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Good morning. I want to thank Marco Antonio Slim, Dr. Julio
Frenk and Dr. Felicia Knaul for inviting Mariasun and myself
today to the launch of this important project.
When Julio and Felicia came to see me about “Tómatelo
a Pecho” (“Take it to heart”), I was struck by their
experience and impressed by the commitment of the Carso Institute
to this project.
Julio and Felicia shared with me the personal struggle they
face, and also asked me to share a little today about my personal
experiences with cancer.
I witnessed my mother’s and my sister’s courage when they
learned they had cancer. From that experience, I learned that
early detection is vital.
I am not an expert on breast cancer. I wish I knew how to
cure it. But I am sure glad to see that experts are increasingly
working together toward that goal: a cure. You’re already
familiar with most of the statistics, but the one that hit
me the hardest is this: in Mexico, only 5% of breast cancer
cases are diagnosed in stages 0 and 1 – before they have spread
throughout the body; and that 12 women die daily as a consequence
of this disease, whereas in the United States, 50% of cases
are diagnosed in the early stages.
A diagnosis of breast cancer does not mean that life is over.
My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 18 months
old. She was lucky enough to detect it early, and she lived
to enjoy a little over a decade with her three children.
I have vivid childhood memories of spending time in the hallways
of the M.D. Anderson Center as my mother fought cancer. First
a mastectomy, then a radical mastectomy, two years of dormancy,
and then nearly 9 non-stop years of radiation and chemotherapy
until she died in 1972. It would be easy to merely discuss
her illness and treatment, but the things I remember about
her aren’t focused solely around her fight with cancer.
I remember her grace, her energy and her zest for life during
those 13 years. She went back to college, and took up painting.
She talked about the Vietnam War and indulged what must have
been her hippie spirit by letting me and my brother grow our
hair long.
We spent hours at the library, which gave me a lifelong passion
for reading. Everyday I carry with me her spirit and the lessons
she taught me. By having her cancer diagnosed at an early
stage, she was able to give us a great childhood…. That’s
why I’ve said that my mother’s life had a far greater impact
on me than her death. My one regret is that we didn’t talk
about her disease.
In the ’60s and ’70s, people just didn’t know how to talk
about it. It wasn’t until those last days when the doctor
tries to give comfort to the family, by saying “we’ll do everything
possible to keep her from suffering,” that my dad told us
that she wanted to see us and took us to the hospital. It
was then that my brother and I understood and felt the weight
and seriousness of her illness.
A few days later we were swimming and playing at the neighbors’
much like any other day and my dad called us. When I walked
into the living room and saw a priest sitting there – I knew
my mother had died. At that age, it might have been easier
if we’d talked about it before.
That was another lesson I learned: you have to talk about
what’s going on. And while you may think you’re protecting
your children by keeping things from them, you’re not, what
you are really doing is confusing them and leaving them to
wonder why.
My sister, DeAnna, was diagnosed with cancer in 1994. That
year, she’d put off her checkup by a few months, which was
rare for her. When she went in, the doctor found a tumor and
put her in surgery what seemed like the next day. He told
her that if she’d skipped her exam that year, it would have
been too late.
Thankfully, DeAnna was diagnosed early, and she filled the
next eight years with zest, enjoying everything that life
provided her. During that time, she and her husband made several
trips they had been planning for years, she saw her two daughters
grow up and attend college, her son get married, and her daughter-in-law
pregnant with what would have been her first grandchild. She
saw the laying of the foundation of her dream house. She gave
us eight more years of memories that live on in our hearts,
and that we think about daily.
So I’ve seen cancer as a child and as a grown-up brother.
As a brother, I was able to speak much more openly with DeAnna
about her disease. But more important than the conversations
between us were the conversations she and her husband were
having with their children. They were open and honest with
them throughout her illness. They made the most of the time
they had and truly filled those eight years with life.
So you see, early detection is the difference between watching
your children grow up and having life tragically cut short.
It’s the difference between creating big and small memories,
all of them meaningful, or leaving a void in which our loved
ones can only wonder what might have been.
All of us here want the same thing. We want women to have
more time to be with their families, time to create memories
-- to fully live. The Carso Institute is about creating hope
for each cancer patient, and their families, to not only defeat
this terrible disease, but to detect it early enough to allow
for successful treatment.
In the United States, because of early detection and improved
treatment, the five-year survival rate for women who were
diagnosed with early stage breast cancer is 98%, and there
are nearly 2.5 million survivors of breast cancer living today.
It’s time for these advances to be brought to women, not only
in Mexico but everywhere. I’m sure that is one of the main
goals of the Carso Institute.
In support of that effort, later this week, First Lady Laura
Bush will be in Mexico City to formally launch the Mexico-United
States Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research.
Our goal is to partner alongside already strong efforts such
as those being initiated by the Carso Institute. We are all
focused on the same goal— to give more women more time to
live.
I want to thank you for allowing me to join you today to
share my story and would like to close as I always do, simply
asking that God, now and forever, bless the United States
and Mexico, and on this particular day, all women who face
the challenge of dealing with cancer. Thank you very much.
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