Breast cancer awareness more important than ever during this pandemic

It was an ordinary day in February 2009, when I went for my annual physical and my long-time physician told me he felt a lump in my right breast.

My life changed forever.

First the unrelenting fear, followed by surgery, chemotherapy, hair loss and the humbling realization that, yes, I had cancer.

But I had been spared the fate of the 40,170 women who died that same year from breast cancer.

We often refer to women like me as “warriors.” But I was never at ease with that metaphor. I had nothing to do with it.

I survived because as my mother would say:

“It wasn’t my time,” and I had medical insurance that allowed me to get the treatment I needed.

A decade earlier, I had lost a niece to this silent killer.

Asuntha was in the prime of her life, raising two young daughters, when the disease took her.

I didn’t think of her as losing a battle but as being struck down by a medical system that served some — but not all.

It is that realization that has kept Dr. Sandy Goldberg, a 20-year breast cancer survivor and founder of A Silver Lining Foundation, fully committed to providing screening and diagnostic testing to women (and men) in need.

For 18 years, A Silver Lining Foundation has provided these services to more than 28,000 women who had nowhere else to turn.

The need for these potentially life-saving services has grown dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Initially, some of the hospitals that partner with Goldberg’s foundation advised her that “out of an abundance of caution” they would temporarily stop accepting women for screening mammograms.

But the majority of the partner hospitals were still doing diagnostic testing, including biopsies, to rule out breast cancer.

“We really had to add a completely different category of individuals who are coming to us for help,” Goldberg told me.

“These are people who, prior to COVID-19, had jobs and health insurance and woke up one morning and discovered they had neither,” she said.

“Many were already scheduled for testing and in particular, biopsies. Of course, we stepped in since our philosophy is we turn no one away. No one. So we started funding the diagnostic testing for these women and men, and in one month alone we funded six biopsies for women in this category, and three of them had breast cancer,” Goldberg told me.

Even if you have a five-star-rated health insurance plan, the time between diagnostic testing and being told you have breast cancer is torturous.

It is 10 times worse when you don’t have health insurance.

“What is unique about A Silver Lining Foundation is the fact that when someone is diagnosed through our foundation, these women are not abandoned,” Goldberg said.

“Our partner hospitals and their navigators work vigorously to place individuals into funded programs where they will receive care for free,” she said.

In August, there were about 400 women waiting for assistance, but thanks to three generous donors who provided matching grants that supported the organization’s virtual gala, that number has been whittled down to roughly 160.

Still, the need is always there.

Every year, I go for my annual mammogram knowing that this could be the year that something shows up.

I’m not alone in facing this fear.

In August, the sisterhood lost Toya Thompson-Thomas, a caring and tireless advocate for breast cancer survivors.

Her death followed closely that of Cynthia Duncan, her best friend and my mentor.

It is still hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that these women were cancer free for decades before the disease roared back.

“I’m 20 years plus, and that previous diagnosis never goes away. The question is: How do you live your life?” Goldberg asked.

“You can’t live your life in fear that it is going to come back. You have to be vigilant in terms of testing and in terms of behavior,” Goldberg said.

“From the donations we received in memory of Toya Thompson-Thomas, 37 women will now receive access to a cost-free screening mammogram.”

“That’s her legacy,” she said.

To make a donation, go to www.asilverliningfoundation.org.