Published: May 06, 2007 11:49 pm         

Breast cancer survivors kick off Paint the Town Pink with a fresh coat

Annual carnation sale is set for Friday

TERRE HAUTE — Nancy Bulk had a terrifying Halloween in 1996, a night that changed her life. She’s a survivor.

She was in the shower when she felt something in her breast. It didn’t hurt. It was a tumor 4 centimeters in diameter. Breast cancer.

“The wind was knocked out of my sail,” Bulk said. “Was I going to see my kids graduate from high school? Was I going to be there for my first grandchild? … It was devastating. I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I tried to stay positive. I really believe two-thirds of getting better is staying positive.”

Bulk spilled a few drops of pink paint in the middle of Wabash Avenue and Sixth Street on Sunday afternoon while revitalizing a faded pink ribbon painted on the roadway last year.

This is the fifth year that the Wabash Valley Breast Cancer Survivors and the Y-Me organizations have painted the symbolic ribbon on the streets.

The ribbon attracts attention of passersby and serves as a reminder that cancer can affect anyone. It also kicks off the annual Paint the Town Pink carnation sale.

“[Cancer] changed my life,” Bulk said. “I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone, but it changed my life. I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore, and I pick my battles.”

Bulk, now the president of the Wabash Valley Breast Cancer Survivors, advocates for early detection, education, awareness and support.

With early detection, cancer victims might be able to avoid some of Bulk’s experiences, 36 daily radiation treatments and chemotherapy once every three weeks.

“It was every day of just ‘I have cancer,’” she said.

Some of the proceeds from the carnation sale help pay for uninsured women’s mammograms that often cost a minimum of $300. Women can sign up through the organization at no cost to survivors.

Six women from the group go to Washington, D.C., yearly to attend a three-day breast-cancer conference. Women meet with their state’s senators and representatives to discuss bills that pertain to women’s health and research funding.

Money raised enables the organization to purchase prosthetics for women who have had a mastectomy due to breast cancer; coping kits, which contain literature and information on where to find wigs, how to survive chemotherapy, a stuffed bear that has “I am a survivor” embroidered on its foot; a pink pillow to keep under one’s arm after having surgery; and wigs for women who have lost their hair from cancer treatments.

Coral Cochran, survivor and founder of the Breast Cancer Survivors group, said, “When you lose your hair, it’s rather devastating. You’re depressed enough with losing part of your body and then you lose your hair.”

Cochran has been a survivor for 21 years and feels fortunate to have survived. Her survival thrust her into advocacy in 1992 when she started the local support group.

“When you first hear the word [cancer], your first thought is death,” Cochran said.

“It’s the number-two cancer killer of women. It’s the leading cancer death of women aged 34 to 55,” she said.

Cochran wore a pink shirt like the other survivors who helped paint the street pink.

“Everyone is a survivor, from the time they hear they have cancer,” Cochran said. “We know how you feel when you’re diagnosed. We know how it feels to hear you have cancer.”

Laura Followell can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or laura.followell@tribstar.com.