Lemons assist breast cancer detection
A Utah State University instructor is turning lemons into lemonade by using the fruit to educate people about breast cancer.
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Although the month is now over, there are many people who remain unaware of the signs of breast cancer and how to detect it.
Many may find the topic boring or irrelevant to them because they have no history of the disease, are currently young and in good health or are male.
These are a few of the myths Utah State University instructor Corrine Ellsworth wanted to dispel when doing her graphic design thesis project last spring.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 0.5 percent of breast cancer diagnoses are in males, about only 10 percent of diagnosises are considered hereditary and early detection cure rates exceed 90 percent.
Like countless other families, breast cancer runs in Ellsworth’s.
Ellsworth’s grandmothers were diagnosed with the disease, increasing her likelihood of being diagnosed.
She said she decided to learn as much as she could about the topic and incorporate her knowledge into her thesis project.
She started by visiting the Huntsman Cancer Institute to research the causes and effects of breast cancer and what can be done to detect it.
She said she was surprised by what she found. She said the information was confusing and the photos of the disease were grotesque.
“I looked at them and thought, ‘these are ugly,'” she said. “There really is a better way to talk about breast cancer.”
That was the beginning of the creation of “Lemonland”, where self-proclaimed Mayor Ellsworth uses photographs of lemons to diagram everything from self examinations to biopsy.
She said her goal for the project was to make information about breast cancer fun and easy to understand and said “a little humor always makes it easier to understand.”
Going through breast cancer is tough enough as it is, she said, without confusing charts making it difficult to teach children about what their mothers are going through.
She also said her idea makes it easier to advertise and promote awareness.
“Lemons are multicultural,” she said.
Instead of using all the space to show women of different ethnicities, the lemon is used and there is more room for the important part: the information.
One of her designs features an open egg carton containing 12 lemons – digitally manipulated to resemble a dozen signs of breast
cancer.
Another design looks a lot like the board game Candyland, renamed Lemonland, charting a course for a self-examination.
Each part of the breast is given a fictional town name like “Pitsburg” to help women remember where abnormalities are located. This makes it easier for women to comprehensively discuss the issue with her doctor.
Ellsworth also created an “interactive passport” or travel guide to help women document the health of their breasts and help them through the breast cancer screening and detection process.
Ellsworth said she studied the topic for more than a year and a half and spent more than $1,500 before designing her Web site. She also volunteered at a women’s clinic and a mammography center so as to better understand the different aspects of breast cancer detection.
She displayed her findings last month in the Taggart Student Center as part of the USU Health and Wellness Center’s efforts to inform students about breast cancer.
The booth contained posters of Ellsworth’s designs and lemon-flavored suckers were available for students.
One passer-by took a look at the posters and without reading the text asked, “Do you know what those [lemons] look like?”
Ellsworth took this as a compliment.
Ellsworth recently sent a proposal to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a national breast cancer organization.
She proposed the organization use Lemonland as a brand to raise breast cancer awareness. Items could be designed and sold, all proceeds going to breast cancer research and education.
Ellsworth’s project is online at pinklemon.org, soon to be renamed lemonland.org.
Ellsworth said she encourages students, both female and male to visit the site and learn more about the truth of breast cancer.
-tamber@cc.usu.edu