BABYLON
Breast Cancer Coalition Gives Hope
In The Face Of Frightening Statistics

By Christy Brothers/ info@longislandernews.com

Being diagnosed with breast cancer and going through treatment can be one of the most frightening experiences a woman can go through. The Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition is a non-profit organization available to help women in all aspects of life after a diagnosis.

“We have a multitude of services,” said BBCC president, Debbie Basile. The Lend a Helping Hand program provides free transportation to doctor’s appointments, house cleaning, childcare, food preparation and short-term financial assistance for Babylon residents. For example, if a cancer patient could not pay her health insurance or electric bill, BBCC would. The program will help patients purchase prostheses, provides massage therapy and some salon services. Residents of Smithtown and South Brookhaven are also eligible.

The Lend a Helping Hand program is available in most communities around Long Island. Since Smithtown and South Brookhaven do not have the program established, residents are included in the BBCC. “We tried doing outreach to get a breast cancer coalition up and running in Smithtown,” said Basile. “We weren’t terribly successful. We tried churches, but they were nervous about funding and volunteers.” Basile added that the BBCC was nervous about funding in the beginning too, but it turned out not to be a problem at all.

The Gift of Health and Inspiration is given to all breast cancer patients who go through Good Samaritan Hospital, whether a resident of the Town of Babylon or not. The gift, a duffle bag, is filled with items such as a pen and journal, a meditative CD, a resource folder, a pin, cherry chap stick, a cooking magazine, a book about breast cancer, two movie tickets and more.

“I talk to a lot of people on the phone and try to talk them off the ledge,” said Basile. Volunteers from BBCC will accompany a patient to a doctor’s appointment in order to have a second set of ears present. Oftentimes, a patient is so overwhelmed by the vocabulary and information that it is easy to misinterpret or ignore important information, said Basile.

BBCC relies on volunteers to help distribute information, maintain the Vision of Hope garden during the spring and summer, and attend several fundraising events throughout the year. “We have quite a few volunteers that fill the bill,” said Basile. There are about 50 volunteers right now, but new volunteers are always encouraged to join.

Shortly after Mother’s Day in May, “Prevention as a Cure Week” kicks off. During this week, healthier lifestyles are promoted. This includes information of how to get rid of pests naturally, instead of using pesticides, organic food preparation and how to make your own cosmetics, said Basile.

According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, in 2004 there were 217,440 new breast cancer cases and 40,580 people died from the disease. However, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. There were 68,510 female deaths from lung cancer last year, that’s nearly 30,000 more than breast cancer.

Two breast cancer survivors who wanted to raise awareness levels of the disease founded the BBCC in 1993. With the help of volunteers, information was gathered about breast cancer statistics in the Babylon area. Then, in 1996 the Lend a Helping Hand program started. In the last 10 years, BBCC has helped over 200 cancer patients. “We do have several places that refer people to this program, God forbid someone is diagnosed,” said Basile. Instead of “reinventing the wheel” with services that already exist, patients and loved ones seeking a support group are referred out, added Basile.