February 21, 2008
Breast cancer research and resilience are topics of UWRA campus presentations
When Debra Jarvis was diagnosed with breast cancer, it brought a transforming reality to her role as a local oncology chaplain. Jarvis will speak about her experience and read from her book, It’s Not about the Hair and Other Certainties of Life & Cancer, at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27 in the Walker Ames Room of Kane Hall. This event, sponsored by the UW Retirement Association (UWRA), is open to the campus community as well as UWRA members and friends.
Jarvis’ work is an earthy, often irreverent, yet sensitive account of her own struggles as well as those of her clients. The book’s title refers to the often-asked question patients have when they are first diagnosed: “Will I lose my hair?” Jarvis says what they are really asking is, “Will I lose my life?”
A second UWRA presentation on Feb. 27, focusing on breast and ovarian cancer research, is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Walker-Ames. Mary-Claire King, American Cancer Society Professor in Genome Sciences and Medicine (Medical Genetics) will speak on Inherited Breast and Ovarian Cancer. King was the first geneticist to confirm the existence of a breast cancer gene (BrCA1).
UW community members are also welcome to attend the afternoon session, which is the program portion of the UWRA’s winter membership meeting. Contact the UWRA office, retiremt@u.washington.edu, to indicate attendance plans for the afternoon session. Advance notice is not required for the morning session.
