Posted on: Thursday, September 30, 2004
HEALTH
Cancer survivors build support with artwork
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
The dozen women dabbed, painted and glued decorations onto the handmade birdhouses, using flowers, ribbons and their imagination to call attention to preventing breast cancer through early detection of the disease.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser Wendy Tamashiro, a Kahala resident, has been in the group only about a year but finds the meetings an important reminder of the power of survivors.
"They're so many of us," she said. "I think it's wonderful to have breast cancer awareness."
The members painted daisies, spring flowers, an angel, positive messages and lots of pink ribbons, the emblem of breast cancer awareness. One member spelled out "Kuakini Support Group" in baby-bracelet-style beads.
Clinical nurse specialist Lori Kaneshige serves as facilitator of the group, which met yesterday in a conference room at Kuakini Medical Center to decorate the birdhouses. At age 36, Kaneshige is also one of the youngest breast-cancer survivors in the group that normally meets monthly.
"We've never done an art project before," Kaneshige said. The group normally hears from speakers about latest treatments for cancer, diet tips or other programs geared to keeping healthy.
She said the birdhouses gave members "something for the mind and spirit as opposed to for the body."
The decorated houses will be displayed throughout Kuakini during October, as part of the medical center's observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Virginia Temaeva, a longtime Waikiki resident, painted her house in clear, simple strokes of red and yellow on white.
"I'm a 10-year survivor," Temaeva said. She enjoys the support group as a chance to get together with other survivors, learn new things and help one another.
Temaeva, 79, said the group helps those who have dealt with the disease for years as well as those who are newly diagnosed. "The older ones encourage the younger ones not to worry too much," she said."Friends and family help 100 percent."
Kuakini painter Russell Tomishima donated his time to build the three styles of birdhouses after Kaneshige told him about the idea for the project. He tackled the challenge after some initial research indicated a need for ventilation, floor drainage and a removable roof to make them bird-friendly.
Once he had a plan, he said building them only took about seven hours. "It's not rocket science," he said modestly. Once the women went to work, he was impressed with the results.
"It's really amazing how everybody's so creative," he said. They're all different."
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
For these women, the gathering represented more than just an art project: It's a message they are living as members of the Kuakini Breast Cancer Education and Support Group.
Doreen Pawid, left, a member of the Kuakini Medical Center's Breast Cancer Education Support Group, fits a roof to her birdhouse. The medical center will display birdhouses built by the group's members in October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
