Sandra FinestoneIn January of 1983, Sandy Finestone was going to see the doctor for her annual check- up when he asked her what the lump was her was feeling in her breast while he was doing a clinical breast exam. He went on to say, he was sure it was nothing, afterall, she was only in her thirties, and young women do not get breast cancer. But all the way back to her office her hand did not leave the area where he had found the lump. Now she could feel it too. She called him back and said she wanted to find out what it was. It took until March 30th for everyone to agree that she did have breast cancer and needed surgery. At that time a woman signed a waiver giving the surgeon permission to perform whatever surgery was necessary. When she woke up, both of her breasts had been removed. She also had 32 lymph nodes removed, none of which contained cancer. No additional treatment was recommended. She was told she had to wait a full year before considering reconstruction. She and her husband went to an informational meeting about breast reconstruction and she was shocked to see the ladies chatting with each other and the husbands sitting sadly in corners by themselves. She called the American Cancer Society and asked if they had groups for husbands, they said no, would she like to start one....that was the beginning of her journey. She did form a group for husbands' she also was the Reach to Recovery coordinator for Orange County and soon became active on a state level. She trained trainers to reach women to do breast self-exams and spoke on many panels and at symposiums about the importance of early detection. She soon learned that patients are not taken seriously as those are called doctor. So she went back to school and earned a doctorate in Psychology. She was a founder of the Orange County Breast Cancer Coalition and of the Orange County Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She has been Race Chair, President, Secretary, Program Chair, Survivor Chair and whatever else needed to be done. She was Vice Chair of Grants for Komen International and has reviewed scientific grants for the Komen Foundation, The Department of Defense, Avon Foundation, State of New York, State of Californian and the American Society of Clinical Oncologists. She has been an advocate for the American Association of Cancer Researchers and has attended numerous conferences as an advocate. She is a steering committee member of Advocates in Science for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and sits on the Medscape Breast Cancer Advisory committee as an advocate. She is the Secretary of the Inland Empire Susan G. Komen for the Cure and is chair of Public Policy. She is also a Legislative Ambassador for the American Cancer Society and a board member of Breast Cancer Solutions. In June 2009, Dr. Finestone went to Jordan to facilitate a meeting with healthcare providers to teach them about the concept of support and support groups for women with breast cancer. In November she returned to the middle- east to train women in Kuwait and Egypt about support and support groups. While in Egypt she participated in the first Race for the Cure in that country and participated in a scientific meeting as an advocate. Read More Read Less