November 13th 2023.
Nina Parker is leading the charge to bring awareness to the disproportionate impact of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) on Black women. As a personal advocate for TNBC, Parker's mother successfully battled the disease in 2016. Through her research to help her mother, Parker found that Black women faced double the risk of being diagnosed with the illness.
This journey inspired Parker to join forces with Merck in their Uncovering TNBC Initiative. She now uses her platform to spread knowledge and uplift the stories of TNBC survivors.
"The best thing that I felt that I could do is arm myself with information," Parker shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE. "More often than not you start to hear stories about survivors and how you can be supportive. I always feel better when I have a wealth of information as opposed to none. Organizations like this exist to make people feel like you have an advocate."
Through Parker's involvement with Uncovering TNBC, she was able to connect with additional survivors, and she hopes their stories will create hope for others facing the illness. She strongly believes that, by becoming informed and having access to support, those at risk can reduce their fear of breast cancer and take steps to prevent it.
"This is really just about knowledge, and talking about how TNBC affects Black women specifically," Parker said. "In working with Merck, I was able to sit down and talk to three wonderful women who have been impacted by it. They were on the frontlines of dealing with these, and I was able to learn gain so much information from them and Merck having this program."
Parker went on to emphasize that, while breast cancer can be scary, it is beatable and preventable when one feels empowered to speak up for their health. She encourages Black women to have open conversations with their medical care providers to make sure they are armed with the right resources to understand their health and take control of it.
"It's all about telling you how to have these conversations with your doctors, and to know your next steps, it's really all there," Parker said. "What we found is it is disproportionate for information, and that is why the Uncovering TNBC website is so beneficial, because it exists to be a resource. So when you have this information, you are able to be a better advocate for yourself and for your body."
Uncovering TNBC is a joint mission to reduce the disparity in cancer diagnoses for Black women, while also providing support to those who need it. Parker stresses that it's important for Black women to view this relationship with their medical care providers as a partnership.
"This is a partnership, this is someone who is here to help you," Parker said. "And I think with a lot of Black women in healthcare there's this feeling of an authoritative figure who is telling you what to do. But there's an opportunity to have these conversations, and any doctor that wants to help you should be open to explaining something if you have a concern. And if you feel like you're being shut down, just know that there's information and advocacy groups, even listed on the website, that can help you figure out other steps."
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