October 13, 2022 • 38 mins
This month on the Baroness Podcast, we celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We share survivor stories within our RCBC Family. How can we find support, lead the change and help spread the word about early detection to save lives? Dr. Montalto, Dean of Health Sciences, and Patrice Fields, RCBC Accountant Analyst, inspire us with their cancer journey and ways to fight the unknown and live as survivors.
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Unknown (00:00):
Okay. Welcome to Rowan College of Burlington County's
(00:03):
Baroness Podcast. I'm Dr. BrookeMailhiot, program chair and
assistant professor of ourentertainment technologies
department. I'm a co chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
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connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women. If you want to
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
October is Breast CancerAwareness Month. And we have two
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members of the rcbc family.Joining us today to talk about
their breast cancer journey. Wehave Dr. Karen Montalto Dean of
Health Sciences and the nursingprogram director and Patrice
Fields, an accountant andanalyst here at rcbc. Welcome,
ladies, thank you so much forbeing here to talk about this
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very special topic.
Thank you for having Thank youfor having
me. I just wanted to go oversome quick stats that I found
about breast cancer. And, youknow, we actually talked right
before we started recording andevery single person that is
here, including our engineer,that breast cancer has had an
impact in their life. And in2022, it's estimated among women
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in the US, there will be 287,850new cases of invasive breast
cancer 51,400 new cases ofductal carcinoma and 43,250
breast cancer deaths. When youhear those numbers, and you two
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are survivors, and you'resitting here, what are those
numbers? What is that the firstthing that comes to your mind,
Dr. Montalto
it's just amazing to me that aslong as we've been working on
cures for breast cancer, that,that we're still kind of where
we have been for a long time.And I know we've gotten a little
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better at diagnosing andtargeting treatments. But I
still don't see a lot of changefrom the experience that I went
through. That's been over 25years ago.
And Patrice this month, you'recelebrating five years. cancer
free. So I need to give a roundof applause. I mean, cancer
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Versary amazing for you. Can youshare with us a small story of
your journey.
It started in just as a normalmammography. And it ended up
being breast cancer, which was atotal shock to me. I was not
expecting them to say that I hadhad an ultrasound before. And
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they had extra test. And I justthought it was going to be
routine. But it was not. It wasbreast cancer.
And what would you tell womenwho are afraid? You know, so
many women are afraid to getchecked to go get a mammography?
What What, what are your, youknow, what would you tell those
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women,
early detection can save yourlife? And that's what you need,
you have to go get checked, evenif you're afraid I was afraid. I
think everyone is afraid, butthey can save your life. And you
must save your life.
And what's interesting about Dr.montado story you said, you know
early detection. You were veryyoung. Yes. When you received
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your diagnosis. So can you shareyour story with us which was so
powerful, because you're goingthrough so many different things
in your life at that time.
I routinely did monthly selfbreast exams because my mother
had breast cancer when she wasfairly young. I was actually
trying to get pregnant at thetime and and had done a
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pregnancy test and and it waspositive. But at the same time I
found a lump in my breast and mygeneral practitioner just said
oh, it's probably a blocked milkduct and I kind of went with
that because I never thoughtthat it would be cancer that
young
and those of us that you knowfeel maybe a lump or we're not
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sure what would you say to thosewomen to go get checked?
Absolutely anything that youfeel you should go get checked
the I know people have cysticbreast disease and often their
doctors will say well if youfeel lumps that's probably what
it is. Never go with what'sprobably always get it checked
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out. Always go and and get aprofessional opinion. And I'm
just so happy Copy that I did. Ididn't. If I had just taken the
advice of my generalpractitioner, I wouldn't be here
today.
So tell us, what did you afteryou had this diagnosis, and you
weren't taking the first go ofwhat the doctor said, what made
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you say, I need to go get asecond opinion. And then what
transpired from there, I went
almost right away to my OBdoctor. And he was, it was an
older doctor that had a lot ofexperience. And when he felt my
breast, he said, No, this doesnot feel normal to me. And, you
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know, and I, and I was thinkingthat, you know, in the back of
my mind, I kept thinking, youknow, I had two other children.
I didn't have anything that feltlike this, you know, in my
breast then. So. So as soon ashe said that, to me, I, I went
for a biopsy of the lump,
Patrice, when you found out thatyou had breast cancer, who was
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there as your support system,because we all need a support
system to be with us. And Ithink that's one of the things
people look for that you, wedon't realize that we can't do
it alone. It takes a village,who was that support system for
you,
um, my mother, and my sister,and I had friends, and they all
helped. My mother had breastcancer in 2000. So she also knew
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the routine and what to expect.But praise God, we didn't have
the gene, which is even moreserious. If you have bracket one
or bracket to Gene, we did nothave that.
I actually, you know, andspeaking of the braca, one and
braca, two, and we talked aboutbreast cancer in this room, my
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mother had inflammatory breastcancer, and then my mother's
mother also had breast cancer.So I recently went through the
brockagh testing and knock onwood, I do not have the gene.
For those of us that don'tunderstand braca one and braca.
Two, I'm going to ask Dr.Montalto, since she's the out of
all of us, he or she is themedical professional, would you
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be able to explain what thatterminology were, we're talking
about the braca one and braca.Two, for those of the listeners
that don't know,
I didn't realize there'd be atest today. You know, in all of
the advances that we've had in,in breast cancer research,
certainly one of the things theyfocused on a lot are determining
genetic markers, that, that,that tell us that you have a
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higher propensity to have breastcancer in the future. And the,
the genes that you'rereferencing are actually linked
more towards Europeanpopulations and, and certain
areas. So there are othergenetic markers that they also
test for, if you do go in forfor testing, to see if you have
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have specific genetic markers.And for example, in my family,
we have, we have a high degreeof cancer, not not all breast
cancer, but we do have, myfather died of cancer and my
brother died of cancer, I havean uncle who died of cancer. So
I when I went in for testing forbraca, one and two, I didn't
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have it, but but my doctor didtell me that I have other
genetic markers that lead to ahigher degree of cancer within
your family. So so it is the youknow, it is a precaution we do
do testing for those two, twogenes, certainly, but but I
think a high degree of peoplewho have cancer in their family
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don't have those genes, but itdoesn't necessarily I guess,
mean that okay, you're you'regood, you're free,
you're not right, you're notcancer free, you're just have
this one area of right of cancerthat you don't have those
markers. But I
would say that given you knowyour history and patricius
history, if you have if you havechildren, then they should also
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go and get tested and make surethat you know they have routine
breast exams and not not justyour female children, but your
male children as well.
And what I love Patrice aboutwhy we are here today, you kind
of influenced this, because yousend an email to our co chair of
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our women's advocacy groupasking if there was a survivor
group of breast cancer survivorgroup, and we were like, Oh, my
God, this is such an amazingthing. I didn't think about
that. And you brought this tothe forefront. So I definitely
want to say thank you for, youknow, sending that email because
if it wasn't for you, wewouldn't be here today talking
about such this important topic.And what do you feel that
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survivors need? Because I thinkthere is a need and that's why
you sent that email. So what isthat need for you?
