(Note: This memory contains graphic descriptions of the reality of cancer.)
The phone calls always seemed to come when I was up to my, well you know the expression, in details for some elaborate event sponsored by the hospital. As PR director at Bayshore, medical photography was one of my assignments. I always dreaded those calls from Dixie. Those photos were different.
“Dorothy, we have another one.” Dixie would say. “Can you come over to the office?”
“Right now?” I panicked knowing I was about to lose a couple of hours from an already packed day.
“Yes, now. I just finished examining her. It’s worse than the last one, been out of the skin for two years. I need to document her case.”
I’d grabbed my trusty Canon, check for slide film, flash attachments and headed over to her office. These were the photos that would make the biggest difference in Dixie’s education presentations. I’d been handling the medical photography for years and was never squeamish about it, no matter what type of case.
I remember being called to the Operating Room when they wanted to chronicle extracting a 15-pound tumor from a woman’s abdomen. Bracketing and F-stops were the priority. I was most concerned about whether I had enough contrast among all the red of the open flesh. Much later, after specimen shots and measurements, I allowed the realization to settle in, “Hey, that was a living, breathing person under those sterile drapes.”
I never saw anything other than a “person” when I responded to the calls from Dixie. No matter how much she’d try to warn me, nothing ever prepared me for seeing advanced breast cancer. The women would be waiting for me, sitting alone in the exam room, covered by a gown. As I’d start to position them against a backdrop, we’d remove the covering and I would steel my face.
The sight was never the same. The smell of rotting flesh was the common factor. You knew when you entered the room what you were about to see wasn’t going to be good.
Sometimes it looked like a hunk of raw, oozing hamburger meat, attached to the outside of a woman’s breast. A closer look revealed the “hunk” was coming from the inside, stretching the skin in a grotesque shape.
The worse case was a young 28-year-old, whose cancer was so bad that it looked like it had exploded right out of her breast. Resembling a yellow cauliflower-bordered cavern, the gaping hole, about the size of a fist, sat in the very middle of her right breast and the muscles covering her ribcage could be seen. She was the single mother with two kids and no money. She had to keep working for as long as possible. Two weeks after I took the photo, she was dead.
One of the saddest cases was an elderly lady whose children had brought her in because “Granny couldn’t breathe” and “Granny had a bad smell about her.” She couldn't breathe because the cancer causing the ugly sores on her chest had also eaten into her lungs. No one had ever seen Granny undressed, so no one knew how long those sores had been there.
The woman I was to photograph this day had hid her tumor by covering it with diapers tucked inside her bra. She had discovered the lump in her breast a long time ago, but her husband had lost his job and with it, their medical insurance. Since she didn’t want it to be a “pre-existing disease” when he did find work and they could get insurance again, she never told anyone about it.
When this lady’s tumor erupted through the skin, she still didn’t understand the significance. She thought that no matter how big it got, it could be removed by surgery. She’d seen the newspaper stories about Dixie and made her appointment, hoping to find someone who could help.
The photo shoot went quickly. Afterwards, Dixie and I sat in her office. We didn’t talk. We sat, our minds racing but our voices stilled by the scene. We sat for the longest time.
“Unbelievable,” I said, finally breaking the silence, “how on earth did she hide that for so long from her husband?”
Dixie sighed, “I asked her that. She said she always kept her clothes on, even at night she wore a bra under her gown. I doubt she and husband were intimate anymore. They were so worried about money and no work and losing their home.”
“What now?” I asked.
Dixie replied, “Nothing … there’s nothing that can be done. All I can do is hold her hand while she dies.”
This memory is one of 25 short stories written by Dorothy Gibbons, the Co-founder and CEO of The Rose, a nonprofit breast cancer organization. She and Dr. Dixie Melillo received the 501C3 documents for The Rose in 1986. A memory will be shared daily, culminating with number 25 on the day The Rose celebrates its 25th anniversary November 10.
© 2011 Dorothy Gibbons. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Early Years -- Day 1 of 25 Memories -- A Countdown to Our 25th Anniversary Gala by Dorothy Gibbons
Local folks would try to convince you that Pasadena Texas in 1984 was the tourist Mecca for the whole state. After all, Pasadena was home of the infamous Gilley’s, the nationally known Strawberry Festival and oddly enough it could tout that NASA was located within its city limits. The truth was tourism couldn’t compare to oil and gas, Pasadena’s true glory. Thousands of people made their living at the petroleum plants that lined the Houston Ship Channel. Folks from outside the city limits seemed put off by the sometimes suspect quality of the air, even describing it as being a bit chewy. But the locals knew differently, that strange odor in the air was “the smell of money,” or so they said.
