Catwalk for a Cure
Saturday, Sept. 24
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
McNease Convention Center
$35
Fifth annual Pink Tie Gala featuring fabulous
food, a style show, silent auction and the popular Bras
for the Cause exhibit. All proceeds beneft the Cancer
Empowerment & Resource Center at Shannon Medical
Center. For more information, call 325-949-0610.
Tee Off for Ta-tas Golf Tournament
Monday, Sept. 26, 11:30 a.m.
Bentwood Country Club
Four-person scramble: $125
per player
Entry fee includes lunch,
snacks on the course and
dinner afterward, complimentary beverages, and gifts
for players. All proceeds beneft the Cancer Em-
powerment & Resource Center at Shannon Medical
Center. The number of teams is limited. For more
information or to register, call 325-944-8575.
Tee Off for Ta-tas Bra Drop
Monday, Sept. 26, 12:30 p.m.
Bentwood Country Club
Not a golfer? Join us again this year for the Bra Drop.
For a $5 donation, enter an unwanted bra that will be
dropped from a helicopter. The bra that lands closest
to the pink ribbon target on the green will win a prize.
Bras may be dropped off at Grigsby’s Boutique or Shan-
non Women’s Imaging Center.
Fourth Annual Pink Ribbon Run
Saturday, Oct. 8
Registration begins at 7 a.m.;
1-mile walk at 8 a.m.; 5K and
10K runs at 8:30 a.m.
Shannon Women’s and Children’s
Hospital, 201 E. Harris Ave.
Help us top last year’s 800 participants as we raise
money and awareness for a great cause. Proceeds ben-
eft programs at the Shannon Women’s Imaging Center.
For more information or to register, call 325-657-5064
or go to www.shannonhealth.com.
Pretty in Pink
Shopping Night
Thursday, Oct. 13
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Bentwood Country Club
Free
Sip pink cocktails and browse merchandise from local
vendors at this pink-themed event that includes bra
fttings by Dillard’s and Q&A sessions on breast cancer
awareness and prevention with Michelle Snuggs, MD,
chief radiologist at Shannon Women’s Imaging Center.
Door prizes donated by our vendors will be given away,
so bring your shopping shoes for a fun, pink-flled eve-
ning. For more information, call 325-657-5064.
JENNIE HOPPER
has a fabulous smile.
It’s the frst thing people notice. Her smile is her symbol
of courage and strength, which are attributes the 77-year-
old great-grandmother and avid painter demonstrates
time and again.
Hopper is a breast cancer patient. Again. She is battling
it for the second time in six years. But just like the last
time, she’s smiling through it and not letting it slow her
down. Te weekly art classes she teaches every Tursday
afernoon are still on her schedule, and she is just as de-
voted to her art projects in her apartment at Rio Concho
Manor in San Angelo.
Her battle with cancer started when she was diagnosed
in 2005. She frst suspected a problem when the nipple
of her breast became inverted.
“I was shocked,” Hopper says. “I went to my family phy-
sician and he recommended that I have a mammogram.
At the time, I didn’t know that was a possible symptom
of breast cancer.”
Hopper began treatment immediately. Michael Cornell,
MD, a Shannon Clinic surgeon, performed her lumpec-
tomy. Tat was followed by radiation and medication. She
was also prescribed tamoxifen, a drug used to fght and
prevent breast cancer, which she took until last February,
when she went in for her regular mammogram.
It showed another lump.
“I thought, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me
again, but I know that I’m going to get over this,’” Hopper
says. “God is taking me through it.”
Hopper had a mastectomy and completed four rounds
of chemotherapy at the Shannon Medical Center Outpa-
tient Chemotherapy Center. She is also receiving Her-
ceptin every three weeks at the center and will continue
that through next April.
Like most patients in chemotherapy, Hopper started
losing her hair afer the second treatment. But she de-
cided to do something about it.
“I went to my hairdresser and asked her just to shave
my head,” Hopper says. “She cried the whole time, and
I laughed the whole time. I fnd that is the best way to
deal with it.”
Hopper’s family, friends at her church and community
members have all ofered support, and she received plenty
of it from the nurses at Shannon’s Oncology Center too.
As part of her battle with cancer, Hopper has tried
to learn as much as she can about the disease and
its symptoms—an education she is sharing with her
granddaughters.
“Go and get those mammograms for sure, and stay
in touch with your doctor,” says Hopper. “Don’t ignore
any type of symptom that you’re having. It’s better to be
safe than sorry.”
And, like Hopper, keep smiling.
Jennie Hopper isn’t letting a second bout of breast cancer keep her from pursuing her passion for painting.
The Shannon Oncology Center
is conveniently located at the
Shannon Medical Plaza.
Call 325-658-1511.
C
a n c e r
SMILING AND SURVIVING
F A L L 2 0 1 1
2
H E A L T H B E A T
Join us for
these special
October
events!