I think that it needs to bediscussed because each person
has a different journey. And allcancer is not the same. You may
have breast cancer, but it isdifferent in each person. So to
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get it out and talk about yourfears, every time I go to get my
checkup, I'm afraid it nevergoes away. And you'll need to
talk about it. I think peopleneed to say out loud, that I'm
afraid.
Have you connected with otherrcbc family members? And has
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that brought you support?
I've talked to a couple ofladies that have breast cancer
before me, and we do talk aboutour journey. They listened to me
and I listened to them. And theygive me other advice about
survival. And they helped me tokind of relax a little bit
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before I go into all the testswhere each year sure it's so
nerve wracking. Yeah, yes, nervewracking, and it's waiting for
the doctor to come in to say,you're okay or you're not okay.
And it's, it's never goes awaythat fear.
It doesn't go away. And I wasn'tme, you know, my mother had
(11:10):
breast cancer, but I actually ama survivor of thyroid cancer.
And again, same feeling of thatfear all day, every six months,
you get your blood work, you getyour ultrasound you get, and
you're like, Oh, my, you know,is it clear? Is it and I think
we all have that fear. And I'msure Dr. Montalto you have that
fear. And you also have, youknow, daughters, and children
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have that fear. How do you sharethat with them and your
students?
Well, first, I recently, withinthe last year, when I went for
my checkup, I Well, I had aradical mastectomy. Because at
the time, I couldn't have theconservative treatment that
really, you know, most likely isis recommended. But But at my
(11:54):
last checkup, the doctor came inafterwards and said, Well, we
found something. And my thoughtwas, it just can't be happening
again. But I agree with Patricethat like every ache and pain,
you think, okay, it's cancer,it's got to be cancer, right?
So, but I never expected it tobe in my breast again. So
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thankfully, it's, it's we'rewatching and waiting right now.
But I had to go through, youknow, the doctor sitting with me
and saying that, well, if thiswere my family member, I you
know, so you have to have moretesting, so an MRI and an
ultrasound, and then I had abiopsy. And I have to tell you
that for my first biopsy, I wasknocked out. So, you know, that
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was fine. But for this one, ityou know, I wasn't knocked out,
it was a suction biopsy, and itit was absolutely horrible. You
hear you know, so Patrice isnodding your head. So I'm
thinking this, this is what youhad, you hear the the machine
going and it's you know,worrying and the doctor is
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literally like going in and outwith this long tube and and and
you feel everything even thoughthey've numbed you, you know, a
little bit. And so my waythrough that was I just kept
babbling to the tech that wasthere with me. But when they did
that, then they put a marker in,and whatever those abnormal
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cells were, they then said thatthey you know, they actually had
gotten all of them out, youknow, in the in the biopsy, but
so I do go now for every sixmonths, I go for a checkup, but
even with that I had gone to,you know, to, to large Minh and
to Virtua and I went back to FoxChase, because that's where I
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first had, you know, my surgery,because I it's not that I didn't
trust them, but I think youknow, you should always get a
second opinion. And I wanted tomake sure that you know, the I
wanted to make sure of thereport and make sure that that
everything was being done thathad to be done so because I want
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to be there for my daughters butmy both of them have had early
detection they've had well, Ishouldn't say both of my oldest
one has had a mammogram and MRIsbecause she does have cystic
breasts and my youngest thoughhas not had it so I do encourage
it.
How do you keep How do you keepgoing like those days we're you
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know, high stress high highanxiety you go to the
appointment you're like in thatwaiting zone to hear what's like
your escape or where you canjust relax What do you do? Do
you do you go for a drive? Doyou have a cup of coffee? Do you
take a walk? What what what isthat? Like where do you go what
what makes you feel calm? Andfor a moment, like lets you
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escape and be free of this Cword. cancer cancer.
i For me, I just start prayingbecause I don't know exactly
what else to do. You know, it'sjust fear. And then when the
person comes in the room, it'susually it's not always the
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doctor, it's the nursetechnician. And she'll come in,
and she'll say, everything'sokay, Patrice, you can go. And,
and that's when you justbreathe. Yes, the other times,
you're just holding your breath.And you're just, it's just
fearful. But once they sayeverything is okay, and you go
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home, and for, I would say, thedrive home, I'm good. By the
time I get to the door to thehouse to tell my mom, I'm okay.
Then I'm fine. I'm relaxed, butI could just bust out crying in
any any minute. Because it'sjust so stressful.
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It is. Sorry, no. But we needeverybody to know that we need
everybody to understand that,that, you know, it's it's not
over and done. You're it'salways on your shoulder. It's
always in the shadows. You know,you're always afraid that it's
always afraid that it's comingback. Yeah. And even if they
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tell you, they don't think thattype of cancer will be back.
It's not. It doesn't release youfrom the feeling. It doesn't
release you. When you go in.You're still waiting.
What was the moment like whenthey first told you?
Oh, I thought they were talkingto somebody else. You know, I
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literally turned around andlooked behind me because I
really thought he was talking tosomeone else. I just could not
believe he was saying that. Idon't think you forget that.
Never. I will never remember thedate the place like what you're
wearing where you were, yeah,everything you just you're like,
Oh, he's talking to somebodyelse. And I turned around and I
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looked and I said, Oh my God,he's talking to me. He means me.
I have cancer. And it just takesyour life to another level. It
takes you to another level. Butmy doctors they didn't. Cathars
was 25 years ago, they do notadvocate to remove your breast.
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They now they would like you todo chemo and radiation. And
sometimes you don't need chemoat that time, but you do get a
chemo pill.
I had I had chemo, yes, chemo.But mine was a little different
because I was pregnant. So Icouldn't have radiation. Right.
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So that's why they recommendedthe mastectomy. But I did start
chemo in my third trimester. Butwhat struck me with these
doctors is that even at FoxChase, which is that's all they
do, that's their ad, they saythat's all they do every day.
But they still said, it's anunknown because you know,
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everybody's different. So it's adifferent situation for
everybody. So So I didchemotherapy, but it wasn't the
recommended chemotherapy,really, because they knew that
the the strongest would mostlikely cross the placenta and
kill the embryo because thethat's what chemo is, is
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developed to kill rapidlydividing cells, because that's
what cancer is. But, you know,that's what a growing fetus is,
too. So. So I had drugs thatwere not they're still
recommended for breast cancer,but they weren't maybe the
strongest, that are the typicalones, they would have
recommended to somebody in mysituation, being young if I
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wasn't pregnant. But I did startchemo in my third trimester and,
and continued, you know,throughout the rest of my
pregnancy, but then, then Idon't they had me delivered
early so that she would miss thelast cycle. And then they said
to me, well, we don't know whatthat will do, if that's good
enough, so I started chemo allover again after her birth.
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And you had a lot of otherfamily situations going on with
your story. So you werediagnosed with cancer, and then
I believe other family members.So why can you share that
my mother was diagnosed in thesame breast the same week that I
was, my parents lived in Ohio,and my mother had had breast
cancer years before. So thiswasn't, you know, metastasis.
