Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi • 6

HATTIESBURG AMERICAN I FROM PAGE ONE i Cancer FromPAGEIA mm you've had breast It's obvious that they have never heard about it anywhere," Dawsey said. "That's not good." Why men get breast cancer is far from clear. According to Nagen Bellare, medical director of Forrest General Hospital's Cancer Center, there is a link between decreased male testosterone levels, manifested in a genetic condition such as Klinefel-ter's syndrome, and increased breast cancer risks. Liver disease, which increases estrogen levels, also can heighten the risks. "It's rare, but it does occur," said Bellare, who sees about two cases of male breast cancer each year.

Williamson's ordeal started two years ago in August death's door as you can get without crossing over. So while he laughs that one day he'll get a tattoo of a nipple to replace the right breast that he lost, he also passionately expresses his opinion that male breast cancer is not adequately understood. "I've read articles (about breast cancer) in health magazines four pages long -with maybe one sentence about men with breast cancer, if that," Williamson said. Williamson's girlfriend Kim Dawsey, a former Oak Grove High School music teacher, has witnessed ignorance of the disease firsthand. "Keith is obviously very bold.

He'll just raise his shirt up and show them because people will be like, 'Oh, modest compared to the number of female breast cancer cases. There have been an estimated 2,140 new cases of male breast cancer so far this year, according to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Contrast that to the 230,000 estimated cases of female breast cancer. But Williamson believes it's worth a mention or two. He's full of jokes about getting a mastectomy, but he's also a serious believer in the slogan to live every day like you're dying.

After all, the disease brought him as close to BRYANT HAWKINS I Hattiesburg American KEITH WILLIAMSON POINTS to his proposed alteration to the pink ribbon that symbolizes breast cancer awareness at Light's Jewelers Gemologists in the Newpointe Shopping Center Thursday. By the numbers Male breast cancer cases makeup less than 1 percent of all breast cancer cases. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 2,140 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States in 2011 compared to 230,000 women. Number of deaths due to breast cancer In 2011 Women: 39,520 Men: 450 2009 when he noticed a lump under his right nipple. He didn't think anything of it.

"Just like any man, I thought 'Oh, this will go he said. The lump started hurting three weeks later. That's when he got a mammogram that kick-started a painful year of treatment with eight rounds of chemotherapy and the removal of his right breast. Williamson's reaction is a symptom of one troubling sex difference in breast cancer, explained Bellare. Men, he said, have a higher risk of dying from the disease because typically they get diagnosed later.

"Men don't think they can get breast cancer," he explained. "They think it's a woman's disease." While Bellare said it's not necessary for men to screen for breast cancer prior to any signs, he said that it is important for men to take stock of their bodies and get any abnormal growths examined immediately. Williamson nearly waited too late. The fourth chemotherapy, he says, made him "go septic," i.e. endure septic shock that dropped his blood pressure to the dangerously low level of 50 over 30.

In fact, Williamson said that doctors informed his family members of his dire WOMEN'S PAVILION Serving the Pine Bell for 30 years pointe Shopping Center. Store owner Susan Light is co-founder of the Pink Ribbon Fund, which provides financial assistance to Pine Belt breast cancer patients. "I think that sometimes men are very reluctant to acknowledge they have breast cancer because there's a stigma attached to it. I think that's part of his desire to get the info out to the public," Dawsey said. Bellare applauds any attempt to inform folks of the necessity of early treatment.

"Men must treat their bodies similarly to the way women treat theirs, he said. He makes a parallel between the lag-time of men and women in getting checked out for breast cancer, and that of blacks and whites for breast cancer. While the five-year survival rate for whites with breast cancer is 90 percent, that number falls to 66 percent for blacks, he said. That's because they often are diagnosed at a more serious stage of the disease. Williamson said he has just one goal.

"If we can just save one life, it's worth it," he said, condition, "They told my family members that if they wanted to see me breathing, they'd better come quick," he said. But Williamson said he knows that he was never meant to die, even though he calls his experience "a death." "When I died Jesus came to see me in the hospital, I asked him to take me home," recalls Williamson. "He said no, that he had something else for me to do. This may be it, I don't know, but He left me here for a reason." So here he is today. A series of back surgeries, unrelated to the cancer, have canceled out any hope of returning to his former job.

But he's free of cancer and still working. He's joined church breast cancer support groups and been interviewed by local TV stations about his experience. He also wears a pink ribbon with a blue stripe in it, as does Dawsey and his service dog Molly on its harness. Dawsey designed the ribbons. She added a stripe of blue tape to one of the two human-size pink ribbons fronting Light's Jewelers and Gemologists in the New- "As governor, Johnny DuPree will work to develop a comprehensive health plan that addresses not just health care and insurance but promotes healthier lifestyles." Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S.

representative and leader of the DNC (P) I Visit: www.womenspavilionms.com Lab Results Online Bill Pay I Download Forms 1 Get Directions Efl Health Library 39 Franklin Road, Suite 300 5003 Hardy St, Suite 350 Wesley Medical Plaza Wesley Towers Hattiesburg, MS 39402 aaj ft A ft AAAH Hattiesburg, MS 39402 601-268-9393 Nominee From PAGE 1 A mocrats don't ask or don't accept other Democrats from other places to come. But you know, this is a different campaign. The Democratic Party accepts everybody because of who are. That's what America is." Wasserman Schultz made several appearances Thursday, including speaking to about 150 people at a "Women for DuPree" rally that doubled as a breast cancer awareness event at Millsaps College. She was scheduled later Thursday to attend a Mississippi Democratic Party fundraiser and to speak at a jobs rally for DuPree at the Jackson Convention Center.

"As governor, Johnny DuPree will work to develop a comprehensive health plan that addresses not just health care and insurance but promotes healthier lifestyles," Wasserman Schultz said at the women's rally. "He'll create the Mississippi Council on Healthy Living to work with local communities to integrate health lifestyle initiatives into their policies and streamline costs and red tape so that doctors and patients can get back to basics and focus on care." The 45-year-old DNC leader is a breast cancer survivor, as is DuPree's wife, Johniece. "We all know that fighting breast cancer is not a partisan issue," Wasserman Schultz said. "Democrats, Republicans and independents from all corners of our great nation should come to- 551 Eagle Day Ave, 1242 Hwy 29 North Columbia, MS 39429 Ellisville, MS 39437 NOW 18 LOCATIONS, 11 ON THE GULF COAST. Hattiesburg Purvis Laurel Picayune Pascagoula Bay St.

Louis Wiggins gether to end this deadly disease." Still, Wasserman Schultz said the 2010 federal health care overhaul, which was opposed by Republicans, includes provisions to help breast cancer patients, including those that would block insurers from dropping coverage because of pre-existing conditions. DuPree has said he generally supports the federal health care law, though he believes parts of it need to be tweaked. Bryant frequently criticizes the law, saying it will hurt the state budget by adding tens of thousands of people to Mississippi's Medicaid rolls. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus of Wisconsin issued a news release in advance of Wasserman Schultz's appearance, saying Democrats' policies "created an economic disaster for Mississippians and families all across the country." "From unaccountable stimulus spending to job-killing regulations, the Democrats' agenda is the single biggest roadblock to job creation," Priebus said. "Debbie Wasserman Schultz may try to deny it, but Americans deserve better." Bryant has also received campaign help from national Republican figures.

The head of the Republican Governors Association, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, appeared last week at a Bryant fundraiser in downtown Jackson, where suggested donations were $1,000 to $25,000. The Republican Governors Association has contributed $250,000 to Bryant's campaign. The Democratic Governors Association has given $92,000 to DuPree's campaign. Finance reports filed Oct.

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