Candle sales raise money

It’s not unusual to find Pat Tyritt, along with her friends and family, busily wrapping candles – whether around the kitchen table or in front of the television set.

For a year now, 53-year-old Tyritt has sold nearly 9,000 candles, raising a total of $36,000 for a good cause. She’s a member of Women in Insurance Cancer Control (WICC), a group of women and men in the insurance industry    who have joined forces and raised more than $100,000 for breast cancer research.

“I’m growing more and more optimistic with each passing day that we’re coming closer to winning the battle against cancer,” says Tyritt. “Recent discoveries in drug therapy to prevent breast cancer are very heartening to    me.”

Efforts like Tyritt’s are invaluable in helping the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and its research partner, the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC), continue its research into finding ways of preventing and treating this
 devastating disease. Tyritt, whose sister had breast cancer, is one of many crusaders helping the CCS raise awareness for the disease during Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October.

“Breast ncer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Canadian women, after lung cancer, with one in nine Canadian women diagnosed during their lifetime,” says Dr. Barbara Whylie, Director of Medical  Affairs and Cancer Control for the CCS. “The good news is that three out of every four women will survive the disease if it’s caught in its early stages.

In 1998, it’s estimated that:

• 62,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with cancer 


• 19,300 (30.8 per cent) will be diagnosed with breast cancer 


• 29,100 will die of cancer 


• 5,300 (18.1 per cent) of those deaths will be caused by breast cancer.

The best weapon against breast cancer is early detection. By age 40, a woman should practice breast self-examination (BSE) each month and have her breasts checked each year by her doctor or a trained health professional. By age 50, a mammogram should be done every two years.