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This was just a new, you know, asecondary occurrence of cancer,
but being that and we're both mymother was a nurse as well. So
we're both nurses, but I feltlike I couldn't tell her. So I
told her I was pregnant. But Ifelt like since she was going
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through this again that Icouldn't tell her that I also
had cancer because I you know,As Patrice said, a lot of this
is your frame of mind and your,you know how you think about it
and your support systems andyou're praying and I thought,
how could I put my motherthrough this? You know, because
then there's the that unknown.So I didn't share with her, I
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did, I do have a lot of nursefriends. So I feel like that was
one of my biggest supportgroups. Because, you know, I had
the advantage of having a lot ofnurses come in to visit me while
you know, while he's in thehospital or when I was going
through something. So that wascomforting in a way. Because
the, you know, they know, butkind of unsettling in a way
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because it seems like the nursesthen in the hospital, think that
you know, everything so they'renot there as much for you.
Right? They're like you're anurse, you get the you know that
lingo you know, now you know thesituation. So I don't know, you
know that right? Right. So theyjust assumed but you're but
you're still that a patient,right? And not and not the nurse
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at that time, not an oncologynurse,
although now i feel like i Yourprofessional. Yeah. But I was
I'm also not an OB nurse. So youknow, I had all those normal
pregnancy things going on aswell. And so I found it
interesting that some of thenurses made assumptions I'd come
in for, for chemo. You sit in abig infusion room, and you know,
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everybody walking around, theysee somebody come in with a huge
abdomen. Of course, at FoxChase, they don't think oh, she
must be pregnant. They think,oh, gosh, she's got a heck of a
tumor in her stomach. Rightthat. And that was must be why
she's here. So it's an it was aninteresting experience.
So Patrice your treatment ofchemo radiation, can you share
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that experience with us? Sure.
The first time after I had alumpectomy. And I went through
that, starting in February, Istarted 22 sessions of
radiation. One of the ladieshere that's my friend told me to
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be prepared for the machine, theradiation machine, so she
brought in a picture so that Iwouldn't be afraid the machine
takes up the entire room. Sowhen you walk in there is this
big thing that takes up a room,and it scares you to death. And
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you lay down and they startmarking you with dye so that
they can pinpoint the tumorwhere it's been removed and give
you radiation. The funny thingwas they pinpointed me with dye
the same color as my moles. Sothen they couldn't find where
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they had tattooed me with thedye. So they we went back and
did excuse me read. Okay, sothat worked out much better. The
machine 22 sessions I did notburn. And that's a big grant.
Yeah, big warning says us thingthat you have on you because
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your skin peels and everything.And they don't want that to
happen. So they gave memedication. It's in a form of a
sap to put on yourself rightafter you have radiation. Sure.
And then after the sessions, Istarted in March with a chemo
pill. The first pill was tostrong room effects. I had too
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many side effects. So now I'm onletrozole, which is working
well. For me.
What were some of the sideeffects you were experiencing?
Joint ache really, that was themain thing I almost couldn't
walk my joints were just sosore. And they said that was one
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of the main side effects ofthat. But it was the best drug
that they had at the time. Iended up with letter saw, I
still have some joint ache butnothing like I did with the
remedy.
So what kept me going every day?Like what what kept you going
like saying, you know, if youdidn't, you know, not to stop
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this and to keep going like whatmotivated you to keep going?
I want to live. That's just thatI want to live on when I see my
family, my friends. My niecegrow up, my friend's children's
grow up and I just want to bealive. I want to laugh. I want
to eat I want to eat more thananything. And I dance and have
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fun. So and the way to do thatwas to take this course of
medicine and take care ofmyself.
Dr. Matata what keeps you going?After everything you've been
through? Your your, your andyour mom this this at such a
young age,
I have a good sense of humor, Ithink I have, at times I'm maybe
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a little sarcastic but, but I dohave a good sense of humor. And
the same as Patrice it's youthink about your family. And I
know throughout the mytreatment, I thought about my
child. So it was, you know, kindof that feeling that, you know,
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you're going through this, butyou have to, and you don't even
really think about what'shappening to you the
consequences because you knowthat you're saving your child so
so I, you know, when I wasvomiting, my, my chemo was all
IV, so I had to come in and getstuck all the time. And, and,
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and I was still working as anurse and teaching and teaching
clinical. So I'd go into thehospital. And you know, a
student would say to me, Oh, I'mgonna go in and change a
dressing and I'd say, Okay, I'llbe out in the hall vomiting. So
it's, but you just keep, youknow, you keep going in. And my
doctor told me about a yearafter my daughter was born, I
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really felt horrible. I, I youknow, and I couldn't understand
what was happening. And he said,it was almost like a PTSD.
Because you, you don't thinkabout it while you're going
through it. But afterwards,after things calmed down, and
your treatment is kind of overand and then then you have time
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to think about yourself. So it'salmost a traumatic stress after,
you know, after all of thiscomes, it comes down.
Yeah, I mean, I think you wishand for me to like you, you
wish, like you were, you know,involved in everyone else's
everything. So you don't have tohave a second to think about
what's going on internally.
(26:53):
Right. And that's what happens.And I think the the kind of the
secondary thing that alwayshappens with me is that I have
so many friends. I mean, as youmentioned in the beginning, the
it's so prevalent breast cancerso prevalent, that it seems like
I always have had a friend overthe years who either was going
through breast cancer or theirsister, their mother or their
(27:13):
friend and and then they'd referpeople to me to talk about it.
So. So that's a good thing, Ithink, because they were using
me as a you know, as a positive,you know, but it's also bad
because you're, you'reconstantly reliving it, right?
Yeah. And even when you're withyour friends, and you have a
support group, where you'retalking people, you're still
(27:34):
reliving that experience ofyours. Right. So it's, it's
good, you're helping others, butit's also difficult, right? So
it is. And when you talkedearlier about, you know, what,
what do you do to kind of think,you know, not think about I
know, you said you pray a lotand I I go home and I watch
stupid shows on Netflix. And Ithink you know, I think that's a
(27:59):
wonderful thing to have Netflixand Hulu and Prime Video. Yeah,
yes. Because then you can alwaysfind a ridiculous show.
Right? Well, you need an escape.Yeah. And you know, whether it's
TV for one or music for anotheror you know, hate or good food,
I like Patrice said, we alwaysor, or whatever cooking or it's
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a hobby, or knitting or whateveryou want to do scrapbook,
whatever your thing is, you havesomebody you know, you need an
escape to be able to do this.And it's such, I mean, cancer is
everywhere. I mean, you know,you've been hearing cancer, not
just breast cancer, but I mean,all these cancers, yeah, that
are popping up in in everywhere,and it's affecting so many
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people. I mean, I think you askevery single person, they've
been affected by something withcancer, somebody, someone that's
close to them,
you mentioned earlier about, youknow, students and being a nurse
and and I have gone into theclassrooms when the students are
focusing on oncology, and I doand I do talk about it. I I've
(29:07):
taught pharmacology here and I,I focus on those chemotherapy
drugs, and then I can talk aboutthat personal experience with
that. And I think giving aperspective of not only being a
patient going through it, butbeing a nurse going through it,
I can tell the students well,you know, you need to focus on
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what that patient is goingthrough, you know, if you if you
hear joint pain, you don't knowwhat that means. Because you
know, a lot of the students areyounger and maybe you haven't
had that but you need to knowthat's, that's immobilizing that
is something that that is sosevere that you can't do
everything you want to do in theday, or maybe you can't even do
anything. And if you hearvomiting, you need to think
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about the fact that that's,that's vomiting to the point of
not being able to do anythingelse but vomit so, so students
need to understand And how, howto care for somebody like that,
how to really get involved andhow to how to be there how to
help people.
