Print
May 9, 2007 5:09 pm US/Eastern
Women United By Fight Against Breast Cancer
by Pat Ciarrocchi
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
-
-
Phyllis Markoff and Emily Scattergood are two friends united against breast cancer.
CBS
Fighting breast cancer is primarily a solitary battle. It is you against the illness.
Last August, two women from South Jersey found that dynamic changed completely when they met, not over coffee, but over chemo.
Life looks like a walk in the park for Phyllis Markoff and Emily Scattergood.
Both are in their mid-30s, mothers with two young children each. Phyllis is a teacher and Emily is a doctor and they are the best of friends.
"We really are like sisters," Emily said.
Sisters bonded by breast cancer. They met last August waiting for chemotherapy and now they finish each other's sentences.
They learned their cancers were the same too, aggressive. They had opted for bi-lateral mastectomies and reconstruction.
In recent years, more younger women have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Just like Emily and Phyllis, their concerns about their lives are different than older patients, primarily because they have such young children.
"We've talked to each other, you know the fear of not being here for our kids," Emily said. "You think you have your entire life ahead of you and to be smacked with something and hit so hard with that. It absolutely shatters your entire existence."
Your innocence is lost, along with your hair and breasts.
"I looked down and said, 'Girls, we've had a great run, but it's time for you to go,'" Emily said.
It was a decision Phyllis and Emily believe will save their lives which they will share with thier children and sister of choice.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