"Good ol’ boys" wasn’t just a working term, it was a way of life.
At that time, Gilley’s was the largest country and western dance hall in the entire nation, made even more famous as the film site for the movie Urban Cowboy. Pick-up trucks, cowboy hats and boot scooting were regular sights at the 15,000 sq. ft.-pieced together-barn-of-a-place. But its main attraction was the mechanical bull which landed some hapless want-to-be cowboy in the emergency room at least once a week. I never acquired a taste for C&W, but as the Public Relations Director for Bayshore Hospital I spent plenty of time enduring it. I experienced pure torture every time I had to host an out-of-town group to yet another evening at Gilley’s.
Promoting new physicians was one of my better duties, especially when it came to Dixie. She hadn’t been on staff for very long before I was called upstairs for the official “administrative” meeting.
Dixie was every PR person’s dream, a physician who was truly marketable. She was one of the few female general surgeons at that time and her passion for her work was obvious. Plus, she was pushing a new service that no other hospital was offering, at least not in our community.
“You cannot x-ray breasts with the same machine that’s used to x-ray a broken arm.” She argued with the hospital administrator during that first meeting when I got to observe her in action. “You have to have a dedicated mammography unit.” She had taken the Director of Radiology in tow and they were making a pretty convincing case to the administrator.
They pointed out that interest in women’s health was on the rise and that by providing more services to women the public's interest in the hospital would increase. The administrator was listening.
Dixie – even then - pressed on pricing.
“Charging $160 for a mammogram is too much money,” Dixie fumed. “Make it a reasonable amount and I’ll go out and give talks to the community. I’ll promote it to the hilt and I promise you I’ll get the women in here.”
“What’s reasonable?” the administrator asked.
He shouldn’t have done that. One should never ask Dixie what’s reasonable especially when it comes to what to charge a woman for screening. She wanted it to be $50, he choked on $100 but finally they agreed at $80.
So the deal was struck, the machine ordered and the marketing plan created. The city’s first dedicated breast imaging center opened and Dixie began her speaking circuit.
During the next 2 years, we gave over 300 community education presentations to anyone who would listen. I’d make the arrangements and do the driving. Dixie would do the talking. Civic groups, church groups, garden clubs, women’s groups, chemical plant employees, Rotarians and Rotary Anns, no one was turned down. Most were small groups, 20 or 30 people. Dixie once gave a talk that had only two people show up, and one was the other speaker.
A better evangelist for breast cancer screening has yet to be found. Dixie’s name and Breast Cancer became synonymous throughout the community. Women insisted on seeing her for breast exams or surgery.
Those 300+ presentations did their job. Women were becoming aware. But those drives were also giving us time together … to dream.
This memory is the first in a series of 25 short stories written by Dorothy Gibbons, the Co-founder and CEO of The Rose, a nonprofit breast cancer organization. She and Dr. Dixie Melillo received the 501C3 documents for The Rose in 1986. A memory will be shared daily, culminating with number 25 on the day The Rose celebrates its 25th anniversary November 10.
© 2011 Dorothy Gibbons. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Clients Invited to "Create While You Wait" During Pink Days at The Rose
Individuals making an appointment for a mammogram will also get the opportunity to make art when two local breast cancer organizations combine their strengths for Pink Days at The Rose Galleria. This collaborative effort of the Pink Ribbons Project, in motion against breast cancer, and The Rose, a nonprofit breast cancer organization offering screenings and diagnostic services for the insured and uninsured, is a six-month venture on the first Tuesday of each month from June to November.
“We want to offer Houston women a positive, powerful tool with which to take charge of their breast health and overall wellbeing,” said Dorothy Gibbons, co-founder and CEO of The Rose. “By pairing Pink Ribbons Project’s expertise in arts education and The Rose’s high-quality breast health services, we can provide the women of Houston with a unique and positive breast health care experience.”
