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Persistence saved South Colonie
teacher's life
October 8, 2003 Debbie Gentile reads to her South Colonie students. FOR MORE INFORMATION: nysut.org/makingstrides Dwarfed by an ample spread of school supplies stacked on her desk, Debbie Gentile looks even more petite than she is. When she sits at her desk, wedged in a corner of her classroom in a small, one-story elementary school, it's easy to imagine how she could get lost in the world. And that's nearly what happened. But look closer. The South Colonie Teachers Association member's lesson plan probably reads: "Teach advocacy" for each new day. It's a lesson hard fought. The Saddlewood Elementary School teacher was told on three different doctor visits that the lump in her breast was nothing to worry about. But when you have charge of 20 or so third-graders every day, worrying is one of the regular speed bumps of life. So worry she did - at the same time she was making a plan of action. Over the course of many months, she insisted on more tests again and again, which in effect saved her own life. She is taking that determination with her, along with a group of colleagues, when she joins the union-backed American Cancer Society walk in Albany on Oct. 19. Image was clear Her saga started in January 2002 when she went to see her doctor of obstetrics/gynecology out of concern for a lump in her breast. She was told to get a mammogram, which she did. She was told the image was clear, that she just had dense breasts. The lump remained, and so did Gentile's concern. She scheduled another visit in July. She had read that Magnetic Resonance Imaging can detect things in dense breasts, and she asked her doctor to order her one. When she had the MRI, she was told there was nothing unusual in the images. Still the lump remained. By September, Gentile decided to push more. "The teacher in me had to get to the bottom of this," she said. "Something nagged me. " She requested an ultrasound - and this time the radiologist found something amiss. "At this point I wasn't scared - I was mad," Gentile said. "I cried." A week after a lumpectomy, she was told she definitely had breast cancer, and it was a rare type called tubular cancer, which only 5 percent of breast cancer patients have. Gentile then needed a second lumpectomy, along with a sentinel node biopsy, where it was discovered that the Stage 2 cancer was in her lymph node. Her treatment included chemotherapy and radiation, and surgeries to install and remove a "port" in her body for the medication. When she lost her hair at Christmas, she bought a wig because she did not want to frighten her students. But she was open with them about her illness. She thought about how her bone scan, which allowed her to see her own skeleton, was a "teachable moment." When she was out of the class for two weeks with complications, she wrote to the parents of her students to let them know what was going on. The other days, she regularly came to the school in the Albany suburbs, where her routine included settling in early, while the halls were still quiet. She keeps that pace today. She seems to nest at her desk, which overflows with crayons, markers, glue, scissors and every other future craft czar's dream tools. Books are propped everywhere. Students' work is displayed with fanfare. "Getting to school and being a teacher helped me forget," she said. Gentile encourages advocacy. "If there's any question in your mind, go have tests. If you have dense breasts and a lump and nothing shows up, you need to pursue further testing," she said. "I had none of the risk factors. I breast-fed, had my kids before I was 30, eat a good diet, and have no immediate family members with breast cancer." Being a good teacher means being a good listener. For Gentile, listening to herself helped save her life. - Liza Frenette Take a stroll - Join us Oct. 19 New York State United Teachers is a flagship sponsor of this month's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks around the state. On Oct 19, fund-raising walks will be held in Central Park, Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island, Westchester County, the Hudson Valley, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica. (On Oct. 5, Buffalo and Binghamton hosted walks including many NYSUT-backed teams.) To sign up for a NYSUT team, check with your local president, NYSUT regional office, or visit NYSUT's Web site, www.nysut.org, for online registration. If you can't walk yourself, sponsor a colleague! Last year, more than 7,500 NYSUT members helped raise more than $500,000 for the American Cancer Society's awareness, screening and treatment programs; research; and legislative efforts. |
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