I can’t believe a year has passed since my wife Patty passed away. As more days pass, the more I realize what I great person she was. I miss her smile, her laugh, her smell, her voice and most of all her cooking. In her own way she lets me know she is still watching over us and that everything is okay.\r
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Still the hardest thing for me to accept is that she could still be a live if the Doctors at Summit Healthplex - Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center would have told her that her mammograms identified the cancer. Early detection is critical to survival. The survival rates are high if found early, in stage one it’s as high as 88% (per the American Cancer Society). Patty’s mammograms in 2006 and 2008 identified the cancer. The computer checker put check marks right on the location of the cancer, but the Doctors never told her. By the time the doctors in California found the cancer is was already at stage IV. The survival rates for stage IV breast cancer are 15% (per the American Cancer Society). Patty fought as hard as she could right up to the end, if only she was given a better chance. I am not a doctor, but in my opinion I would never go to or recommend Summit Healthplex or the Niagara Fall Memorial Medical Center. Send an e-mail to Summit Healthplex and let them know how you feel. \r
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Please share Patty’s story, we maybe able to save a life. Ask your doctor if the computer check of your mammogram showed any hot spots for cancer. If you are a doctor share all test results with your patients.\r
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Patty’s Story:\r
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She wanted me to share her story with everyone and I would like you to share her story with everyone, so no one has to go through what she did. As I listened to people talk at her funeral last year, a lot of people were surprised at how fast her health declined. We now know that the cancer was found in late 2006. Her death could have been prevented if the doctors affiliated with Summit Healthplex - Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center would have told her that the digital computer scans of her mammogram identified the cancer years ago. All three times that the digital scan identified the cancer, the doctors at said they were false positives, but they never shared the information with Patty. Each scan identified an increasing number of “hot spots” for cancer, but the doctors never shared the information with her. We now know the Doctors were the false positive, not the computer scan. Mammograms were preformed 3 different times starting in 2006. The last one was May 2010. All three times Patty received letters telling her that the mammograms were clear and did not identify any cancer.\r
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Lessons learned: Everyone needs to be their own health advocate, challenge your doctor, do your own research. Ask the doctor if your mammogram was analyzed by the computer, ask for copies of all results and scans (you paid for them), it could save your life.\r
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October is cancer awareness month. Please share Patty’s story with everyone you know. Let’s see if we can get her story to go viral. I would love to get on a major television network, so I could tell the world. Let’s make sure this never happens again.\r
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