By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
It’s not a big deal for Joyce Salvatoriello to joke about her expensive new breasts. She went through a lot to get them. Three years ago, Salvatoriello found a lump in her left breast.
A mammogram confirmed she had stage III breast cancer. Stage four is most severe. Doctors later found a lump in her right breast.
Doctors removed 15 lymph nodes, which trap foreign particles in the body, and found cancer in about three and outside two.
“There are days when the tears flow,” she said.
She’s had chemotherapy, radiation and breast reconstruction surgery. She’s also attends Living in Pink, a breast cancer support group. The support group is made up of women who are in varying stages of breast cancer ó some have just been diagnosed and others are five, 10 or more years cancer free.
“They are like my sisters; they are like my soul,” Salvatoriello said.
The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. on the third floor conference room inside the Women’s and Children’s Health Floor of Rowan Regional Medical Center.
Vicki Rhyne, the facilitator for the group, is also a breast cancer survivor. The group was formed in 2007.
“You want to give back and it was something I wanted to do,” she said.
The women attend the meetings where they laugh and talk and sometimes cry. But there is always laughter, Rhyne said.
“These women are so strong and courageous. It’s an honor to know and be with them,” she said.
The key to survival, Rhyne said, is a person’s attitude.
“You can embrace it or not,” she said.
Embracing her breast cancer is something Pat Ralph knows about.
“Healing takes longer when you wallow in it,” Ralph said.
She was diagnosed in 2008 after her doctor found a lump in her right breast. She’d had some sensitivity and noticed it just didn’t feel right, she said.
She had a mammogram, which pinpointed a malignant mass.
Ralph opted to have a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy to avoid any possible reoccurrence.
She didn’t expect to have any more children and the idea of more surgery didn’t appeal to her.
So she chose to wear a prosthesis instead of having reconstructive surgery.
She attends the support meetings each month.
For more information about Living In Pink, contact Rhyne at 704-640-8088.