Each first Tuesday will feature a different guest presenter. Artist Kermit Eisenhut, a member of the Pink Ribbons Project Advisory Board, launched the program on June 7. He provided instruction on a simple, fun art project for those awaiting their breast screening appointments or those who chose to stay after.
The subsequent first Tuesdays will feature opportunities for clients to be creative with jewelry-making and needlework as well as relax through yoga and massage.
Along with helping to coordinate the activities for Pink Days at The Rose Galleria, Pink Ribbons Project is covering the costs of the initial screening mammogram of uninsured clients who book on those Tuesdays: June 7, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, or November 1. Should further services be necessary for those uninsured clients, Pink Ribbons Project will cover those costs as well.
“Pink Ribbons Project mission is to save lives and improve the quality of life for those touched by breast cancer,” noted Loubel Cruz Galik, Executive Director for Pink Ribbons Project. “Helping to provide a day of art and education while also ensuring that uninsured women are well cared for is perfectly in line with what we are all about.”
For a complete list of activities, please contact Karen Campbell at kcampbell@therose.org. To book an appointment during the Pink Days at The Rose Galleria program, call 281.484.4708.
“We want to offer Houston women a positive, powerful tool with which to take charge of their breast health and overall wellbeing,” said Dorothy Gibbons, co-founder and CEO of The Rose. “By pairing Pink Ribbons Project’s expertise in arts education and The Rose’s high-quality breast health services, we can provide the women of Houston with a unique and positive breast health care experience.”
Each first Tuesday will feature a different guest presenter. Artist Kermit Eisenhut, a member of the Pink Ribbons Project Advisory Board, launched the program on June 7. He provided instruction on a simple, fun art project for those awaiting their breast screening appointments or those who chose to stay after.
The subsequent first Tuesdays will feature opportunities for clients to be creative with jewelry-making and needlework as well as relax through yoga and massage.
Along with helping to coordinate the activities for Pink Days at The Rose Galleria, Pink Ribbons Project is covering the costs of the initial screening mammogram of uninsured clients who book on those Tuesdays: June 7, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, or November 1. Should further services be necessary for those uninsured clients, Pink Ribbons Project will cover those costs as well.
“Pink Ribbons Project mission is to save lives and improve the quality of life for those touched by breast cancer,” noted Loubel Cruz Galik, Executive Director for Pink Ribbons Project. “Helping to provide a day of art and education while also ensuring that uninsured women are well cared for is perfectly in line with what we are all about.”
For a complete list of activities, please contact Karen Campbell at kcampbell@therose.org. To book an appointment during the Pink Days at The Rose Galleria program, call 281.484.4708.
The Rose Shrimp Boil - Back for the 22nd Year!
Last year, Southeast Houston’s oldest and largest fundraising event attracted over 1,000 people and grossed more than $110,000 with 80 Silent Auction items, 10 Live Auction items, and 2 Raffles. This year promises to be even better.
Doors open at 4:00 p.m. Pre-sale adult tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at https://therose.ejoinme.org/MyPages/ShrimpBoil/tabid/125625/Default.aspx. At the door, it’ll cost you $25. For kids 4-10 years of age, tickets are only $10, which includes a Kid’s Hot Dog Meal plus admission to the popular “Kids Zone.”
As you finish off mounds of fabulous, finger-licking good shrimp and sides, enjoy the entertainment and auctions. The Grateful Geezers and The Pee-Wee Bowen Bands will keep the joint jumping; while you cruise the Silent Auction tables (4:00-7:30 p.m.). You’ll want to purchase some Raffle Tickets, too, for a chance to win our first prize – a 46” LED-LCD HDTV, donated by the ZACHRY Company. Our amazing Live Auction begins at 6:00 p.m.
This year’s theme, Aloha Hollywood, kicks off a celebration of The Rose’s 25th Anniversary, which culminates in a grand 25th Anniversary Silver Gala on November 10, 2011. For 25 years, The Rose has provided screening mammograms, diagnostic services, and access to breast cancer treatment for all women regardless of their ability to pay. So when you buy a table, raffle ticket, or auction item, you are helping The Rose continue this important service to the community. Co-founders of the organization, surgeon Dr. Dixie Melillo and The Rose CEO Dorothy Weston Gibbons, as always, will be at the Shrimp Boil meeting, greeting and thanking the 1000-plus supporters and survivors expected to attend.
