The Adelphi Breast Cancer Hotline was
mentioned in this article about Long Island’s Fifth Annual Breast Cancer
Summit.
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.
