Sarah Benioff
WeCanRow

I was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer (2001) at the age of 34, while I was still breastfeeding my youngest child. I felt a lump in my breast, but wasn’t particularly worried as I have always had a range of lumps and bumps in my breasts. I went to see a surgeon anyway, and he asked me to have a mammogram, which led to a biopsy, which led to the diagnosis. My husband and I were in complete shock, but quickly got organized and starting researching treatments and doctors. I had a lumpectomy and had my sentinel node removed. This was followed by six months of chemotherapy (with all the fun of hair-loss, nausea, etc.) which ended in January 2002, and then nearly seven weeks of daily radiation. All in all, the experience was really not too bad -- not as bad as you might imagine if you have never had cancer. I never felt sick, or any pain, and I was able to continue working throughout, and help to take care of our two very small children (aged 10 months and 2 _ at the time of my diagnosis.) I joked that I must have been the only person who actually walked from my home to the hospital and back for chemotherapy. I now feel strong and relatively healthy, and rowing has so much to do with that. I am proud of myself and my body for being able to pick up almost where I left off, before my diagnosis.

I am now 36, and have been married to Alan Salama, a British physician, for 5 1/2 years. We met at Oxford University on my junior year abroad, at the boathouse in fact! (I rowed in college in the US as well, and this year have started rowing again after a 10 year break.) Alan and I have two children, Hannah (now 3 _) and Noah (now nearly 2) who were both born in England. My husband, children and I normally live in London, and just happened to be living in the States for a couple of years when I was diagnosed. This was very convenient (!) as my parents could come for every chemotherapy treatment, and friends and family helped out and were incredibly supportive throughout. We will all be returning to England next year.

I am currently the National Program Manager for the Anne E. Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative, based at Children’s Hospital in Boston. I manage a national program (10 sites across the country) designed to encourage young pediatricians to work more in and with the community and community-based organizations. My background is in non-profit management, and in particular management of national programs. In England, I was running a large national network of programs for juvenile offenders.

Sarah Benioff (DOB: 9/20/66)
1129 Beacon Street, Apt. 4
Brookline, MA 02446
(617) 232-4494

(I was born in Rye, New York and have no idea of the local newspaper there. We moved to Lambertville, New Jersey when I was 10 and my parents still live there. Their local paper would be The Trenton Times.)