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A Story of Thank You's
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Bella and family. | A number of fateful decisions by Mount Sinai clinicians have given 68-year-old Bella Hazzan the best possible chance of survival. When she was diagnosed with a very aggressive and difficult-to-treat form of breast cancer, her life took an unexpected turn. Amazingly, Bella remains optimistic, realistic and incredibly grateful for the care she received at Mount Sinai.
Bella has had a few breast cancer scares in her life. Her fear was perpetuated by some unpleasant mammogram experiences, until her family doctor recommended she receive her mammograms at Mount Sinai’s Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre. This recommendation has played a major role in determining her health outcomes moving forward.
She felt the difference at the Marvelle Koffler Centre immediately. “When I walked in, I felt like I was in someone’s living room,” she recalls. “There were couches, soft lighting, big, bright windows and a beautiful painting of Marvelle Koffler on the wall. Right away it felt like a safe, peaceful place.”
Last year, Bella went for her routine mammogram at the Marvelle Koffler Centre right before Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. She had been getting mammograms every year (as opposed to every two years) at the recommendation of her family doctor (also at Mount Sinai) and Dr. Karina Bukhanov, the radiologist at Mount Sinai whom she had come to know over the years. That recommendation turned out to be a saving grace.
On this particular mammogram, Dr. Bukhanov saw something new on Bella’s exam. At times when there is a change on a mammogram, a follow-up approach is taken. In this case, even though the change was small, Dr. Bukhanov’s experience told her that further work up was warranted. She did more evaluations, followed by an ultrasound and then a core biopsy.
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, just as Bella and her husband were calling their children and grandchildren to the table for dinner, the phone call came from her family doctor. He revealed the news she had feared for so long – that this time, she did indeed have breast cancer. Though she wouldn’t know it until after her surgery, Bella actually had an atypical form of breast cancer called “triple negative” (especially rare for a women over 60), a form that responds very poorly to treatment, is more likely to spread beyond the breast and often recurs within a devastatingly short period of time.
So began Bella’s fight. Her family doctor swiftly set up an appointment with Dr. Jaime Escallon, a breast cancer surgeon at Mount Sinai, who would operate almost immediately to remove the cancerous tumour.
Bella emotionally recalls the incredible care she received on the day of her surgery. “I remember feeling quite numb about everything that was about to happen. And then right before we started, Dr. Bukhanov gave me the biggest hug, and told me I’d be okay.” Bella then received another warm hug from Debbie Bellack, Dr. Escallon’s nurse who she had come to know during her clinical appointments, and who was there to help Bella onto the operating table. “It was just so clear that they all really cared for me, and wanted me to be okay. It was extraordinary.”
The surgery went very well. Bella then underwent chemotherapy and radiation, the mainstay of treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. Now, it’s a matter of waiting to see if the breast cancer remains at bay.
The good news? There is quite a bit of it. Finding cancer early often results in the best chance of survival. As a result of both doctors’ encouragement that Bella receive yearly mammograms, her cancer was caught at an early stage. In addition, Dr. Bukhanov’s experience, which led her to further investigate what could have been a blip on Bella’s mammogram, was another life saver. Finally, the fact that Dr. Escallon was able to perform the surgery so quickly, and so expertly, became a critical factor as well.
Bella remains profoundly grateful to be celebrating yet another new year with her family. She feels quite sure that if these decisions had played out differently, her life would have been drastically altered. “Had they not been so astute and proactive, my chance of survival would likely be significantly reduced. For me, that translates into more years ahead of me with my beautiful family, which means just about everything,” says Bella. “I don’t know how you say thank you for something like that.”
With her treatment now complete, Bella is now on to the next phase of her journey – to pass the coveted eight-year mark without the cancer recurring. She is grounded in reality, and her strength of spirit is palpable. “One thing I do know,” she says, “is that I am not a survivor. That word just does not work for me, because to be a survivor one has to have been a victim, and I am not and never have been a victim. What I am is a wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. I am a woman who has had, and continues to have, a life blessed with love, family and most of all a wonderful husband, children and grandchildren. For me, that is not the life of a victim or survivor; but rather of one very lucky woman.”
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