And, you know, I know you alsodo a lot of not just here at
(30:12):
rcbc, but you do other panelsand things to share the story,
and to share what the needs arefrom a nurse's perspective. Can
you tell us a little bit aboutthat?
Well, one of the nice thingsabout that is that, you know, I
know that, you know, we alwaysfeel that what we've gone
through is very severe. And itis, but I sit in amazement when
(30:36):
I'm on some of these panels,because I hear other people's
stories and and I think, oh, mygosh, like mine was nothing, you
know, compared to them. And, andone of the things I do is it at
a at one of the colleges, one ofmy friends teaches a course on
on cancer. And so she everysemester does a panel of cancer
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survivors, and we all talk aboutour experience. And it gives the
students a chance to say, Well,what was your thoughts about
nursing, you know, when you werein there getting care if we
were, you know, after surgery,or after chemo, or during chemo.
And, and it's nice to see thatthey're concerned, because that
helps them grow, helps them tobe a better nurse, because I did
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have nurses that really justdidn't even didn't even get
involved. And I know it'sdifficult, taking care of
someone who's vomiting all thetime, or who has chronic pain,
and nurses, you know, they getbusy they have too many patients
to care for. And sometimes youdon't have the best experience
maybe not at the due to thenurses fault. But due to the
(31:43):
fact of what health care is likein the hospital today.
No, I, I totally agree. Andthese stats come the ones that
I'm going to share two stats.And then I'd like a reflection
because this supports obviously,you know what's happening in the
world with cancer, especiallybreast cancer, breast
cancer.org, about one in eightus women that's about 13% will
(32:06):
develop invasive breast cancerover the course of her lifetime.
Second is for women in the USbreast cancer death rates are
higher than those for any othercancer besides lung cancer.
That's so hard to believe thatwe still have so many people
dying of cancer, and we've doneso much research. Patrice your
thoughts on those two stats.
(32:27):
When I first went into cancercare, I asked about black women
surviving. And what were mychances? And what did they feel?
was the reason that most blackwomen die more than white women
(32:47):
from breast cancer? And I askedthem, was it because we come
late to the diagnosis? Or do wenot understand the care? Or does
the doctor not understand thecare because we're all
different. And they said thatthey felt as though it was
because the women themselves?Didn't the health care system
(33:13):
does not recognize thedifferences. And they they are
free to come. And so that theyfelt as though we have to do
more outreach to those to theblack communities and get them
engaged in their own self care?
I agree. Totally. Yeah. And youknow, this is this is one of the
(33:36):
thing that I love about rcbc isthat our nursing program here is
about 40% diverse, and one ofour biggest sending areas to the
program is willingboro, which isone of the most diverse. Well, I
think it is the most diversecommunity in Burlington County.
(33:57):
And I am just amazed at howthese people, the students come
to us and they're dealing with,you know, working full time and
they have children. And theyknow they want to be a nurse.
And a lot of times they tell usthat they want to give back to
their community. We've hadinternational students that live
(34:17):
in willingboro. And they tell uswhile they want to go back to
their country, and they want toassist. And we've had that we've
had that happen. And I thinkthat the fact that that we can
do that here that we can educatepeople to be nurses within two
years, that you know, aresuccessful in getting licensed
(34:37):
and, and we have such diversity.That's a wonderful thing. I just
really love this college becauseof that.
Well I thank you both forsupporting, you know the rcbc
community in the ways that youdo. And every month on the
bareness podcast, I write down alot of random words that have
been talked about and I Use themas hashtags. And then after I go
(35:03):
down the list, I asked each ofour guests what their hashtag
that they live by would be. SoI'm going to read the list of
words that I've gotten from ourconversations. And then I want
you to give me what your hashtagwould be after hearing these and
about our conversation today.Okay, so bear with me, we have a
lot of really good ones here.Hashtag cures, hashtag
(35:27):
targeting, hashtag change,breast cancer experience.
Research never goes away. Foundsomething. Cancer, always
afraid. frame of mind. Pray,support system, prepare sense of
humor, early detection, savinglives. afraid. Fear, unknown. I
(35:54):
want to live, laugh, eat dance,mammography. So Dr. Montalto,
what would your hashtag be foryou?
Well, I think that I'm gonna gowith what what Patrice has
mentioned, really is that Ithink change is the biggest we
(36:15):
if there are still so manypeople that are dying from
breast cancer, then we need tochange how we're educating
people. We need to change howwe're how we're finding people
to educate, we need to get weneed to get more involved in
communities to get more peoplein for for early detection,
(36:36):
Patrice,
I want to live would be mine.
Do you want to expand?
I think every person not justwomen. I think everyone wants to
live. They want to live notparticularly to be successful,
because each success is eachpersonal thing. But to live and
(37:02):
live well live healthy. I thinkthat that's what everybody wants
to do.
Well, I thank you both forjoining us today. I want to then
say again, happy five years toPatrice and how many years for
you Dr. Montalto,
if I tell you, you'll know howold I am. But my youngest is 27.
(37:27):
And she's the one that wentthrough it with me. So I call
her my miracle child. Well,
thank you and congratulations toyou for being cancer free. We
appreciate you sharing yourjourneys, both of you today.
Please visit our website formore information about our dei
initiatives and our committeesat www.rcbc.edu/diversity. If
(37:50):
you want to hear from women wholead and inspire this podcast is
for you. You've been listeningto the rcbc bareness podcast,
which highlights women inleadership while encouraging
listeners to build their skills,connect with the community and
visualize the opportunitiesavailable to women in various
professions. For moreinformation about this podcast,
(38:10):
or other podcasts available onthe rcbc Podcast Network, visit
rcbc.edu/podcast. And be sure tosubscribe to the rcbc bareness
podcast, wherever you tune infor a female perspective into
the Burlington County community.This has been the bareness
podcast. Take care. Thanks.You've been listening
to the rcbc bareness podcast,which highlights women in
(38:32):
leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
the rcbc Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast And be sure to
subscribe to the rcbc barenesspodcast available on all
streaming platforms.
