May 7, 1995 - Episode 282 - Women of Achievement and Herstory

     Rose Kushner died at age 60 in January 1990 of breast cancer. 
But because of her, thousands of women won't. 
     She gained national recognition in 1975 when she wrote about
her battle with breast cancer in a book _Why Me?  What Every
Woman Should Know About Breast Cancer to Save Her Life_. 
     Although she was loudly condemned at the time of its
publication, many of the suggestions she made have been adopted by
the medical community...including the less radical lumpectomy. And
most important, taking the lid of secrecy off the subject.
     She was awarded the Society of Surgical Oncology's James
Ewing Award for outstanding contributions by a lay person to the
fight against cancer.  Her husband said it was poetic justice
"because the society's members had booed her off their stage in 1974
when she challenged their standard treatments."  
     She was still battling insurance companies to get them to
finance mammograms at the time of her death. Many refused.
     When she was diagnosed with a lump in her breast in the mid-
1970s, the standard treatment was an immediate operation...often
within hours.  The woman would be anesthetized in an operating room
where the lump would be removed for biopsy. The woman remained
under anesthesia while it was analyzed and if it was found to be
malignant, the breast was removed then and there.  The woman would
not know until she woke up whether she had cancer and had lost a
breast and the surrounding tissue, muscle, and glands. She was
never given a choice of treatment or any say-so about the extent of
the amputation.
     Not wanting that, it took Kushner 18 phone calls before she
could find a general surgeon to remove the lump and for her to find
a breast cancer specialist to remove her breast when the lump
proved cancerous.  She advocated lumpectomy in which the malignant
lump is removed but the rest of the breast is left. 
     She survived more than 15 years - which is considered
medically to be a full recovery - and because of her stand-up fight
for the right of a woman patient to become involved and make her
own informed decisions, many women are living full, productive lives
today - and medical research on breast cancer was forced ahead.

05-7 Anniversaries ...............................................

     B. May 7, 1818, Juliet Ann Opie Hopkins, her husband got the
title of hospital supervisor from the Alabama legislature because of
their prejudice against recognizing women, but everyone knew she
would be the one doing the job of supervising the Chimborazo
Hospital during the Civil War.  She'd gone into the battlefields to
minister to the Confederate wounded and was wounded herself.
Buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

     B. May 7, 1919, Eva Duarte De Peron, strong woman of
Argentina, venerated there almost as a saint for her work with the
poor.  Sure she was corrupt, but she also did a lot of good. 

     B. May 7, 1923, Anne Baxter, won Academy Award for best
supporting actress as Sophie in _The Razor's Edge_ (1946), and
nominated for best actress as Eve Harrington in _All About Eve_
(1946). 

     B. May 7, 1927, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Anglo-Indian author
born in Germany, won Great Britain's Brooker award.

     B. May 7, 1931, Teresa Brewer won Major Bowes' talent show at
five with her hard hitting vocal delivery that later made _Music!
Music! Music!_ an international hit of the 1950's.  

     B. May 7, 1951, Janis Ian, American singer and songwriter.

Quotes du jour ...............................................

     "Risk!  Risk anything!  Care no more for the opinion of others,
for those voices.  Do the hardest thing on earth for you.  Act for
yourself.  Face the truth!"
          -- Katherine Mansfield, author.

          ....................... * ........................

     We thank Hari N. Chengalath and Madonna Narvaez for their
donations toward defraying of the April online expenses for the
posting of Women of Achievement and Herstory and Catt's Claws. 

     (C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park,
AR 71902, irenestuber@delphi.com. Distribute verbatim copies freely
with copyright notice for non-profit use. Don't let anyone tell you
there weren't notable and effective women throughout history.  They
were always there, but historians failed to note them in our histories
so that each generation of women has had to reinvent themselves.