COQUILLE — It could be just a pair of pants, a purse, maybe even a skirt that someone buys at Bree’s Upscale Resale clothing store. But the sale could help save a woman’s life.

Dramatic? Maybe. But the cure rate for catching and treating breast cancer early is 95 percent, said Renee Johnson, program manager for the Coos County Health Department’s breast and cervical prevention program.

Ninety-five percent.

Bree’s helps women get the necessary exams to diagnose breast cancer. The resale shop, with locations in Coquille, Brookings/Harbor and Bandon, uses the money raised through sales to cover breast exam and mammogram expenses, said Jennie Curran, manager at the Coquille shop. The first Bree store opened in Bandon around 1997. Cathy Pennington opened the shop as a way to raise money and awareness after her 24-year-old daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. The goal was, and is, to encourage women to do regular exams and try to catch the cancer early.

The National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society expect in 2008 there will be 182,460 new cases of breast cancer nationwide. In Oregon statistically there will be 2,430 new cases of breast cancer for 2008, according to the American Cancer Society. Between 2000 and 2004, Coos County was ranked 18th in the state in breast cancer rates.

Currently, the county’s Breast and Cervical Cancer program provides breast exams, cervical exams (including a pap smear) and a mammogram for women age 40 and older — if they meet income, citizenship and other requirements.

Johnson said the resale shop supplements the county’s program. But there isn’t a program for women younger than 40, she said. Bree’s will help cover some of the costs for these women. A breast exam at the health department’s clinic can cost as much as $56. The cost can be higher if a woman is going to a private provider — if she has a provider.

It may not sound like a lot, and Johnson said a price really can’t be put on breast health. But, she said, many women are making health choices based on the costs.

“They are choosing to put food on the table, then take care of their health,” Johnson said. “But they need to take care of their health to take care of their children.”

In 2006, the health department’s breast cancer program identified three women with breast cancer, according to the Coos County Public Health Annual Report for 2007.

Curran said Bree’s works with South Coast Radiology to help women get breast exams and mammograms. The store also works with the health department to supply vinyl shower cards that show a woman how to do a self-breast exam.

Although the shop provides funds for health services, it has taken on another role for women dealing with breast cancer. Curran said Bree’s provides literature and contact information for women who have been diagnosed with cancer. Much of the literature can be found in a quiet nook at the clothing store. The spot provides women a place to try on a mastectomy bra, but they also can talk about breast cancer, ask questions and read literature.

That information can help a woman make choices about their treatment that is right for them, she said.

“When you meet with your doctor, you’re not just sitting there, and you can ask questions,” Curran said.

Bree’s also provides free mastectomy bras and prosthesises to women who need them, she said. Wigs and scarves are available to women undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

And the store’s staff can help women through trying circumstances. Curran recently worked with a woman, who had a double mastectomy. She needed to find a bra and clothing that wouldn’t irritate the breast area, which was retaining some fluid.

She has even searched the western seaboard to find lingerie for another woman who had undergone a mastectomy. 

“I couldn’t find any,” she said, adding that sometimes is the case. “But I will try every place first.”