to seeing you out at Savor because that is also one of my favorite events. You get to eat and, you know, drink and be merry with all of your friends. That's right. Thank you again so much for joining us. All right. We're going to wrap things up here. We're going to tell you about these three great events. This one, Making Strides, Saturday, October 24th. It's at RJ. Bright and early, but the actual walk starts at 9 o'clock if you'd like to join us. we also have um the charity trap shoot nope that's the saver pit the charity well we'll talk about saver saver St Pete food and wine festival it's gonna be not this weekend it is actually Saturday November 7th and it is at the Vinoy waterfront and now let's see if we can get to i knew i could get it eventually at the shoot for cure charity trap shoot it's on Sunday October 25th. Starts at 9 a.m. And again, you can go to Silver Dollar Shooters Club if you'd like to sign up. So I'm going to leave you with this image. It is the home of the crew, but it's also going to be the home of the breast cancer survivors. Saturday, bright and early. And I hope that you guys will join me. And I hope that you've learned a lot about the latest that's going on with technology for breast cancer. Also, some of the events, the fundraising, where your money goes. But most importantly, I hope this inspires you to go get a mammogram. Thank you guys for joining us on Tampa Bay Live, Making Strides edition.