Lisa's Story
 
In early spring of 2004, Lisa Pelazza, mother of two, felt an odd burning sensation in her breast. Though not extremely alarmed, Lisa visited her Ob/gyn who immediately scheduled her for a Mammogram and Ultrasound at Stamford Hospital's Women's Breast Center. The mammogram results were inconclusive; the ultrasound, however, showed that Lisa did, in fact, have a lump in her breast. Three weeks after the ultasound revealed the lump, Lisa underwent a lumpectomy. Through this, it was determined that the tumor was cancerous. After Lisa recovered from the lumpectomy, she underwent a sentinel node dissection which determined that the cancer had spread to Lisa's lymph nodes and was now determined to be stage II cancer.
Within three weeks of the surgery, a 16-week course of chemotherapy was begun at Stamford Hospital's Bennett Cancer Center. “I chose to have my cancer treated at the center because the oncology team had such a wonderful reputation,” she says. Lisa was impressed with the caring and generosity of both the staff and volunteers. She also enjoyed her experiences with the Integrative Medicine Program offered to Bennett Cancer Center patients: “While undergoing chemotherapy, I took part in modalities intended to ease the discomfort from chemotherapy, and also my anxiety. I participated in Reiki, massage therapy, reflexology and then, afterwards, in The Kneaded Touch Post-Therapy Fitness & Nutrition Program. They all worked wonders in creating a balance between health and well being .”
Lisa's course of therapy lasted a year. “I was inspired by so many people who had been patients at the Bennett Cancer Center." During the year of her treatment she had heard about a group of women called Friday Girls. The name derived from meeting while receiving their chemotherapy treatments every Friday at The Bennett Cancer Center. "I heard wonderful stories about the group's courage, interaction and fund raising e f forts. I never felt like a number. People knew my name. The staff and volunteers legitimately cared for my well-being.”
More than two years later, this cheerful, positive woman is now cancer-free. She is a crusader for the fight against breast cancer. Along with her husband, a local comedian, Lisa has launched a fundraising organization called Comics Against Cancer, with an annual fundraiser. Her team “Pelazza's Breast Cancer Brigade” raised $17,000 to fight breast cancer at the 2005 Bennett Cancer Center walk. She still comes to the Bennett Cancer Center regularly – both as a patient and as a visitor, stopping in to say hello to the many staff members she now considers her good friends.
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