Okay. Welcome to Rowan College of Burlington County's
(00:03):
Baroness Podcast. I'm Dr. BrookeMailhiot, program chair and
assistant professor of ourentertainment technologies
department. I'm a co chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
(00:24):
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women. If you want to
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
October is Breast CancerAwareness Month. And we have two
(00:46):
members of the rcbc family.Joining us today to talk about
their breast cancer journey. Wehave Dr. Karen Montalto Dean of
Health Sciences and the nursingprogram director and Patrice
Fields, an accountant andanalyst here at rcbc. Welcome,
ladies, thank you so much forbeing here to talk about this
(01:06):
very special topic.
Thank you for having Thank youfor having
me. I just wanted to go oversome quick stats that I found
about breast cancer. And, youknow, we actually talked right
before we started recording andevery single person that is
here, including our engineer,that breast cancer has had an
impact in their life. And in2022, it's estimated among women
(01:29):
in the US, there will be 287,850new cases of invasive breast
cancer 51,400 new cases ofductal carcinoma and 43,250
breast cancer deaths. When youhear those numbers, and you two
(01:52):
are survivors, and you'resitting here, what are those
numbers? What is that the firstthing that comes to your mind,
Dr. Montalto
it's just amazing to me that aslong as we've been working on
cures for breast cancer, that,that we're still kind of where
we have been for a long time.And I know we've gotten a little
(02:12):
better at diagnosing andtargeting treatments. But I
still don't see a lot of changefrom the experience that I went
through. That's been over 25years ago.
And Patrice this month, you'recelebrating five years. cancer
free. So I need to give a roundof applause. I mean, cancer
(02:35):
Versary amazing for you. Can youshare with us a small story of
your journey.
It started in just as a normalmammography. And it ended up
being breast cancer, which was atotal shock to me. I was not
expecting them to say that I hadhad an ultrasound before. And
(03:00):
they had extra test. And I justthought it was going to be
routine. But it was not. It wasbreast cancer.
And what would you tell womenwho are afraid? You know, so
many women are afraid to getchecked to go get a mammography?
What What, what are your, youknow, what would you tell those
(03:20):
women,
early detection can save yourlife? And that's what you need,
you have to go get checked, evenif you're afraid I was afraid. I
think everyone is afraid, butthey can save your life. And you
must save your life.
And what's interesting about Dr.montado story you said, you know
early detection. You were veryyoung. Yes. When you received
(03:44):
your diagnosis. So can you shareyour story with us which was so
powerful, because you're goingthrough so many different things
in your life at that time.
I routinely did monthly selfbreast exams because my mother
had breast cancer when she wasfairly young. I was actually
trying to get pregnant at thetime and and had done a
(04:09):
pregnancy test and and it waspositive. But at the same time I
found a lump in my breast and mygeneral practitioner just said
oh, it's probably a blocked milkduct and I kind of went with
that because I never thoughtthat it would be cancer that
young
and those of us that you knowfeel maybe a lump or we're not
(04:34):
sure what would you say to thosewomen to go get checked?
Absolutely anything that youfeel you should go get checked
the I know people have cysticbreast disease and often their
doctors will say well if youfeel lumps that's probably what
it is. Never go with what'sprobably always get it checked
(04:55):
out. Always go and and get aprofessional opinion. And I'm
just so happy Copy that I did. Ididn't. If I had just taken the
advice of my generalpractitioner, I wouldn't be here
today.
So tell us, what did you afteryou had this diagnosis, and you
weren't taking the first go ofwhat the doctor said, what made
(05:18):
you say, I need to go get asecond opinion. And then what
transpired from there, I went
almost right away to my OBdoctor. And he was, it was an
older doctor that had a lot ofexperience. And when he felt my
breast, he said, No, this doesnot feel normal to me. And, you
(05:38):
know, and I, and I was thinkingthat, you know, in the back of
my mind, I kept thinking, youknow, I had two other children.
I didn't have anything that feltlike this, you know, in my
breast then. So. So as soon ashe said that, to me, I, I went
for a biopsy of the lump,
Patrice, when you found out thatyou had breast cancer, who was
(06:01):
there as your support system,because we all need a support
system to be with us. And Ithink that's one of the things
people look for that you, wedon't realize that we can't do
it alone. It takes a village,who was that support system for
you,
um, my mother, and my sister,and I had friends, and they all
helped. My mother had breastcancer in 2000. So she also knew
(06:27):
the routine and what to expect.But praise God, we didn't have
the gene, which is even moreserious. If you have bracket one
or bracket to Gene, we did nothave that.
I actually, you know, andspeaking of the braca, one and
braca, two, and we talked aboutbreast cancer in this room, my
(06:48):
mother had inflammatory breastcancer, and then my mother's
mother also had breast cancer.So I recently went through the
brockagh testing and knock onwood, I do not have the gene.
For those of us that don'tunderstand braca one and braca.
Two, I'm going to ask Dr.Montalto, since she's the out of
all of us, he or she is themedical professional, would you
(07:09):
be able to explain what thatterminology were, we're talking
about the braca one and braca.Two, for those of the listeners
that don't know,
I didn't realize there'd be atest today. You know, in all of
the advances that we've had in,in breast cancer research,
certainly one of the things theyfocused on a lot are determining
genetic markers, that, that,that tell us that you have a
(07:33):
higher propensity to have breastcancer in the future. And the,
the genes that you'rereferencing are actually linked
more towards Europeanpopulations and, and certain
areas. So there are othergenetic markers that they also
test for, if you do go in forfor testing, to see if you have
(07:55):
have specific genetic markers.And for example, in my family,
we have, we have a high degreeof cancer, not not all breast
cancer, but we do have, myfather died of cancer and my
brother died of cancer, I havean uncle who died of cancer. So
I when I went in for testing forbraca, one and two, I didn't
(08:16):
have it, but but my doctor didtell me that I have other
genetic markers that lead to ahigher degree of cancer within
your family. So so it is the youknow, it is a precaution we do
do testing for those two, twogenes, certainly, but but I
think a high degree of peoplewho have cancer in their family
(08:38):
don't have those genes, but itdoesn't necessarily I guess,
mean that okay, you're you'regood, you're free,
you're not right, you're notcancer free, you're just have
this one area of right of cancerthat you don't have those
markers. But I
would say that given you knowyour history and patricius
history, if you have if you havechildren, then they should also
(09:00):
go and get tested and make surethat you know they have routine
breast exams and not not justyour female children, but your
male children as well.
And what I love Patrice aboutwhy we are here today, you kind
of influenced this, because yousend an email to our co chair of
(09:21):
our women's advocacy groupasking if there was a survivor
group of breast cancer survivorgroup, and we were like, Oh, my
God, this is such an amazingthing. I didn't think about
that. And you brought this tothe forefront. So I definitely
want to say thank you for, youknow, sending that email because
if it wasn't for you, wewouldn't be here today talking
about such this important topic.And what do you feel that
(09:45):
survivors need? Because I thinkthere is a need and that's why
you sent that email. So what isthat need for you?
I think that it needs to bediscussed because each person
has a different journey. And allcancer is not the same. You may
have breast cancer, but it isdifferent in each person. So to
(10:06):
get it out and talk about yourfears, every time I go to get my
checkup, I'm afraid it nevergoes away. And you'll need to
talk about it. I think peopleneed to say out loud, that I'm
afraid.
