Positive Role Model

This was exactly the situation that happened with Kathy. She had been working in the city breathing in this air for months, not knowing the damaging effects it would have on her body. She was eventually diagnosed with 3 different types of cancers within the span of 9 months. Overall, she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and melanoma skin cancer. Her first diagnosis was breast cancer in May of 2011. She chose to have a double mastectomy, in order to eliminate the chance of the cancer coming back. Throughout her entire experience with breast cancer she remained very optimistic and never let her diagnosis affect her mood. She feels that her positive outlook likely helped her to get better. She even decided to get reconstructive

She caught them both very early, which prevented the opportunity for them to spread. She received surgery to remove the cancer from her thyroid and face. Both surgeries were successful. Clearly, my aunt is an exceptionally strong person. Being diagnosed with one cancer is enough to bring a person into a serious depression, but my aunt remained happy and optimistic throughout the processes with all three. She is an incredible role model for how to turn a negative situation into a positive one. My aunt has been among the lucky ones. She has survived all three of her cancers and is now cancer free. Since making the realization that her cancers were caused by 9/11 she has gone on to apply for membership to the World Trade Center Health Program.

The website for this program explains that, “The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program offers high-quality, compassionate healthcare to those directly affected by the September 11th terrorist attacks”. This program’s purpose is to provide medical help and insurance for all of the people whose health was directly impacted by the events of 9/11. The website explains that they, “provide medical monitoring and treatment for emergency responders, recovery

For this reason, the program explains that, “Though the September 11th attacks were over a decade ago, many first responders continue to experience physical and mental health symptoms as a result of their experience. Current or eligible responders may not recognize that some cancers, a chronic cough, difficulty sleeping, or frequent heartburn could be a WTC-related condition… Doctors with the WTC Health Program are experts in identifying these illnesses and providing the highest quality care” (WTCHP). The program realizes that many people likely have still not made the correlation. They want people to understand that even though the tragedy happened many years ago, their health could still have been impacted by it. This is why the program encourages people to contact them if they think that their illness may be related to the event, in order to determine if they are eligible for