Bring.Your.Brave., a free event at the Martin Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Jan. 30, features the inspiring stories of local women who have been affected by breast and ovarian cancer – all with the goal of saving lives.
Mammograms save lives, but women don’t always take the time to schedule a screening. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recruited support from Ballad Health last fall to collect and record the stories of eight local women as a way to educate and help families discuss the risks of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
“Our storytelling team was asked to find women willing to spend an entire weekend sharing and recording their emotional and inspiring stories to help CDC create these videos to help educate rural women about the importance of being screened,” says Deborah Lowery, Ballad Health’s Director of Communications, Storytelling.
“Each woman was so passionate about sharing their story to make a difference. We know that sharing stories is one of the most powerful ways to encourage action. So we were excited to work with CDC and StoryCollab to bring this project to life.
“We’re also honored to help host this event for families, friends, providers and the community to encourage women to be screened, to have genetic testing if cancer runs in their family and to look for symptoms that could be cancer.”
“Each woman was so passionate about sharing their story to make a difference. We know that sharing stories is one of the most powerful ways to encourage action.”
The videos will be presented for the first time at the “Bring.Your.Brave.” event. In support of CDC’s efforts, Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health, and ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland will open the event and the eight featured storytellers will take part in a Q&A session after the viewing.
Ballad Health will have a table in the lobby where people can get more information on breast and ovarian cancer and sign up for a mammogram appointment.
StoryCollab is a new organization under the umbrella of the ETSU Research Corporation and produces first-person narratives. Allison Myers of StoryCollab, who will moderate the event, said producing the videos while getting to know the eight women was an emotional experience.
“People are willing to share really vulnerable stories with total strangers in our workshops and something kind of magical happens,” Myers says. “It was very emotional. It was very powerful.”
One of the women featured in the videos is Joey Thompson, a Ballad Health team member. She saw posters encouraging women to have mammograms in the ob/gyn exam room during a post-birth appointment. It reminded her of her grandmother who died of breast cancer.
Joey was 40 and decided to get a mammogram. When she did, they found breast cancer. She has had seven surgeries after her diagnosis.
“When they told me I had breast cancer, the only thing I thought was ‘What’s going to happen to my kids,’ and if this was something I was going to pass on to them,” Joey says.
Subsequent genetic testing proved negative, but that hasn’t stopped Joey from stressing the importance of having mammograms to her daughters, encouraging them to begin at age 30.
When, where
The event, sponsored by the CDC and supported by Ballad Health, is set for Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m. at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts’ Powell Recital Hall, located at 1320 W. State of Franklin Road in Johnson City. Parking will be available in the ETSU garage across the street.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Popcorn and drinks will be served.
Reserve your seat
Admission to Bring.Your.Brave is free but seating is limited. Please register at https://etsu-6425857.hs-sites.com/film-screening-registration by Friday, Jan. 26. For more information, contact Allison Myers at Recruitment@balladhealth.org or 480.296.3917.
