No, not the pic of J Lo and Fonda . . . the other one!
My mother and aunt are on the front page of the Life section of the Columbus Dispatch today! I couldn't post the picture--which is adorable, and unfortunately right beside an oversized picture of J. Lo and Jane Fonda, which is not adorable in any way--but here's the article, with minor revisions to protect identities.
(For further information on this topic and a cringe-inducing account of my first mammogram, check out the rural fetish archives from December 2004.)
RACE FOR THE CURE
Sisters share a diagnosis, a struggle and a walk for hope
Friday, May 13, 2005
Eileen Dempsey
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Her older sister’s battle with breast cancer saved Becky J.
If not for Carole S’s diagnosis, J doubts that her own breast cancer would have been detected at such an early stage.
In late 2003, during an annual mammogram, J was told that she probably had a cyst in her left breast.
She returned the next day for an ultrasound and was reassured that the shadowy mass looked like a cyst.
Come back in six months for a followup mammogram, she heard.
‘‘I told them that my older sister had just been diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks earlier, and they suggested having a biopsy," said J, 55, of Suburb. ‘‘I would have waited if not for Carole’s diagnosis."
Sixteen months ago, J learned that she, too, has breast cancer.
Surgeons removed the tumor on Jan. 28, 2004, although, because her cancer differed from her sister’s, she didn’t require chemotherapy.
The siblings endured seven weeks of radiation treatments — three of them overlapping — at Major Hospital's Cancer Center.
Still fatigued, they walked together last May in the Komen Columbus Race for the Cure.
They plan to walk again this year — on Saturday — with two friends, including a nine-year survivor of breast cancer.
After three years on the Ohio State University campus, the race is returning Downtown.
The event, typically among the largest single-day gatherings Downtown, could draw 25,000 participants combined in the 5-kilometer race and 1-mile family run/walk, according to organizers.
Since its inception in 1993, it has raised more than $6 million for cancer research and education.
Last year, in a journal, J wrote about her race experience:
"The minute we started walking, neither Carole nor I thought about any aches or pains. The sight of 23,000-plus people united for one cause, now my cause, brought tears to my eyes. I looked over at my sister, and the tears were rolling down her cheeks as well."
The sisters couldn’t help noticing the names written on paper and pinned to the backs of some participants.
"There were way too many ‘in memory of’ on people’s backs," said S, 59, of Exurb. "Too many women are dying from this disease. Nobody’s family is untouched. Everybody knows somebody who has breast cancer."
One in eight women develops breast cancer.
Last year, about 40,000 women and 470 men died of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
And breast cancer represents the leading cause of cancer deaths among women 40 to 59.
Sisters battling breast cancer at the same time is unusual but not unique, said breast-health specialist Susan B.
In her seven years of helping women with breast cancer, she has met one other such pair.
Sisters or best friends with cancer diagnosed about the same time have support to offer each other, said B, a registered nurse at Grant Medical Center.
J and S attest to the idea.
"A lot of women are so alone," said S, a secretary at Huge Insurance Corp. and an aerobics instructor. "They don’t have anyone to support them through it."
J, a professional photographer and personal trainer who works from her home, wrote in her journal:
"We’ve never felt sorry for ourselves, although we certainly didn’t understand why or how this happened to us.
"We’ve been on this journey side by side and hand in hand. There’s no one I would rather have by my side through this."
(For further information on this topic and a cringe-inducing account of my first mammogram, check out the rural fetish archives from December 2004.)
RACE FOR THE CURE
Sisters share a diagnosis, a struggle and a walk for hope
Friday, May 13, 2005
Eileen Dempsey
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Her older sister’s battle with breast cancer saved Becky J.
If not for Carole S’s diagnosis, J doubts that her own breast cancer would have been detected at such an early stage.
In late 2003, during an annual mammogram, J was told that she probably had a cyst in her left breast.
She returned the next day for an ultrasound and was reassured that the shadowy mass looked like a cyst.
Come back in six months for a followup mammogram, she heard.
‘‘I told them that my older sister had just been diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks earlier, and they suggested having a biopsy," said J, 55, of Suburb. ‘‘I would have waited if not for Carole’s diagnosis."
Sixteen months ago, J learned that she, too, has breast cancer.
Surgeons removed the tumor on Jan. 28, 2004, although, because her cancer differed from her sister’s, she didn’t require chemotherapy.
The siblings endured seven weeks of radiation treatments — three of them overlapping — at Major Hospital's Cancer Center.
Still fatigued, they walked together last May in the Komen Columbus Race for the Cure.
They plan to walk again this year — on Saturday — with two friends, including a nine-year survivor of breast cancer.
After three years on the Ohio State University campus, the race is returning Downtown.
The event, typically among the largest single-day gatherings Downtown, could draw 25,000 participants combined in the 5-kilometer race and 1-mile family run/walk, according to organizers.
Since its inception in 1993, it has raised more than $6 million for cancer research and education.
Last year, in a journal, J wrote about her race experience:
"The minute we started walking, neither Carole nor I thought about any aches or pains. The sight of 23,000-plus people united for one cause, now my cause, brought tears to my eyes. I looked over at my sister, and the tears were rolling down her cheeks as well."
The sisters couldn’t help noticing the names written on paper and pinned to the backs of some participants.
"There were way too many ‘in memory of’ on people’s backs," said S, 59, of Exurb. "Too many women are dying from this disease. Nobody’s family is untouched. Everybody knows somebody who has breast cancer."
One in eight women develops breast cancer.
Last year, about 40,000 women and 470 men died of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
And breast cancer represents the leading cause of cancer deaths among women 40 to 59.
Sisters battling breast cancer at the same time is unusual but not unique, said breast-health specialist Susan B.
In her seven years of helping women with breast cancer, she has met one other such pair.
Sisters or best friends with cancer diagnosed about the same time have support to offer each other, said B, a registered nurse at Grant Medical Center.
J and S attest to the idea.
"A lot of women are so alone," said S, a secretary at Huge Insurance Corp. and an aerobics instructor. "They don’t have anyone to support them through it."
J, a professional photographer and personal trainer who works from her home, wrote in her journal:
"We’ve never felt sorry for ourselves, although we certainly didn’t understand why or how this happened to us.
"We’ve been on this journey side by side and hand in hand. There’s no one I would rather have by my side through this."
posted by lulu | 7:20 AM
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