Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Pink Virus
    The Pink Virus
    The Pink Virus
    Ebook74 pages1 hour

    The Pink Virus

    By Dr. Kathleen Ruddy

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy, an internationally recognized breast cancer surgeon, tells the story of the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus, the virus that causes breast cancer in mice and might also cause a large portion of breast cancer in women.
    Written for the general public it contains a brief summary of the basic principles of biology, and over seventy years of research on the virus.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDr. Kathleen Ruddy
    Release dateNov 13, 2009
    The Pink Virus
    Author

    Dr. Kathleen Ruddy

    Dr. Kathleen Ruddy, Founder and President of the Breast Health and Healing Foundation, has brought together the scientists who first identified the human mammary tumor virus over fifteen years ago. Our mission is to support their work and help them answer one of the most intriguing questions facing women today, Is a virus involved in human breast cancer?Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy is devoted to helping women all over the world find a cure for breast cancer, but she has also come to realize that the "pure cure," is prevention; and prevention can only come when we understand the causes of breast cancer.Dr. Ruddy continues to care for patients while working tirelessly to grow the Breast Health & Healing Foundation team worldwide.

    Related to The Pink Virus

    Related ebooks

    Wellness For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Pink Virus

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Pink Virus - Dr. Kathleen Ruddy

      T

      he Pink Virus

      Does a Virus Cause Breast Cancer in Women?

      Kathleen T. Ruddy, MD

      Founder and President

      Breast Health & Healing Foundation

      www.breasthealthandhealing.org

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2009 Kathleen T. Ruddy, MD

      September 2009

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy who asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with United States copyright law.

      This book is dedicated to my mother, Theresa Garruto Ruddy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1974, and to the memory of my brother, John Joseph Ruddy III, who died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2001.

      All profits from this book will be donated entirely to the Breast Health & Healing Foundation,a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity.

      CONTENTS

      Foreword

      Introduction

      Chapter One A Primer on Viruses and Cancer

      Chapter Two The Story of the Pink Virus

      Chapter Three We Simply Must Answer this Question.

      Epilogue

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction to Bibliography

      Bibliography

      Glossary

      FOREWARD

      Mothers who lose children, and children who lose mothers, feel the tender loss of the other forever. During my first year as a breast cancer surgeon I tried my best to avert this tragedy for one of my patients, but unfortunately I did not succeed.

      It was September 1995. I had just started a new job as Medical Director of the Breast Service at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey. The following month a thirty-four year old mother with three young children came to see me about a lump in her breast that had grown and become painful. When she first noticed it six months earlier she had seen her gynecologist who examined her and ordered a mammogram. The mammogram was normal. But, wisely, the radiologist suggested that the patient return for a breast ultrasound, which she did. The lump was seen clearly on breast ultrasound - and it was suspicious. In his report to the gynecologist the radiologist recommended consultation with a surgeon and a breast biopsy.

      The ultrasound report was sent to the gynecologist’s office but, unfortunately, it was filed away without the doctor ever seeing it. Since the gynecologist had no tracking mechanism in her practice to keep tabs on patients requiring follow-up, the ultrasound report remained hidden below the doctor’s radar screen.

      In the meantime, the patient assumed because she did not hear from her gynecologist that the breast ultrasound, like the mammogram, was normal. In the silence that ensued the patient believed what she desperately wanted to believe - that she was fine and that she had nothing to worry about.

      The patient had been divorced from her physically abusive husband for several years. She had no immediate family in the area to help with the children; her parents and her re-married ex lived back home in the Philippines. She was on her own, supporting herself and her three children with the meager wages she earned from a secretarial job.

      In the intervening months, between the time the patient first saw her gynecologist and the time she came to see me, she went back to her normal routine - but with a false sense of security. That didn’t last long because her breast lump began to grow. When she learned from a local press release that a female breast surgeon had arrived in her neighborhood she decided to make an appointment for a second opinion. By the time she came to see me her lump had grown to the size of a lemon, and the area under her arm was swollen and sore.

      I will never forget the first time I met this young woman. One look at her breast was enough to convince me that she had advanced breast cancer. When she told me the story of the normal mammogram and the normal breast ultrasound - and that her gynecologist had not asked to see her for a follow-up appointment - I was perplexed. A normal mammogram in a young patient with breast cancer is not unusual. Cancerous breast tissue and normal breast tissue in young women are both very dense. It is sometimes hard to tell one from the other. But a normal breast ultrasound seemed less likely, and the absence of a follow-up appointment with

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1