Sponsorships are still available. You can find all the information you need on our website under our “News & Events” tab. We are very grateful to last year’s sponsors including Bayshore Medical Center, Pinnacle Financial Strategies, Precision Radiotherapy Center, The Greensheet, Bayway Lincoln, Buffalo Flange, Inc., Coastal Plastic Surgery, East Houston General Surgery, Phelps Insurance, Casa Olé, Best Buy, Bay Area Elite Properties, Buxton Interests, Inc., Rosewood Funeral Home, KBR, Shell Deer Park and Taylor & Taylor Construction LP.
“We prominently publish and display a sponsor’s name as a supporter of The Rose and the fight against breast cancer,” said Michelle Hanson Special Events Manager. “Even if a sponsor can’t attend, we still recognize them publicly and in print,” she said.
Another way for Houston businesses to support the event is to donate an item for the live and silent auctions. “There’s room in the mix for prizes big and small,” Hanson said. “Participants will bid on everything from airline tickets and automobiles to free dinners at the area’s best eateries, to gift cards at favorite stores.”
“Additionally, we invite everyone to visit The Rose website (http://www.therose.org/) to learn more about the many women we’ve assisted and the many lives we’ve helped save,” said Hanson.
For more information about The Rose 2011 Shrimp Boil and how to participate, call Hanson at (281) 464-5165 or contact her via e-mail at mhanson@TheRose.org.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Bikers Against Breast Cancer Helps Family Thank The Rose
HOUSTON – More than 500 riders, volunteers, and supporters participated in the 3rd Annual Bikers Against Breast Cancer (BABC) record-setting ride Saturday, May 7. And at least one new rider plans to make it an annual event.
Debbie Stokes has arthritis, so she never considered a long ride an option. But as soon as she heard the BABC ride would be benefitting The Rose, she immediately signed up. According to Debbie, her daughter Elizabeth is alive today because of the breast cancer organization that provides services for the insured and uninsured.
At 21 years of age, Elizabeth found a lump during a routine breast self exam. The Liberty resident had learned about the importance of breast health care when she was 19 and a t-shirt attracted her to an educational booth at Houston’s annual Buzzfest concert. Since then, she’s taken care of herself and encouraged her friends to do so as well. However, as a young mother, she told herself the lump and her needs could wait and decided not to mention it to her doctor. Elizabeth’s father Larry had other plans.
Elizabeth’s aunt (Larry’s sister) is a 30-year survivor. He didn’t want his daughter taking any chances, so he applied a bit of paternal pressure. When Elizabeth went for her six-week checkup after having given birth to son Aiden, she mentioned the lump. Aware that she was uninsured, her doctor also knew of the services provided by The Rose and referred her for a screening. A mammogram, ultrasound, and a biopsy later, she got the news from Dr. Dixie Melillo, her physician and the Co-founder of The Rose.
She had breast cancer.
Both Elizabeth and Debbie thought of her own child when the report was received. Blue-eyed Aiden inspired Elizabeth. Debbie confesses her first thought was “Why not me?” and described the experience as “the hardest thing a parent can see her child go through.”
The Rose assisted Elizabeth in accessing the state-funded Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Services Program. Soon she was insured and receiving aggressive rounds of chemotherapy at MD Anderson. She finished her last round March 7 and was pronounced cancer free on April 1.
“My mom never left my side,” the now 22-year-old Elizabeth reports.
“She kept telling me, ‘Failure is not an option,’” explained Debbie.
“I had an incentive – I wanted to watch my son grow up,” Elizabeth concluded.
Inspired by Elizabeth’s courage and tenacity, Debbie claimed her own victory when she completed the 45 miles on Saturday.
“I owe it to The Rose,” Debbie noted. “I wish I could do more. I tell everyone about what a great organization The Rose is, because, unfortunately, it’s still a secret to many.”
On top of caring for Elizabeth and helping out with her grandson, Debbie plans to continue to be a vocal advocate for The Rose and for young women not having to wait until they are 40 years of age to get coverage for mammograms.
Totals for the event are still being tallied, but 2011 BABC ride looks to be another record-breaking year. The event has grown from 125 bikes raising $10,000 in 2009 to this year’s estimated 391 riders and 85 ghost riders, raising nearly $50,000 for The Rose. A new opportunity called a “ghost rider” allowed for participation for those who would not be riding but who wanted to make a donation. In addition, more than 75 volunteers assisted with the registration, silent auction, and raffle.
