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| By Paula Canning Staff Writer CHICOPEE At age 31, Maureen Gallant had been healthy and active all of her life, did not have a mother who had cancer, and never smoked. So when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 2004, Gallant said she was "shocked." Gallant, a registered nurse, discovered the lump during a routine self breast exam. "I knew right away what it was," she said. "I just didn't have a good feeling about it." Like many young women her age, Gallant said she didn't expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer at such a young age. "Many women don't realize that they're at risk," explained the Chicopee native. Inspired by the desire to help educate young women at risk of breast cancer about the disease, as well as to support finding a cure, Gallant will join thousands of walkers on Oct. 30 when she participates in the Rays of Hope A Walk Towards the Cure of Breast Cancer. The annual walk-a-thon, which was founded in 1994 by Baystate Medical Center's Comprehensive Breast Center, will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Springfield's Forest Park. Last year, the event attracted over 7,000 participants. Gallant was among these participants last year, and said it was "inspiring," to see all of the people who came to support the cause, including many family members and friends. "It was very emotional," she said. Gallant said that increasing awareness about the disease is so important because so many people are unaware that the disease can affect women at any age. "Young women in their 20s and 30s are at risk," Gallant said, adding that she had even heard of teenagers having the disease. She said that, if women are more aware of the risks, then they will be more likely to perform self breast examinations and to receive a thorough breast exam by a physician on a yearly basis. Gallant said that she recommended that women should always be conscious about the breast examinations, and that women should also begin seeing an ob-gyn as early as possible. Early diagnosis is the key to fighting breast cancer at any age, Gallant said, but it is especially important with young women. "When young women get breast cancer, it tends to be more aggressive and caught in a later stage," she said. In addition to wanting to raise awareness, Gallant said she participates in the walk-a-thon to help raise funds on a local level for breast cancer research and various community programs for women who have or have had breast cancer. Moreover, Gallant said that she is walking in honor of the many women who have been affected by breast cancer - especially her 90-year-old grandmother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 40 and has since not had any reoccurances. She said she is also walking for her mother-in-law, who was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago, along with her mother-in-law's twin sister, who was also diagnosed a year later. Just like her grandmother, Gallant has yet to have a reoccurance, but is still "in disbelief," about everything she has been through. She said that after her initial doctor's appointment after she discovered the lump, she was told not be too concerned, but was given an ultrasound to be sure. The next day, the radiologist she saw told her that the lump was likely to be cancerous, and that a biopsy was needed. Gallant described the next three days as she waited for the results of the biopsy as "the longest three days of her life." When she received the diagnosis, Gallant was told that the cancer was an aggressive form that had already moved in the second of three stages of breast cancer. After hearing the news, Gallant headed to Mass General Hospital in Boston for treatment. "The main reason I went to Boston is because my mother-in-law had received treatment there and I just felt more comfortable going to doctors that she knew," she said. "I'm sure that there are fantastic doctors locally." The first phrase of treatment consisted of trying to shrink the tumor through chemotherapy treatments every three weeks over a 4.5 month period. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it definitely wasn't great," she said of the chemotherapy. After the chemotherapy, the doctors performed surgery to remove the cancerous tissue and found that the tumor had shrunk "down to nothing" and that there was no evidence of any cancer. "It was great news," she said. She was then instructed to undergo 36 radiation treatments "just to be sure," which she received locally. Since her diagnosis, Gallant said life is very different for her. "It really changed my perspective," she said. "I really appreciate life more." She said that she would not have been able to get through everything without the support of her husband and family, as well as the support she has received from other women who have had or have breast cancer. "I have met so many wonderful women from the western Mass. area who are survivors and it has really helped me with this life changing circumstance," she said. Gallant has met a lot of these women through a variety of informational sessions and programs sponsored by the Rays of Hope walk, including the Rays of Hope Survivors Day at the Sheraton in Springfield this past spring, as well as their numerous yoga and mediation classes. At the walk-a-thon, many of her friends and family will walk with her as a member of her "Friends for Life," team, of which she is the captain. She said that she chose this name because many of the people who will be walking on her team are her husband, family and friends. Anyone interested in forming a team for the Rays of Hope walk-a-thon should call the Rays of Hope at (413) 794-8001 or send an email requesting information to raysofhope@bhs.org. If you are unable to participate in the walk, you can support the event by registering in the 10,000 Steps Toward A Cure program where you will receive a pedometer to keep track of your steps in the month of October. Donations are then raised the same way as other participants who do the walk. For more information, log on to www.baystatehealth.com/raysofhope. |