After 3 years, Letteece Fairley, of Elmont, conquered her fear and got treated for cancer

As doctors administered anesthesia for a September mastectomy, Letteece Fairley, of Elmont, feared she may never wake up. With her family's past experience and anxiety over what a diagnosis could mean, the surgery came after three years of leaving a slowly growing breast mass untreated.

A month later, donning a bright pink blazer and a silk scarf for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the 86-year-old mother of six children, grandmother to 12 and great-grandmother to one, couldn’t stop talking about how good she felt ahead of her follow-up appointment.

"Totally different patient, I think, than she was when I first met her," Dr. Ira Klonsky, a general surgeon and wound specialist who’s been at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital since 1986 and who performed the surgery, told Newsday on Friday.

In her praise report, or testimony, Fairley wrote that God sent her Klonsky — she doesn’t think she would have accepted treatment from any other physician. Her daughter Kuwata Williams, 59, of Freeport, said she nearly fainted when her mother agreed to surgery.

Early in 2023, Williams said she had noticed two large dark spots rising from her mother's skin. Months later, Williams finally convinced her mom to see a doctor, who gave Fairley a referral for a biopsy.

"I didn't keep the appointment. My daughter Kuwata kept making appointments, but I wasn't hurting," Fairley said. "I just felt good, and I just believed God. And I didn't go to any doctors, so all the way from 2023 up to August of 2026."

Fairley’s older sister Mildred overcame breast cancer in 2008 but died in 2019. Her family believes intense radiation and chemotherapy contributed to her death. Then, in 2022, her younger sister Celeste died of breast cancer that had spread to her liver, just 10 days after she finally sought medical care at a hospital.

"I do think it did have an impact on me not going to the biopsy. I know it did," said Fairley, describing concerns of what a late-stage diagnosis could mean and the possibility of being admitted to the hospital and never leaving.

Williams described the past three years as an uphill battle, as she and her sister Kimberly struggled to balance their fears with respecting Fairley’s autonomy.

"We got to the point where we accepted that you may not want to get treatment for this, but we at least wanted her to get a diagnosis and to see what was going on, and she would not do that. She didn't do anything. We tried a lot of different things," Williams said.

After going so long without treatment, Williams believes her mom felt her illness was no longer treatable. But this summer, she said Fairley’s symptoms could no longer be ignored.

The two went to LIJ Valley Stream’s Wound Care Center in August, where Klonsky examined her and calmly recommended surgery. Williams described his gentle, matter-a-fact approach to informing Fairley of her condition and her need to schedule a mastectomy.

"When I first met him, he gave me such confidence. He's the first doctor that really looked at me," Fairley said "It didn’t seem like it was too late." 

She was skeptical about undergoing anesthesia at her age, but she agreed — as long as Klonsky would be performing the surgery.

Klonsky said he doesn’t often perform breast surgeries anymore. Typically, he said, physicians at LIJ Valley Stream send patients to tertiary care hospitals, or specialized medical centers, for these types of procedures.

Building trust

But he could tell Fairley was afraid from the moment they met. Still, they had already begun building trust.

"Deep down, I'm pretty sure they knew that it was a cancer of the breast that she was in denial about," Klonsky said. "She was reluctant to seek treatment or trust medical doctors. ... I realized that right away, and tried to come on very easy with her, gentle, not just bombard her with all the facts. And I think we developed a rapport. I liked her. She liked me.

"We fell in love," he joked.

Though it happens less often than it did 20 years ago, Klonsky said fearful patients who have long avoided treatment often show up to the Wound Care Center. He emphasized a need to "treat the patient first, not just treat the disease."

"I feel like I'm left here to encourage the next generation," said Fairley said of her family.

Williams said the family has taken much away from Fairley’s journey, from the importance of early detection and treatment, to the balance between leaning on her faith while also seeking medical care.

"I just look at her life as a positive example. ... She’ll always think of the positive." said Williams, admiring her mother’s joy and perseverance. "I hope to be like her."