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| In celebration of survivors… |
|
EARLY
DETECTION SAVES LIVES
|
| "After
I was diagnosed, I cried a lot. My family all sat and cried with me. But
I am very grateful. Only for that van or I wouldn't be here today. The
people on the van were wonderful with me. I make sure to go again every
year." Rosemary Battista, 63 |
… mother of four whose husband died of lung cancer after 31 years of marriage. Six months after her husband died, Rosemary lost her health insurance. She was caring for her elderly mother, and thus was able to take only a part-time job that lacked health benefits. In 1998, Rosemary made an appointment for a free mammogram at an AICF van site on Long Island. The radiologist discovered a cyst on her right breast and, six months later, a malignant, stage I breast cancer on her left breast. After a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, Rosemary is, in her daughter's words, "doing great and feeling wonderful."
"Everybody at work goes to the van. Some women are ashamed, afraid that others will see them going in for their test. I know some who waited, even when they had lumps, and then it was too late - they died. I want to tell the younger ladies not to be ashamed. It's your life. If you want to see your children grow, if you want to do the things you've always dreamed of doing, you have to go and get screened."
Costantina Diaz, 56…mother and grandmother who is originally from Panama. She works on a per diem basis as a Spanish translator at the Supreme Court in the Bronx. She does not have health insurance. Constantina had never had a mammogram before when co-workers urged her to make an appointment at the AICF van parked outside the Bronx Supreme Court in October 1999. She had seen two colleagues die of breast cancer, and she was concerned. Her mammogram revealed a lump the size of a pinhead that proved positive for cancer. She had a lumpectomy and is now taking tamoxifen to prevent a recurrence.
"I have eight grandchildren. During my treatment, more than one person told me that they couldn't believe my cancer was picked up at such an early stage -- the radiologist who read my mammogram was that good. I am indebted. You know how some people go through life wishing and hoping they will win the lottery? Well I feel like I have already won. The people who are donating the money for this free screening deserve a round of applause. I don't think they realize the lives they are saving."
Joan Palmer, 64
…retired, divorced mother of three grown daughters. She has no health insurance and, before being screened at an AICF site in1999, had never had a mammogram. Earlier that year, she had tried to get a mammogram at a mobile site sponsored by a local congressman, but the $100 charge made her think twice. Then, the coordinator of the congressman's site told her about the AICF, and Joan made an appointment right away. When a mammogram revealed microcalcifications, she was referred to a specialist for magnification views and stereotactic biopsy. The biopsy revealed in-situ carcinoma, a very early detection of breast cancer. Joan had a lumpectomy and, in her own words, is "feeling fantastic and ready to help others."