2012 survivor profile: Theresa Camilleri
“I know how delicate life is. I appreciate every moment.” - Theresa Camilleri
One night in March 2006, Theresa Camilleri, then 43, and her husband were watching TV when she felt soreness under her arm. She touched it and felt a lump.
Her long journey began the very next day, when her gynecologist sent her for a mammography and referred her to a breast surgeon. Theresa went to Memorial Sloan-Kettering and within days was diagnosed not only with breast cancer, but also with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
After a lumpectomy, Theresa began chemotherapy and radiation to treat the lymphoma and prevent a recurrence of breast cancer. "The care and support I received from my doctors and the American Cancer Society inspired me to get involved and give back,” says Theresa. “Upon completion of treatments, I began working at ACS. It was about helping others. What I didn't realize is how much I would receive in return.
But Theresa's battle didn't end there. She was diagnosed in June 2007 with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a blood disorder, the same disorder that TV's Robin Roberts is battling. Her lymphoma flared up in October 2008 and required more chemo and treatments.
In October 2009, Theresa had a cord blood transplant and spent months in isolation in the hospital. Today she is in remission. "It's been a rough road, and I am still overcoming obstacles, but I thank God every day for my husband, my two children, family, friends and doctors. I take it one day at a time and let the love get me through it."
'If you don't address demand, you don't address the problem' Police are only addressing the supply, but demand is what fuels the illicit sex trade, experts say. Newsday political reporter Bahar Ostadan has the story.
'If you don't address demand, you don't address the problem' Police are only addressing the supply, but demand is what fuels the illicit sex trade, experts say. Newsday political reporter Bahar Ostadan has the story.
