Nurses tickled pink to hit road

Christina Taylor-Smith (rear) and Trish Sole touring with the Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan in Whangarei yesterday. The caravan will be in Dargaville today and Wellsford tomorrow. Photo / John Stone

It's big, bright pink and carries important advice and information for women, and yesterday NZ Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan started a national tour in Whangarei.

More than 130 women in the Northland DHB region will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and the earlier they are diagnosed, the better the outcome, says nurse Christina Taylor Smith, who is manning the caravan.

The Pink Caravan is travelling to 33 towns throughout New Zealand, from the Far North to Southland, with specialist breastcare nurses Ms Taylor Smith and Trish Sole on board. It will be outside The Warehouse in Dargaville today, and by Wellsford Wellness, in Wellsford, tomorrow.

"We want women everywhere to know all the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, to understand their family and lifestyle risk factors, and to know what to do if they have any worries. We're inviting women " and men " to pop into the Pink Caravan with their questions," Ms Taylor Smith said.

"The caravan will have hands-on displays of breast cancer symptoms that most women won't have seen before, and we'll use prosthetic breasts to show what a lump feels like.

"We have some fantastic resources and information on board, and the message is very important ... so we'll be advising on screening and how to look out for the full range of breast cancer symptoms."

Ms Sole said more than 1000 New Zealand women were diagnosed with breast cancer each year outside the free screening age group, and even among screened women, breast cancers can appear between mammograms.

"So it's really important to know all the signs of breast cancer and how to be breast aware " that's what we're here for," she said.

The NZBCF is also asking people who visit the caravan to sign its petition calling on the Government to extend free screening to age 74, up from the present limit of 69. A woman's breast cancer risk is higher in her 70s than it is at 50.