“I applaud the incredible Bikers Against Breast Cancer Committee led by D’Etta Casto DeLeon for creating an outstanding event,” said Dorothy Gibbons, CEO and Co-founder of The Rose. “Looking over that sea of bikes was amazing. And I celebrated as stories were shared, tears were shed, and laughter and music made for a great day. There aren’t enough words to adequately thank the riders, committee, volunteers, and staff who made this fundraiser such a success.”
Bikers Against Breast Cancer launched in the Houston area in 2009. The committee consists of volunteers, assisted by The Rose staff. In its three-year history, BABC has raised a total of nearly $100,000 to benefit The Rose.
Debbie Stokes has arthritis, so she never considered a long ride an option. But as soon as she heard the BABC ride would be benefitting The Rose, she immediately signed up. According to Debbie, her daughter Elizabeth is alive today because of the breast cancer organization that provides services for the insured and uninsured.
At 21 years of age, Elizabeth found a lump during a routine breast self exam. The Liberty resident had learned about the importance of breast health care when she was 19 and a t-shirt attracted her to an educational booth at Houston’s annual Buzzfest concert. Since then, she’s taken care of herself and encouraged her friends to do so as well. However, as a young mother, she told herself the lump and her needs could wait and decided not to mention it to her doctor. Elizabeth’s father Larry had other plans.
Elizabeth’s aunt (Larry’s sister) is a 30-year survivor. He didn’t want his daughter taking any chances, so he applied a bit of paternal pressure. When Elizabeth went for her six-week checkup after having given birth to son Aiden, she mentioned the lump. Aware that she was uninsured, her doctor also knew of the services provided by The Rose and referred her for a screening. A mammogram, ultrasound, and a biopsy later, she got the news from Dr. Dixie Melillo, her physician and the Co-founder of The Rose.
She had breast cancer.
Both Elizabeth and Debbie thought of her own child when the report was received. Blue-eyed Aiden inspired Elizabeth. Debbie confesses her first thought was “Why not me?” and described the experience as “the hardest thing a parent can see her child go through.”
The Rose assisted Elizabeth in accessing the state-funded Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Services Program. Soon she was insured and receiving aggressive rounds of chemotherapy at MD Anderson. She finished her last round March 7 and was pronounced cancer free on April 1.
“My mom never left my side,” the now 22-year-old Elizabeth reports.
“She kept telling me, ‘Failure is not an option,’” explained Debbie.
“I had an incentive – I wanted to watch my son grow up,” Elizabeth concluded.
Inspired by Elizabeth’s courage and tenacity, Debbie claimed her own victory when she completed the 45 miles on Saturday.
“I owe it to The Rose,” Debbie noted. “I wish I could do more. I tell everyone about what a great organization The Rose is, because, unfortunately, it’s still a secret to many.”
On top of caring for Elizabeth and helping out with her grandson, Debbie plans to continue to be a vocal advocate for The Rose and for young women not having to wait until they are 40 years of age to get coverage for mammograms.
Totals for the event are still being tallied, but 2011 BABC ride looks to be another record-breaking year. The event has grown from 125 bikes raising $10,000 in 2009 to this year’s estimated 391 riders and 85 ghost riders, raising nearly $50,000 for The Rose. A new opportunity called a “ghost rider” allowed for participation for those who would not be riding but who wanted to make a donation. In addition, more than 75 volunteers assisted with the registration, silent auction, and raffle.
“I applaud the incredible Bikers Against Breast Cancer Committee led by D’Etta Casto DeLeon for creating an outstanding event,” said Dorothy Gibbons, CEO and Co-founder of The Rose. “Looking over that sea of bikes was amazing. And I celebrated as stories were shared, tears were shed, and laughter and music made for a great day. There aren’t enough words to adequately thank the riders, committee, volunteers, and staff who made this fundraiser such a success.”
Bikers Against Breast Cancer launched in the Houston area in 2009. The committee consists of volunteers, assisted by The Rose staff. In its three-year history, BABC has raised a total of nearly $100,000 to benefit The Rose.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Jam for the Cause on Great Day Houston!
Special thanks to Tina Steele or organizing this wonderful event for The Rose. We appreciate you!
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