Have you connected with otherrcbc family members? And has
(10:27):
that brought you support?
I've talked to a couple ofladies that have breast cancer
before me, and we do talk aboutour journey. They listened to me
and I listened to them. And theygive me other advice about
survival. And they helped me tokind of relax a little bit
(10:49):
before I go into all the testswhere each year sure it's so
nerve wracking. Yeah, yes, nervewracking, and it's waiting for
the doctor to come in to say,you're okay or you're not okay.
And it's, it's never goes awaythat fear.
It doesn't go away. And I wasn'tme, you know, my mother had
(11:10):
breast cancer, but I actually ama survivor of thyroid cancer.
And again, same feeling of thatfear all day, every six months,
you get your blood work, you getyour ultrasound you get, and
you're like, Oh, my, you know,is it clear? Is it and I think
we all have that fear. And I'msure Dr. Montalto you have that
fear. And you also have, youknow, daughters, and children
(11:31):
have that fear. How do you sharethat with them and your
students?
Well, first, I recently, withinthe last year, when I went for
my checkup, I Well, I had aradical mastectomy. Because at
the time, I couldn't have theconservative treatment that
really, you know, most likely isis recommended. But But at my
(11:54):
last checkup, the doctor came inafterwards and said, Well, we
found something. And my thoughtwas, it just can't be happening
again. But I agree with Patricethat like every ache and pain,
you think, okay, it's cancer,it's got to be cancer, right?
So, but I never expected it tobe in my breast again. So
(12:18):
thankfully, it's, it's we'rewatching and waiting right now.
But I had to go through, youknow, the doctor sitting with me
and saying that, well, if thiswere my family member, I you
know, so you have to have moretesting, so an MRI and an
ultrasound, and then I had abiopsy. And I have to tell you
that for my first biopsy, I wasknocked out. So, you know, that
(12:41):
was fine. But for this one, ityou know, I wasn't knocked out,
it was a suction biopsy, and itit was absolutely horrible. You
hear you know, so Patrice isnodding your head. So I'm
thinking this, this is what youhad, you hear the the machine
going and it's you know,worrying and the doctor is
(13:02):
literally like going in and outwith this long tube and and and
you feel everything even thoughthey've numbed you, you know, a
little bit. And so my waythrough that was I just kept
babbling to the tech that wasthere with me. But when they did
that, then they put a marker in,and whatever those abnormal
(13:23):
cells were, they then said thatthey you know, they actually had
gotten all of them out, youknow, in the in the biopsy, but
so I do go now for every sixmonths, I go for a checkup, but
even with that I had gone to,you know, to, to large Minh and
to Virtua and I went back to FoxChase, because that's where I
(13:43):
first had, you know, my surgery,because I it's not that I didn't
trust them, but I think youknow, you should always get a
second opinion. And I wanted tomake sure that you know, the I
wanted to make sure of thereport and make sure that that
everything was being done thathad to be done so because I want
(14:05):
to be there for my daughters butmy both of them have had early
detection they've had well, Ishouldn't say both of my oldest
one has had a mammogram and MRIsbecause she does have cystic
breasts and my youngest thoughhas not had it so I do encourage
it.
How do you keep How do you keepgoing like those days we're you
(14:26):
know, high stress high highanxiety you go to the
appointment you're like in thatwaiting zone to hear what's like
your escape or where you canjust relax What do you do? Do
you do you go for a drive? Doyou have a cup of coffee? Do you
take a walk? What what what isthat? Like where do you go what
what makes you feel calm? Andfor a moment, like lets you
(14:50):
escape and be free of this Cword. cancer cancer.
i For me, I just start prayingbecause I don't know exactly
what else to do. You know, it'sjust fear. And then when the
person comes in the room, it'susually it's not always the
(15:10):
doctor, it's the nursetechnician. And she'll come in,
and she'll say, everything'sokay, Patrice, you can go. And,
and that's when you justbreathe. Yes, the other times,
you're just holding your breath.And you're just, it's just
fearful. But once they sayeverything is okay, and you go
(15:32):
home, and for, I would say, thedrive home, I'm good. By the
time I get to the door to thehouse to tell my mom, I'm okay.
Then I'm fine. I'm relaxed, butI could just bust out crying in
any any minute. Because it'sjust so stressful.
(15:53):
It is. Sorry, no. But we needeverybody to know that we need
everybody to understand that,that, you know, it's it's not
over and done. You're it'salways on your shoulder. It's
always in the shadows. You know,you're always afraid that it's
always afraid that it's comingback. Yeah. And even if they
(16:16):
tell you, they don't think thattype of cancer will be back.
It's not. It doesn't release youfrom the feeling. It doesn't
release you. When you go in.You're still waiting.
What was the moment like whenthey first told you?
Oh, I thought they were talkingto somebody else. You know, I
(16:36):
literally turned around andlooked behind me because I
really thought he was talking tosomeone else. I just could not
believe he was saying that. Idon't think you forget that.
Never. I will never remember thedate the place like what you're
wearing where you were, yeah,everything you just you're like,
Oh, he's talking to somebodyelse. And I turned around and I
(16:57):
looked and I said, Oh my God,he's talking to me. He means me.
I have cancer. And it just takesyour life to another level. It
takes you to another level. Butmy doctors they didn't. Cathars
was 25 years ago, they do notadvocate to remove your breast.
(17:18):
They now they would like you todo chemo and radiation. And
sometimes you don't need chemoat that time, but you do get a
chemo pill.
I had I had chemo, yes, chemo.But mine was a little different
because I was pregnant. So Icouldn't have radiation. Right.
(17:40):
So that's why they recommendedthe mastectomy. But I did start
chemo in my third trimester. Butwhat struck me with these
doctors is that even at FoxChase, which is that's all they
do, that's their ad, they saythat's all they do every day.
But they still said, it's anunknown because you know,
(18:01):
everybody's different. So it's adifferent situation for
everybody. So So I didchemotherapy, but it wasn't the
recommended chemotherapy,really, because they knew that
the the strongest would mostlikely cross the placenta and
kill the embryo because thethat's what chemo is, is
(18:23):
developed to kill rapidlydividing cells, because that's
what cancer is. But, you know,that's what a growing fetus is,
too. So. So I had drugs thatwere not they're still
recommended for breast cancer,but they weren't maybe the
strongest, that are the typicalones, they would have
recommended to somebody in mysituation, being young if I
(18:45):
wasn't pregnant. But I did startchemo in my third trimester and,
and continued, you know,throughout the rest of my
pregnancy, but then, then Idon't they had me delivered
early so that she would miss thelast cycle. And then they said
to me, well, we don't know whatthat will do, if that's good
enough, so I started chemo allover again after her birth.
(19:10):
And you had a lot of otherfamily situations going on with
your story. So you werediagnosed with cancer, and then
I believe other family members.So why can you share that
my mother was diagnosed in thesame breast the same week that I
was, my parents lived in Ohio,and my mother had had breast
cancer years before. So thiswasn't, you know, metastasis.
