Exonian Profiles
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When Melanie Kaye Bone ’77 was diagnosed with cancer at age 40, she was, she readily admits, devastated. After all, until that time she had lived her life at full throttle: graduating from Georgetown University and Albany Medical College; completing her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University; joining in a large group practice in West Palm Beach, FL, then leaving it to open her own solo practice; and marrying and giving birth to four children in 3 1/2 years. “Before I got sick, I worked 90 hours a week, ran marathons and didn’t appreciate what I had at home,” says Bone. Today, it’s what she has at home—the support of her family and friends—as well as her own formidable drive that has helped Bone to survive. “Cancer made me sit back and look at my life,” she says. “I spend more time at home. If I can’t deliver someone’s baby who desperately wants me to, it is not the end of the world. However, it is the end of the world for me if my children grow up without me.” It was in 2000 when Bone first discovered a lump in her armpit. Her mammogram and sonogram were normal. Bone was unconvinced and insisted on further testing. Ultimately, a special MRI with injectable dye revealed a small, deep tumor. “Because I am a physician and aggressive by nature,” she says, “I wanted both breasts removed, and to undergo whatever therapy would give me the best chance. As it turns out, that was a smart idea. During my surgery (in which both breasts were removed and reconstructed), it was discovered that my tumor was as wide as a grapefruit, and that there was lymph node involvement.” Two weeks later, she willed herself to go to her daughter’s kindergarten opening party and the next week started a six-month course of chemotherapy, followed by 33 radiation treatments. Today, Bone takes the drug Tomoxifen to prevent a recurrence. As a result of her experiences, Bone has become a breast cancer activist. The impact of groups such as the Florida Breast Cancer Coalition (she is on the board) and the Young Survival Coalition (an advocacy group for women 40 and under at the time of diagnosis) is profound. “For those of us diagnosed in 2000 and forward,” she says, “these groups forge the way for research and clinical protocols that can save our lives. Twenty years ago, a diagnosis like mine was almost certainly a death sentence. Treatment didn’t even include radiation, and chemotherapy was hit and miss. Eventually the current triad of cut (surgery), poison (chemo) and burn (radiation) will be replaced by immune therapies directed only at the cancer cells.” Bone’s personal experiences with the trauma of chemotherapy led her to create a company called ChemoComforts. With the help of her mother, Shirley Kaye, and her best friend, Jennifer Smith, she launched www.chemocomforts.com, a website that offers products to help with the challenges of chemotherapy. “We currently offer five kits. One is an outfit to wear to chemotherapy which allows for easy access to ports (internal IVs); the second is a kit to treat, in a nonhormonal way, the menopause that occurs due to chemo; the third is a kit to care for the mouth during chemo; the fourth is a skin and face care kit designed by a cancer survivor; and the fifth is a book set and guide to teach young children about cancer.” Each kit also contains an informational tip card. “When I went through treatment I was supposed to know it all,” says Bone. “I was embarrassed to ask some of the most basic questions. These cards are the pearls I garnered.” A year after her surgery, Bone says, “I hate to admit it, but cancer has been good to me. I have rechanneled my energies into things that bring pleasure to me and my family. My goal now is to be able to say to myself, ‘Gee, I had a nice day and it was fun to be alive today.’ That’s the gift of cancer.” —Alice Ann Gray |
