A Team Effort Against Cancer, Fear

The first time Mary Ann Coppola was found to have breast cancer was bad enough, but the second time was “like walking into a brick wall--much more terrifying . . . just absolutely devastating.”

“I thought breast cancer was like the measles,” she says. “Once is enough, then you never have to worry about it again.”

And that’s true for about 90% of all women who have mastectomies, because while cancer can spread to other parts of the body it does not spread to the other breast, according to medical experts.

What helped Coppola get through the second experience was a program at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo that mobilizes a platoon of medical heavyweights to work with the patient.

Immediately after an illness is diagnosed as cancer, the team of specialists--made up of a surgeon, a plastic surgeon, a pathologist, radiologist, oncology nurses and a social worker--gather to go over all the tests and to make recommendations for treatment.

The difference between the Mission Viejo hospital’s cancer conference and those at other hospitals is that the patient and spouse attend and participate in the discussions.

“We’re trying to bring our experience and expertise to the patient,” says Dr. Stuart Nagasawa, surgeon and internal medicine specialist who chairs the conference.

The conference has two key goals, he says. The first is to allow the medical people to communicate with one another and form the best treatment plan. The second is to give the patient a chance to have any and all questions answered before making decisions.

“It’s a much more efficient and effective system for both the physician and the patient,” says Nagasawa. “Everything is in the one room--all the test results, the X-rays, the reports.

Coppola’s first encounter with breast cancer came in 1987, resulting in a mastectomy in December of that year. She had reconstructive surgery six months later and went on with her life.

Married and the mother of two grown sons, the Laguna Niguel resident says she was so grateful for her full recovery that she wanted to give back some of the proof that cancer can be licked, so she became a volunteer for both the Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center and the American Cancer Society.

“The Cancer Society matches people with similar experiences,” she says, “so I go and talk to women who were about to have the same kind of surgery I had.

“I had paid my dues and I was living proof that cancer doesn’t have to be fatal, so when a routine mammogram showed a growth in my other breast, you can’t imagine my reaction. It just couldn’t be happening to me again.”

Her husband, Anthony, joined her at the hospital conference. “It was like night and day,” she says of the two experiences. “The first time it was diagnosed, it was just me and my doctor. I didn’t even know what (questions) to ask. This time, we’re getting the opinions of 19 people, not just one, and I had specific questions.”

Coppola had her second surgery in January and is still undergoing chemotherapy, which will continue for another six months.

And she has become a part of the conference process, spending time with the patients before they meet the assembled medical group.

A cheerful, tanned and obviously fit person--the picture of health, as a matter of fact--Coppola says it’s extremely important for the patients to meet and talk to someone like herself.

“Most doctors are men and to most of these gals having a doctor tell you, ‘This is a simple process,’ is like having a dentist say, ‘This won’t hurt.’ I mean, he’s got the needle in his hand.

“So the natural reaction is, ‘Yeah, that’s easy for you to say!’

“I am able to reassure them. They know I know what they are going through because I’ve been there--twice.”