(19:33):
This was just a new, you know, asecondary occurrence of cancer,
but being that and we're both mymother was a nurse as well. So
we're both nurses, but I feltlike I couldn't tell her. So I
told her I was pregnant. But Ifelt like since she was going
(19:54):
through this again that Icouldn't tell her that I also
had cancer because I you know,As Patrice said, a lot of this
is your frame of mind and your,you know how you think about it
and your support systems andyou're praying and I thought,
how could I put my motherthrough this? You know, because
then there's the that unknown.So I didn't share with her, I
(20:17):
did, I do have a lot of nursefriends. So I feel like that was
one of my biggest supportgroups. Because, you know, I had
the advantage of having a lot ofnurses come in to visit me while
you know, while he's in thehospital or when I was going
through something. So that wascomforting in a way. Because
the, you know, they know, butkind of unsettling in a way
(20:41):
because it seems like the nursesthen in the hospital, think that
you know, everything so they'renot there as much for you.
Right? They're like you're anurse, you get the you know that
lingo you know, now you know thesituation. So I don't know, you
know that right? Right. So theyjust assumed but you're but
you're still that a patient,right? And not and not the nurse
(21:02):
at that time, not an oncologynurse,
although now i feel like i Yourprofessional. Yeah. But I was
I'm also not an OB nurse. So youknow, I had all those normal
pregnancy things going on aswell. And so I found it
interesting that some of thenurses made assumptions I'd come
in for, for chemo. You sit in abig infusion room, and you know,
(21:26):
everybody walking around, theysee somebody come in with a huge
abdomen. Of course, at FoxChase, they don't think oh, she
must be pregnant. They think,oh, gosh, she's got a heck of a
tumor in her stomach. Rightthat. And that was must be why
she's here. So it's an it was aninteresting experience.
So Patrice your treatment ofchemo radiation, can you share
(21:49):
that experience with us? Sure.
The first time after I had alumpectomy. And I went through
that, starting in February, Istarted 22 sessions of
radiation. One of the ladieshere that's my friend told me to
(22:10):
be prepared for the machine, theradiation machine, so she
brought in a picture so that Iwouldn't be afraid the machine
takes up the entire room. Sowhen you walk in there is this
big thing that takes up a room,and it scares you to death. And
(22:31):
you lay down and they startmarking you with dye so that
they can pinpoint the tumorwhere it's been removed and give
you radiation. The funny thingwas they pinpointed me with dye
the same color as my moles. Sothen they couldn't find where
(22:55):
they had tattooed me with thedye. So they we went back and
did excuse me read. Okay, sothat worked out much better. The
machine 22 sessions I did notburn. And that's a big grant.
Yeah, big warning says us thingthat you have on you because
(23:16):
your skin peels and everything.And they don't want that to
happen. So they gave memedication. It's in a form of a
sap to put on yourself rightafter you have radiation. Sure.
And then after the sessions, Istarted in March with a chemo
pill. The first pill was tostrong room effects. I had too
(23:39):
many side effects. So now I'm onletrozole, which is working
well. For me.
What were some of the sideeffects you were experiencing?
Joint ache really, that was themain thing I almost couldn't
walk my joints were just sosore. And they said that was one
(24:02):
of the main side effects ofthat. But it was the best drug
that they had at the time. Iended up with letter saw, I
still have some joint ache butnothing like I did with the
remedy.
So what kept me going every day?Like what what kept you going
like saying, you know, if youdidn't, you know, not to stop
(24:22):
this and to keep going like whatmotivated you to keep going?
I want to live. That's just thatI want to live on when I see my
family, my friends. My niecegrow up, my friend's children's
grow up and I just want to bealive. I want to laugh. I want
to eat I want to eat more thananything. And I dance and have
(24:46):
fun. So and the way to do thatwas to take this course of
medicine and take care ofmyself.
Dr. Matata what keeps you going?After everything you've been
through? Your your, your andyour mom this this at such a
young age,
I have a good sense of humor, Ithink I have, at times I'm maybe
(25:08):
a little sarcastic but, but I dohave a good sense of humor. And
the same as Patrice it's youthink about your family. And I
know throughout the mytreatment, I thought about my
child. So it was, you know, kindof that feeling that, you know,
(25:29):
you're going through this, butyou have to, and you don't even
really think about what'shappening to you the
consequences because you knowthat you're saving your child so
so I, you know, when I wasvomiting, my, my chemo was all
IV, so I had to come in and getstuck all the time. And, and,
(25:49):
and I was still working as anurse and teaching and teaching
clinical. So I'd go into thehospital. And you know, a
student would say to me, Oh, I'mgonna go in and change a
dressing and I'd say, Okay, I'llbe out in the hall vomiting. So
it's, but you just keep, youknow, you keep going in. And my
doctor told me about a yearafter my daughter was born, I
(26:12):
really felt horrible. I, I youknow, and I couldn't understand
what was happening. And he said,it was almost like a PTSD.
Because you, you don't thinkabout it while you're going
through it. But afterwards,after things calmed down, and
your treatment is kind of overand and then then you have time
(26:32):
to think about yourself. So it'salmost a traumatic stress after,
you know, after all of thiscomes, it comes down.
Yeah, I mean, I think you wishand for me to like you, you
wish, like you were, you know,involved in everyone else's
everything. So you don't have tohave a second to think about
what's going on internally.
(26:53):
Right. And that's what happens.And I think the the kind of the
secondary thing that alwayshappens with me is that I have
so many friends. I mean, as youmentioned in the beginning, the
it's so prevalent breast cancerso prevalent, that it seems like
I always have had a friend overthe years who either was going
through breast cancer or theirsister, their mother or their
(27:13):
friend and and then they'd referpeople to me to talk about it.
So. So that's a good thing, Ithink, because they were using
me as a you know, as a positive,you know, but it's also bad
because you're, you'reconstantly reliving it, right?
Yeah. And even when you're withyour friends, and you have a
support group, where you'retalking people, you're still
(27:34):
reliving that experience ofyours. Right. So it's, it's
good, you're helping others, butit's also difficult, right? So
it is. And when you talkedearlier about, you know, what,
what do you do to kind of think,you know, not think about I
know, you said you pray a lotand I I go home and I watch
stupid shows on Netflix. And Ithink you know, I think that's a
(27:59):
wonderful thing to have Netflixand Hulu and Prime Video. Yeah,
yes. Because then you can alwaysfind a ridiculous show.
