Our Patients' Stories
The American-Italian Cancer Foundation is dedicated to providing no-cost,
life-saving breast cancer screening services to the women who need it most.
Their stories give our work meaning and purpose, and we are proud to share some of them below:
life-saving breast cancer screening services to the women who need it most.
Their stories give our work meaning and purpose, and we are proud to share some of them below:
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On May 1, 2019, Saida, a 52-year-old uninsured Queens resident, had her annual mammogram on our Bus; she was a walk-in patient. Saida and her friend saw AICF’s Mammogram Bus and decided to inquire aboutour services. Our host site coordinator discussed our eligibility criteria and encouraged Saida to walk-in. With a little convincing from her friend, Saida decided to get her mammogram. She stated, “I haven’t had a mammogram in about 5 years, so I am a little nervous. I had a few health problems two years ago and at the same time, I lost my insurance, so that’s why I haven’t kept up with my screenings. My husband and I are on a limited income, and can’t afford medical exams. I’m thankful that I learned about your no-costservice. I am going to share this with my friends!”. |
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On March 8, 2019, Kelly, a 57-year-old Bronx resident, came
for her annual screening. She first screened with us last year when we visited her daughter’s school. Kelly stated, “I learned about your no-cost program last year by the parent coordinator at my daughter’s school. I know this year the school wasn’t able to host you so I’m glad you still gave me a call and offered me this location. This is actually much closer; I live across the street.” Kelly also stated how important it is for her to keep up with mammograms because a few years back she had a small lump, but it was benign. “Ever since that experience, I make sure to keep up with my mammograms every year. It was a scary situation and I’m lucky it was nothing; I need to stay healthy because I have a child to take care of.” |
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On October 7, 2018, Jenny called AICF to express her gratitude for the screening she was provided. Jenny was thankful that the Mammogram Bus was right outside of her office, because she was able to go on her break to get the mammogram done rather than having to take time off work. After the screening, her report indicated that she was in need of additional testing which made her nervous and scared. Fortunately, after working with AICF’s Patient Navigator, Jenny scheduled her additional testing a week after receiving her screening report. Her diagnostic results were benign. Jenny stated, “Looking back now, if you hadn’t come out to my job, I probably wouldn’t have completed my mammogram, and if I did have breast cancer, I wouldn’t have known. So thank you for providing this service and making it accessible."”
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On Thursday, March 8, 2018, we screened with Public School 106: Parkchester School. We screened a total of 12 patients. Lisa, the site coordinator who is also the parent coordinator was grateful for being able to schedule this for the school’s community. She herself also signed up to get her annual mammogram done. Lisa stated, “Working in a school, it’s hard to keep up with your medical exams. The breaks we do get during the day, are too short for us to leave campus and go to a medical appointment and come back in time. So a lot of us delay our exams. But being able to bring out a mobile that brings the service to us, is extremely helpful. We are able to easily use our short breaks to squeeze in a necessary medical exam.”
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