Sunnyvale Community Services executive director Nancy Tivol has been cancer-free for two years.
By Cristy Shauck
According to the American Cancer Society, every woman is at risk of developing breast cancer. Nationwide, the American Cancer Society predicts that 184,300 women--more than the combined population of Sunnyvale and Cupertino--will be diagnosed in 1996 with new cases of invasive breast cancer.
The disease will kill 44,300 women this year alone.
Ten years ago, Sunnyvale resident Mary Hill Gleason missed a mammogram because she was out of town. The rescheduled date was six months away, but she happened to visit a doctor for something else. When she mentioned her uneasiness about missing her appointment, he examined her and found a lump--a lump which Gleason herself could not feel.
A mammogram confirmed that she did indeed have a lump; a biopsy indicated cancer.
Within a week, she had undergone a mastectomy. As a preventive measure, her remaining breast was later removed, but not before cancer cells had begun forming, a second biopsy revealed.
Representatives of the American Cancer Society (ACS) visited Gleason after surgery to offer support.
"They were very helpful," Gleason says. The ACS tries to match up volunteers of the same age and similar experience to help a woman adjust to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Decked out in her new swimsuit during a 1993 Hawaiian vacation, Nancy Tivol, 50, discovered a lump while applying lotion to avoid soaking up too much sun.
Carla Cassani, a surgeon at Sunnyvale Medical Center, gave Tivol the diagnosis: cancer.
"I remember vividly when she told me," recalls Tivol, who is director of the nonprofit Sunnyvale Community Services. "It changes your whole perspective on life. Your mortality and vulnerability come up immediately and hit you in the face."
After lengthy consultations with Cassani and oncologist Edmund Tai, who also practices at Sunnyvale Medical Center, Tivol underwent a lumpectomy in September, then radiation and chemotherapy in October.
"Luckily I got a lot of information and advice from the ACS. It's one thing to get support from people who have had breast cancer before. That's different from getting information and medical facts," says Tivol, who became a volunteer and is now president of the Sunnyvale unit of the ACS.
Tivol is also grateful to Tai for bluntly answering questions friends and family asked: "What did you do? What could have caused this?"
"He said, 'We don't know what causes this, so don't try to second-guess,' " she says. "I'd been getting mammograms every six months, so I was doing everything right. It was a fast-growing tumor that wasn't there six months before."
The mother of two sons, 19 and 25, Tivol must practice a vigilant regimen for the rest of her life. "It can come back at any time. All I can do is keep myself as fit and strong as possible. But I know deep down that no matter what I do, it can still come back."
Early detection is the key to survival, asserts Cupertino resident Maria Segal, 38, a San Jose Junior League member who volunteered for Smart Woman, the American Cancer Society's breast cancer education project.
Last fall, the league provided $15,000 to the cause, and 10 members received professional training to teach women about lifesaving practices for detecting breast cancer early.
Project members chose five corporations and 20 community groups to address, including Hewlett Packard, the Fairmont Hotel, Sony, the Georgia Travis Center, and Sacred Heart Community Services. Segal has made presentations to the Junior League itself and Stevens Creek Elementary School. She will speak to Stanford University's Delta Gamma Sorority in May.
Smart Woman volunteers present a slide program documenting the latest breast cancer information, including alarming statistics, and resources available through the American Cancer Society. They also ask the audience to fill out a pre- and post-presentation questionnaire to provide feedback for future education projects, and they provide breast models that allow people to feel the difference between normal tissue and a suspicious lump.
As an early detection strategy, the American Cancer Society recommends monthly breast self-examination and a mammogram and a professional clinical breast exam regularly.
Options now available after detection include biopsy, lumpectomy (in which only the tumor mass is removed), mastectomy and reconstruction.
"If caught early enough, breast cancer is 100 percent curable. That's why we are speaking to women from college age to retirement age. You can't start taking care of yourself too early," Segal says.
"Women 30 to 50 are in the busiest time of our lives," Segal, a Cornish and Carey Realtor, continues. "It's important to pay attention to our own health. We need to stop and take care of ourselves. The life you save may be your own."
The American Cancer Society and the Junior League of San Jose will cosponsor A Smart Woman's Breast Health Forum at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose June 4. Actress Ann Jillian, a three-time Emmy nominee and Golden Globe winner, will share her experience and recovery from breast cancer in her inspirational presentation, "The Winner in You." Jillian became a mother after breast cancer surgery.
The health fair begins at 11 a.m.; lunch will be served at noon. The $35 cost includes admission to a health fair at 11 a.m. and a luncheon served at noon. For more information, contact Rose Simmons at the American Cancer Society, 287-5973, ext. 110.
The facts on breast cancer
* One out of eight women will develop breast cancer by age 90.
* It's the leading cause of death for women 40-55.
* In 1996 alone, 184, 300 new diagnoses will occur; 44, 300 women will die.
* Prevalent risk factors include increasing age, family or personal history of breast cancer or benign breast disease and reproductive history. Additional factors include white race, high socioeconomic status and exposure to ionizing radiation.
* If diagnosed at a local stage, a woman has a 96 percent chance of survival. Unfortunately, only 58 percent of cancers are diagnosed at this stage.
--From Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 1996, by the American Cancer Society
* Marin County has the highest incidence of breast cancer in the world; the San Francisco Bay Area is second.
--Smart Woman, American Cancer Society and Junior League of San Jose
* Screening guidelines for asymptomatic (healthy) women from the American Cancer Society:
Age 20-29: Monthly breast self-exam; clinical breast exam every three years.
Age 40-49: Monthly breast self-exam, annual clinical breast exam, mammography every 1 to 2 years, baseline mammogram by age 40.
Age 50 and up: Monthly breast-self-exam, annual clinical breast exam, annual mammogram.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 29, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.