Breast Reconstruction Awareness day event hosted by local clinic

Breast Reconstruction Awareness day event hosted by local clinic

Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, October 20, 2026

A free information night at CR Plastic Surgery & Medical Aesthetics offered women facing breast cancer a message of reassurance: the disease is frightening, but it is largely survivable and knowing how the system works can ease the fear.

The Oct. 15 evening followed the model of Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) Day, which Toronto plastic surgeon Dr. Mitchell Brown launched in 2011 at Women’s College and Toronto General hospitals. Its purpose is to educate, empower and connect women considering reconstruction after a mastectomy. The idea has grown into an international movement, with events across Canada and in more than 30 countries.

The Campbell River event was open to survivors, women weighing their options and the family and friends supporting them. Gail Minnaar, a registered nurse with Summit Surgical, spoke about navigating the Vancouver Island Health Authority process after a diagnosis.

Minnaar, who trained in England, said her interest in the subject is personal. Her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother and other family members all had the disease. Her husband, a general surgeon, performed many breast cancer procedures before retiring.

“It is a survivable disease,” Minnaar said.

She shared statistics that an estimated 32,400 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2026, about 89 a day. About 5,400 are expected to die of it, roughly 15 a day, making the survival rate nearly 85 per cent.

By comparison, she said, about 24,000 Canadian women will die of heart attacks this year and lung cancer, not breast cancer, is the leading cause of cancer death in women.

Minnaar said the path through the Vancouver Island Health (VIHA) system usually begins with a mammogram, with ultrasound and MRI used when dense breast tissue, common in younger women, makes mammograms hard to read. She said MRI is not standard because of cost, long wait lists and limited equipment and trained radiologists.

She also said monthly self-examination still matters, as the B.C. Cancer Agency acknowledges that about 40 per cent of breast cancers treated in the province are first found that way.

If you have questions about breast cancer, please talk to your health care team.