Right? Well, you need an escape.Yeah. And you know, whether it's
TV for one or music for anotheror you know, hate or good food,
I like Patrice said, we alwaysor, or whatever cooking or it's
(28:20):
a hobby, or knitting or whateveryou want to do scrapbook,
whatever your thing is, you havesomebody you know, you need an
escape to be able to do this.And it's such, I mean, cancer is
everywhere. I mean, you know,you've been hearing cancer, not
just breast cancer, but I mean,all these cancers, yeah, that
are popping up in in everywhere,and it's affecting so many
(28:44):
people. I mean, I think you askevery single person, they've
been affected by something withcancer, somebody, someone that's
close to them,
you mentioned earlier about, youknow, students and being a nurse
and and I have gone into theclassrooms when the students are
focusing on oncology, and I doand I do talk about it. I I've
(29:07):
taught pharmacology here and I,I focus on those chemotherapy
drugs, and then I can talk aboutthat personal experience with
that. And I think giving aperspective of not only being a
patient going through it, butbeing a nurse going through it,
I can tell the students well,you know, you need to focus on
(29:28):
what that patient is goingthrough, you know, if you if you
hear joint pain, you don't knowwhat that means. Because you
know, a lot of the students areyounger and maybe you haven't
had that but you need to knowthat's, that's immobilizing that
is something that that is sosevere that you can't do
everything you want to do in theday, or maybe you can't even do
anything. And if you hearvomiting, you need to think
(29:50):
about the fact that that's,that's vomiting to the point of
not being able to do anythingelse but vomit so, so students
need to understand And how, howto care for somebody like that,
how to really get involved andhow to how to be there how to
help people.
And, you know, I know you alsodo a lot of not just here at
(30:12):
rcbc, but you do other panelsand things to share the story,
and to share what the needs arefrom a nurse's perspective. Can
you tell us a little bit aboutthat?
Well, one of the nice thingsabout that is that, you know, I
know that, you know, we alwaysfeel that what we've gone
through is very severe. And itis, but I sit in amazement when
(30:36):
I'm on some of these panels,because I hear other people's
stories and and I think, oh, mygosh, like mine was nothing, you
know, compared to them. And, andone of the things I do is it at
a at one of the colleges, one ofmy friends teaches a course on
on cancer. And so she everysemester does a panel of cancer
(30:59):
survivors, and we all talk aboutour experience. And it gives the
students a chance to say, Well,what was your thoughts about
nursing, you know, when you werein there getting care if we
were, you know, after surgery,or after chemo, or during chemo.
And, and it's nice to see thatthey're concerned, because that
helps them grow, helps them tobe a better nurse, because I did
(31:21):
have nurses that really justdidn't even didn't even get
involved. And I know it'sdifficult, taking care of
someone who's vomiting all thetime, or who has chronic pain,
and nurses, you know, they getbusy they have too many patients
to care for. And sometimes youdon't have the best experience
maybe not at the due to thenurses fault. But due to the
(31:43):
fact of what health care is likein the hospital today.
No, I, I totally agree. Andthese stats come the ones that
I'm going to share two stats.And then I'd like a reflection
because this supports obviously,you know what's happening in the
world with cancer, especiallybreast cancer, breast
cancer.org, about one in eightus women that's about 13% will
(32:06):
develop invasive breast cancerover the course of her lifetime.
Second is for women in the USbreast cancer death rates are
higher than those for any othercancer besides lung cancer.
That's so hard to believe thatwe still have so many people
dying of cancer, and we've doneso much research. Patrice your
thoughts on those two stats.
(32:27):
When I first went into cancercare, I asked about black women
surviving. And what were mychances? And what did they feel?
was the reason that most blackwomen die more than white women
(32:47):
from breast cancer? And I askedthem, was it because we come
late to the diagnosis? Or do wenot understand the care? Or does
the doctor not understand thecare because we're all
different. And they said thatthey felt as though it was
because the women themselves?Didn't the health care system
(33:13):
does not recognize thedifferences. And they they are
free to come. And so that theyfelt as though we have to do
more outreach to those to theblack communities and get them
engaged in their own self care?
I agree. Totally. Yeah. And youknow, this is this is one of the
(33:36):
thing that I love about rcbc isthat our nursing program here is
about 40% diverse, and one ofour biggest sending areas to the
program is willingboro, which isone of the most diverse. Well, I
think it is the most diversecommunity in Burlington County.
(33:57):
And I am just amazed at howthese people, the students come
to us and they're dealing with,you know, working full time and
they have children. And theyknow they want to be a nurse.
And a lot of times they tell usthat they want to give back to
their community. We've hadinternational students that live
(34:17):
in willingboro. And they tell uswhile they want to go back to
their country, and they want toassist. And we've had that we've
had that happen. And I thinkthat the fact that that we can
do that here that we can educatepeople to be nurses within two
years, that you know, aresuccessful in getting licensed
(34:37):
and, and we have such diversity.That's a wonderful thing. I just
really love this college becauseof that.
Well I thank you both forsupporting, you know the rcbc
community in the ways that youdo. And every month on the
bareness podcast, I write down alot of random words that have
been talked about and I Use themas hashtags. And then after I go
(35:03):
down the list, I asked each ofour guests what their hashtag
that they live by would be. SoI'm going to read the list of
words that I've gotten from ourconversations. And then I want
you to give me what your hashtagwould be after hearing these and
about our conversation today.Okay, so bear with me, we have a
lot of really good ones here.Hashtag cures, hashtag
(35:27):
targeting, hashtag change,breast cancer experience.
Research never goes away. Foundsomething. Cancer, always
afraid. frame of mind. Pray,support system, prepare sense of
humor, early detection, savinglives. afraid. Fear, unknown. I
(35:54):
want to live, laugh, eat dance,mammography. So Dr. Montalto,
what would your hashtag be foryou?
Well, I think that I'm gonna gowith what what Patrice has
mentioned, really is that Ithink change is the biggest we
(36:15):
if there are still so manypeople that are dying from
breast cancer, then we need tochange how we're educating
people. We need to change howwe're how we're finding people
to educate, we need to get weneed to get more involved in
communities to get more peoplein for for early detection,
(36:36):
Patrice,
I want to live would be mine.
Do you want to expand?
I think every person not justwomen. I think everyone wants to
live. They want to live notparticularly to be successful,
because each success is eachpersonal thing. But to live and
(37:02):
live well live healthy. I thinkthat that's what everybody wants
to do.
Well, I thank you both forjoining us today. I want to then
say again, happy five years toPatrice and how many years for
you Dr. Montalto,
if I tell you, you'll know howold I am. But my youngest is 27.
(37:27):
And she's the one that wentthrough it with me. So I call
her my miracle child. Well,
thank you and congratulations toyou for being cancer free. We
appreciate you sharing yourjourneys, both of you today.
Please visit our website formore information about our dei
initiatives and our committeesat www.rcbc.edu/diversity. If
(37:50):
you want to hear from women wholead and inspire this podcast is
for you. You've been listeningto the rcbc bareness podcast,
which highlights women inleadership while encouraging
listeners to build their skills,connect with the community and
visualize the opportunitiesavailable to women in various
professions. For moreinformation about this podcast,
(38:10):
or other podcasts available onthe rcbc Podcast Network, visit
rcbc.edu/podcast. And be sure tosubscribe to the rcbc bareness
podcast, wherever you tune infor a female perspective into
the Burlington County community.This has been the bareness
podcast. Take care. Thanks.You've been listening
to the rcbc bareness podcast,which highlights women in
(38:32):
leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
the rcbc Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast And be sure to
subscribe to the rcbc barenesspodcast available on all
streaming platforms.
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