Breast Healing Mamm Magazine Brings Breast Cancer And Other Women’s Illnesses Out Into Open
It looks like other magazines aimed at women’s health and fitness, with a celebrity’s photo on the cover and teasers to articles about relationships, nutrition and actor Billy Baldwin.
But Mamm magazine features a significant difference - it’s a publication centered on a disease that kills thousands of women every year.
Arriving in bookstores, newsstands and doctors’ offices this month, Mamm is about living with breast, ovarian and other “female” cancers. Journalist and cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee is on the first cover; inside are stories about sex after mastectomy and about cancer and worker’s rights. Also included are questions to ask your doctor.
The magazine is evidence of the shifting view of breast cancer, from a death sentence to a chronic disease women are living with. Mamm’s title is a play on words - ma’am, mammogram, mammary - connoting images of respect, nurturing and prevention all at once. Breast cancer survivors welcome the concept.
“How wonderful,” said Clare McKenzie, 55, of Austin, a survivor of four years. “I would be interested in (reading about) the research that’s going on, new treatment options. It’s part of my life. It’s not something I can leave behind.”
Cedar Park resident Judy Winget, a survivor of two years, agreed.
“I want to read more about it. I want to hear about other women who’ve had it and how they’re coping,” said Winget, 49. “I would definitely be interested in something like that. I just want to stay healthy.”
The New York-based magazine is the brainchild of Megan Whiting, 31, whose brother founded POZ magazine, aimed at the HIV-infected population, three years ago.
“With POZ, without having done research, we knew people weren’t getting the information they needed (about HIV and AIDS),” Whiting said.
“They needed to learn about other people that were going through a similar struggle. They needed to learn all of their treatment options. We just saw a similar thing happening in the breast cancer community.”
The “community” of women living with breast cancer is a large one. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 180,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed in 1997.
For Whiting, whose grandmother died of breast cancer, the cancer statistics translate into a population of women hungry for inspirational stories about coping and up-to-the-minute medical information.
Whiting wanted to present a thorough view of the breast cancer world - clinical trials of experimental drugs, holistic therapies, health insurance hassles. She wanted to promote a lively conversation in print in which women gripe about the loss of good looks, and a man describes his reaction when his girlfriend lost her breasts.
For three-year survivor Susan Ghertner, 48, of Austin, the magazine, though appealing, is the byproduct of a huge problem.
“It makes me sad to think that breast cancer is of such epidemic proportions we have to have a magazine, that there would be enough of a readership,” she said.
“I think the magazine would be very useful, but isn’t that disappointing?”
Initial circulation is 70,000, with copies available on newsstands for $2.95 and through free distribution at participating clinics, physicians’ offices, community organizations, social agencies and health-care facilities.
xxxx To get a subscription to Mamm, call 1-888-901-6266 or write the magazine at 349 W. 12th St., New York, N.Y. 10014. A one-year subscription six issues costs $12.95. The magazine will also be available at some clinics and physicians’ offices in addition to newsstands, where the cover price is $2.95. In Spokane, Mamm will be available at B. Dalton Bookseller. The American Cancer Society also has information and programs for people with breast cancer. The national number is 1-800-227-2345; the Spokane office of the American Cancer Society can be reached at 326-5802.