Double mastectomy survivors share stories of breast cancer
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
People hold hands and share stories of those affected by cancer at an event hosted by the Salish Kootenai College Center for Prevention and Wellness.
Megan Strickland
After learning her chance of getting cancer was 90 percent, Dyan Fiorentino opted to undergo a preventative double mastectomy.
Megan Strickland
Peggy Sloan is a breast cancer survivor.
Megan Strickland
Peggy Sloan is a breast cancer survivor.
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LAKE COUNTY – The tide of pink that washed over the nation slowly faded out as the days of October dwindled to an end, but two double-mastectomy survivors from Mission Valley are proof that breast cancer is a constant threat, every day of the year.
It was April of 2012 when Peggy Sloan, manager of Three Wolves Deli at Salish Kootenai College, got hit across the chest accidentally by a young cafeteria worker.
The pain from the hit didn’t go away, so Sloan went to a doctor who asked her when she had last had a mammogram.
“I said ‘I’ll do it in June again,’” Sloan told a crowd gathered at a talk about breast cancer hosted by the SKC Center for Prevention and Wellness last month. Doctors told Sloan it would be best if she did a mammogram sooner.
“I went in and they did find a spot,” Sloan said. “From then on it just got crazy. It was like a month and a half of tests and more tests and different doctors. It ended up I had breast cancer in both breasts but two different kinds of cancer, so three days before my (scheduled) surgery they did a double mastectomy.”
Sloan is now cancer free.
“It changes your life, but life goes on,” Sloan said. “A lot of people said ‘Aren’t you mad about this? Aren’t you upset?’ Yeah I’m upset, but what can I do about it. I had the cancer. I dealt with it, and life goes on. Here I am.”
Sloan encouraged women to get a yearly mammogram, a practice that may have prevented cancer in fellow Mission Valley resident Dyan Fiorentino.
“I’ve known all my life that I had a chance of breast cancer,” Fiorentino said. “My grandmother died at a very young age of cancer, and when my older sister turned 35 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. So it was always there and I always knew I needed to have mammograms, but I put them off and put them off and it wasn’t until I went to the first wellness fair three years ago that I got it into my mind that I needed to do this.”
SKC’s Center for Prevention and Wellness hosts a Women 4 Wellness Health Fair each year that provides free screenings for breast cancer and other diseases. CPW Director Niki Graham said each year the fair helps diagnose women with breast cancer.
“When Dyan approached me, she said, ‘Women 4 Wellness saved my life,’” Graham said.
Fiorentino had a mammogram each year after her first Women 4 Wellness health fair. In May, doctors found a lump that was confirmed by an ultrasound, but had disappeared by the time Fiorentino was scheduled to have it biopsied.
“It was a big relief, but the cancer doctor decided we should do genetic testing,” Fiorentino said. “Unfortunately for me, I was positive. They said my chance of getting cancer was 90 percent. I could live with 40 or 50 percent, but 90 percent was just too much. Every 90 days I was going to be wondering ‘is this the time?’ They told me I would have to visit the doctor every three months.”
Fiorentino knew from watching her sister beat breast cancer, only to die of brain cancer more than a decade later, that having one form of the disease meant a higher chance of getting another form of it later. Her husband, Mark, had also battled melanoma. Fiorentino chose to undergo a preventative double mastectomy.
“It’s been eight weeks, and I’m still in a little bit of pain, but I know it was the best choice for me and my family,” Fiorentino said. “I know I’m going to be here for many years. My chance of getting cancer is now four percent.”
Fiorentino encouraged women, especially the uninsured, to take advantage of the wellness fair.
Eleanor Vizcarra, who co-chairs the event, said women should attend the fair, and be proactive about their health all year long.
“Be your own health advocate,” Vizcarra said. “You know your own body better than anyone else.”
Graham said the pink of October can sometimes overshadow awareness for other cancers.
“One thing I’ve found out this month is that with all the pink, people with other cancers sometimes feel left out,” Graham said. “It’s not just about awareness for breast cancer. It’s about awareness for all cancer.”
The CPW is selling T-shirts that benefit the Women 4 Wellness Fair. The pink T-shirts for men and women include a blank space underneath “I’m fighting for” text, so people can dedicate their shirts to someone. The cost is $20.
There are also other free resources available in the community.
St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan has offered free mammogram services to qualified women for the past decade through the generosity of the St. Luke Foundation.
To qualify, women must be uninsured, more than 40 years of age, have no history of breast cancer or implants and live in the area served by the healthcare network.
