By Ernabel Demillo,
Host @AsianAmericanLife
When Elizabeth OuYang, a civil rights attorney, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, she remembers feeling isolated and alone.
“I’m a civil rights attorney, a very outspoken civil rights attorney. But when it comes to myself, I just couldn’t talk about it, other than with my family. It was really hard, “she recalls. “Sometimes a really strong woman outside doesn’t realize they really need support and I really needed it.”
Later, she did find support groups and help from many women, but what she noticed was there were no Asian American women. OuYang, wondered if they were like her when she was first diagnosed, afraid to seek emotional and mental support.
So she started the website, Plum Blossoms.
“I started it because having been a breast cancer survivor and realizing how difficult it was to talk about it, even as a first generation Asian American, I wanted a space, a safe space for women to be able to talk about their experiences,” she said. “And most importantly, to let other Asian women with breast cancer know that they are not alone, and that they would find strength and hope from listening to other women’s stories.”
She started hearing from more Asian American women and OuYang realized it was bringing awareness to the community. Today that awareness is even more crucial with the release of two new studies concerning AAPIs and breast cancer.
According to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, breast cancer is on the rise among Asian American women; this while the disease is stabilizing among other ethnic groups. South Asian and Southeast women saw the most dramatic increases; and women of Filipino and South Asian descent tend to be diagnosed with more advance stages of breast cancer.
Meanwhile, a new study published in the journal “Cancer” found that Asian American women are more likely to delay follow-up treatment after an abnormal mammogram, compared to white women.
For more on the study and outreach efforts watch the full story here:
Watch the entire episode of this month’s Asian American Life, featuring segments on Asian American feminist in the age of Trump, and the 35th Anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin.
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