The Adelphi Breast Cancer Hotline was
mentioned in this article about Long Island’s Fifth Annual Breast Cancer
Summit.
Originally published in Garden
City News
Hope and Innovation at Fifth Annual Breast Cancer Summit
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Bright pink ribbons, clothing and decorations have been prevalent this fall,
everywhere from shopping centers and convenience stores to NFL teams' uniforms.
But two weeks after October - the official "breast cancer awareness"
month - Long Island and metro New York organizations and
health centers joined forces at a scenic venue to explore operational synergies
and focus on patient education.Christina Galicia of Islip is a seven and a-half year survivor of breast cancer. On Friday morning, November 13, amidst an elaborate and festive setting at The Woodlands in Woodbury, she received a warm hug from one of her fellow survivors, Katrina Conway from the Village of Amityville. The two "sisters" found each other through a common thread in their battles with breast cancer and local support networks. They joined hundreds of women from the area on Friday at the Fifth Annual Breast Cancer Summit, sponsored by Long Island Plastic Surgical Group, PC. Stories of breast cancer survival were told by local women, and the ongoing fight and latest innovations in the field were highlighted by vendors and a series of presentations. The summit spans many stakeholders in breast cancer, from medical and governmental factions to the person-to-person. A keynote address was delivered by Jennifer Griffin, Fox News Channel's national security correspondent who is best known for her reporting from the Pentagon.
Noreen Bishar and Christine Mancuso of Nassau University Medical Center's breast imaging department. In 2009, a decade into a career in international journalism with Fox News, Griffin received devastating news as she was diagnosed with stage three, Triple Negative Breast Cancer. After 17 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and radiation treatments she was declared in remission. Today, when she's not breaking news from Washington, Griffin serves as an advocate for breast cancer awareness. At the annual Long Island summit, she said that fighting breast cancer is as much psychological as it is a physical fight.
Teresa Barroca, RN; Debbie Greenberg, RN; Dr. Thomas Davenport and Diane Keane, RN, of Long Island Plastic Surgical Group, P.C. "The one thing I learned is that feeling beautiful through that process is very important and may even affect the outcome of the treatment," Griffin told attendees.
Since returning to Fox News after treatments, she more often works with wounded warriors, especially amputees and those suffering from post-traumatic stress.
"Perhaps we share a bit of common ground - scars inside and out. I may look fully healed but there are triggers that take me back to that traumatic time," said Griffin.
Along with area medical centers such as Winthrop, the event featured organizations for women and their families to turn to "to help ease their journeys," as stated by Lisa Novelli, assistant to Winthrop-University Hospital's director of breast services, Dr. Frank Monteleone. She said at least 25 current Winthrop patients from their office, especially those facing surgery, were encouraged to attend this year's event. It marked the first time the Summit was held at The Woodlands, and the dining room tables set for 400 attendees were decorated with neon pink napkins and floral bouquets for the theme of breast cancer awareness. A resource that several people noted was the breast cancer hotline and support groups run Adelphi University in Garden City.
Dr. Thomas Davenport of Long Island Plastic Surgical Group (LIPSG) says Long Island has one of the highest incidences of breast cancer in the country. He said the event plays an important role in marking the progress Long Island has made in helping its residents.
"There were a lot of different organizations getting together and doing functions - some were clinical organizations and others were hospital breast centers, some were information-based. There's overlap, so what we wanted to do is get all those organizations together to see how they could work together, and have a place where people could network and also have an educational forum. Everyone can get together every year for an update on the latest information, treatment options and where the specialty is going. We also talk about things the government is doing to make breast cancer care more available and expand the treatment limits," Davenport explained.
In an interview he discussed the enhancement on Long Island of the breast specialty. When the Summit started in 2010 there were just two breast centers in the area; Winthrop- University Hospital had the first in Nassau County. LIPSG works with every hospital on Long Island. Davenport said while Winthrop is now recognized as one of the most advanced centers in the country, in the last few years more doctors have created specialized practices while other area hospitals, which are among the best in the U.S., have stepped up with dedicated breast centers.
"Winthrop's breast center was just re-certified with a 100 percent grade, perfect in every way, but they don't really toot their own horn that much. These advances make for a better field. In our practice, we have doctors who specialize in different procedures for breast cancer. Now, because of all of this advancement in specialty care, different organizations are focused on getting their care on Long Island. We only used to have a few breast cancer support groups on Long Island, and even with that almost every hospital now has one," Davenport said.
He adds that plenty of organizations on Long Island exclusively do breast cancer support, helping people to cope, while other places just do research or funding.
"They had these organizations elsewhere but now we have gone from the back to probably in the forefront. Long Island is a leader among what is available anywhere for breast cancer services," he says.
Long Island Plastic Surgical Group has been part of the breast cancer care industry's growth spur. One of its professionals, Dr. Brian Pinsky, was featured last month in Cosmetic Town Journal on techniques for breast reduction, reshaping the breast, and lifting the position of the breast on the chest wall. But Davenport says breast reconstruction is not even offered to breast cancer patients as an immediate option in 60 to 70 percent of the United States.
"In New York State we have a law stating that every single woman patient has to be offered breast reconstruction in physician's discussions. On Long Island and in New York we are very advanced with all the treatment options, doing genetic testing and prophylactic mastectomies. We really have all the advances that are not even available in other big cities," Dr. Davenport said.
Other innovations in healthcare, wellness and beauty have come up recently as well. In September Long Island Plastic Surgical Group introduced its new Garden City Deep Blue Medical Spa and its renovated location at 999 Franklin Avenue. At the time, the spa's medical director, Dr. Laurence Glickman, called the move "a natural progression in the growth of the practice."
The additions of new services are what lead attendees like Christina Galicia to the Summit. She now serves as program coordinator for "Casting for Recovery," a nonprofit that holds retreats for women at any stage of their diagnosis of breast cancer, teaching them how to fly-fish. The organization holds 56 retreats nationwide, and for the New York City, Westchester, and Long Island area, this year's retreat was held over the last weekend of September. Costs are covered in full by private donations and fundraising through the organization. Retreats take place for one weekend, highlighted by fishing at Caleb Smith State Park, with patients/survivors staying at the Hilton Garden Inn near MacArthur Airport.
"Throughout the weekend we have yoga and reiki classes, and also oncology and psycho-social nurses on staff. We handle all different issues of the breast cancer journey. The underlying thing is to teach them how to fly-fish, from casting techniques to one-on-one instruction from an experienced river guide," she said.
Galicia stood at her vendor's table, directly behind Novelli, watching as the sun beamed into the Woodlands' ballroom. She spoke about this year's weekend and in one instance, a 10-year cancer survivor paired with a woman who is pre-surgery set an especially uplifting tone. She had a similar story, with her roommate from the 2008 retreat becoming one of her dearest friends. Gailicia's experience in life and in her battle with breast cancer was ballasted with the peer support group she now represents.
"I went on the retreat seven and a half years ago after my chemotherapy and it was an amazing experience. I loved it so much that I've become an advocate. I love coming to this Summit to share my experience because the best thing for me is when I see somebody arrive on a Friday and they are scared, they're not sure what's going on in their life. Then on Sunday you see them with the joy of catching that fish and they are like 'I've got hope, I've got life.' Their fight is back - it's a transformation and I've experienced it myself. To be able to pay it forward and see all these women go through it, there's nothing better," Galicia said.
