TAMPA, Fla. — Two Tampa General Hospital employees, both working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, both diagnosed with breast cancer. That frightening diagnosis came just one week apart for Diane Allen and Gloribel Medina.
The two women leaned on each other for support. They both made the decision to have bilateral mastectomies. Now, more than a year following their diagnoses, they are among the more than 4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
Throughout their treatment, the women continued to work at TGH's NICU helping to provide care to the hospital's smallest patients.
For Allen, who works as a neonatal occupational therapist, the diagnosis was especially scary. Her son survived a brain tumor as a young child so her family understood the severity. She didn't let that deter her fight.
"I am a person who's sad for a day and then take a deep breath and say 'Let's get this started, let's get this done," she explained.
Medina, who works as a neonatal nurse practitioner, didn't tell her colleagues about her diagnosis at first because she wanted to remain focused on her work in the NICU.
Now, she's using her story to spread the word to others. "Do breast self-exams - women and men! Request a mammogram at as early an age as you can get one," she elaborated.
When debris from a tractor struck their vehicle on I-75, Denise and Mike Brennan were told by a state contractor that "they will take care of it." Now, more than six months later, the Brennans are still $7000 out-of-pocket for repairs and rentals.
