Surviving breast cancer

Local group provides support

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Bette Clark is a licensed psychologist who runs her own private practice at night and works part-time out of the Bronx office of the American Cancer Society.

She is also a breast cancer survivor.

Ms. Clark was diagnosed in January 2006. Since then, she has started working at both Lincoln and Jacobi Hospitals to connect newly diagnosed cancer patients to support groups and resources.

Her journey with cancer started when she was 4 years old, when she witnessed her mother die of breast cancer.

“I knew that I was probably high-risk, so I did all the right the things. I started getting checks even before the recommended age for me,” Ms. Clark said. “It’s not so uncommon for women who get checked at a young age for nothing to show up on the mammogram.”

When she was 50, doctors found a tumor in her breast. That’s when her own battle with breast cancer began.

“I went through several surgeries and had chemo radiation,” Ms. Clark said. “The most important way I got through it was through my running club, my friends and family and, of course, other people going through it.”

Since her initial diagnosis, Ms. Clark has become very active in helping other women with cancer get through the long, difficult process of treatment.

“I found that there was not a lot of support for the Bronx and Yonkers area,” Ms. Clark said. “I actually found some very useful support groups where I was being treated and the Gilda’s Club, but there wasn’t anything in the Bronx or really near me. People have to go either to White Plains or all the way down in Manhattan.”

She recounted running one morning in Van Cortlandt Park when she met the fitness director of The Riverdale Y.  There, the two discussed how they could create more support groups for people with chronic illness and cancer.

“I was focused on cancer patients but also anyone with physical conditions,” Ms. Clark said. “The Y donated very generously a support group, and anyone who came to use the group, could use the Y free for that day.”

Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Riverdale YM-YWHA, American Cancer Society, Anthony Capote
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