The Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan is in Hawke's Bay this week.
The Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan is in Hawke's Bay this week.
The NZ Breast Cancer Foundation is going on a road trip with its Pink Caravan.
The Caravan will travel through small-town New Zealand, from Kaitaia to Bluff, with specialist breastcare nurses on board to ensure women everywhere know all the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, to understand their familyand lifestyle risk factors, and to know what to do if they have any worries.
Women - and men - are invited to pop into the Pink Caravan with their questions.
On board the Pink Caravan in Hawke's Bay will be breast surgeon Dr Alison Hayes and Valerie Pennick.
They will be answering questions about breast cancer, providing education to GPs and practice nurses, and helping women who've had breast cancer monitor their risk of lymphoedema (a painful and debilitating condition that can occur many years after breast cancer surgery).
The Caravan will have hands-on displays of breast cancer symptoms that most women won't have seen before.
The retro Pink Caravan has been purpose-built for the NZBCF by Kevin Redshaw of Timeless Caravans in Palmerston North. Kevin and many of his suppliers have donated time or product to the cause. Several of them have family members affected by breast cancer, so they "get" how important it is for the message to reach women everywhere.
The Pink Caravan is a home-grown Kiwi community story relying on volunteers, mostly members of the NZ Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA) to tow the caravan in a relay around the country. It is huge project, and the response has been heart-warming and overwhelming.
