Gloria J. Arnold

In 2001, Gloria J. Arnold went to Roosevelt Hospital for a routine mammogram – and the next day she went out of town.

While away, she got a call from Dr. Sharon Rosenbaum-Smith, a surgeon at the Comprehensive Breast Center at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals. Dr. Rosenbaum-Smith told Gloria that the mammogram had turned up something suspicious. Indeed, in Gloria’s case, the suspicious spot on the mammogram was a malignancy. She would need surgery to remove the tumor, followed by a course of radiation.

Gloria had worked as an executive assistant for nearly 30 years, and in all that time, she’d never been out of work for any length of time. But just seven months earlier, she’d been laid off from her job. Now, at age 51, she was unemployed and facing an imperative, lifesaving surgery with no health insurance or means to cover the cost.

“It was really something,” Gloria says. “Fortunately, the hospital was somehow able to cover my surgery through a grant.”

Indeed, our Financial Assistance Program helped Gloria to file the necessary paperwork to cover the cost of the surgery.

“[Dr. Rosenbaum-Smith] did more than I would have expected any doctor to do. I always felt her standing by my side.”

The surgery went well, as did the eight weeks of radiation therapy. Every aspect of her care, Gloria says, was “absolutely the best.”

In 2006 she celebrated a five-year anniversary with Dr. Rosenbaum-Smith – five years of being cancer-free. Dr. Rosenbaum-Smith pointed out that Gloria had five things to be happy about: in addition to being healthy, over those five years she had also gotten her General Equivalency Diploma (GED), her associate’s degree, and her bachelor’s degree and she’d written and published a book.

Thanks to the care she received at St Luke’s and Roosevelt, Gloria was given a second chance in life, and she decided to set off in a new direction. “I didn’t know what my future held, so I decided to go back to school,” she says. After earning her degrees, she became a teacher of ESL and GED preparation.

She also was inspired to write a book, titled Dropped! A Condition – Not a Character Flaw (pen name, Gee Jae Arnold), that deals with her challenging experiences. Today she’s working on a second book and says, without hesitation, that she’s never been happier. “This is the best time of my entire life.”

Dr. Rosenbaum-Smith was a constant support and source of encouragement, Gloria says. “She did more than I would have expected any doctor to do. I always felt her standing by my side.”

The Comprehensive Breast Center at St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals is a clinically and academically vital program, featuring a multidisciplinary team of highly qualified surgeons, radiologists, oncologists, pathologists, physician assistants, nurses, and support staff – all of whom bring their compassion and exceptional skills to the care they provide patients every single day.

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