By ANTHONY BOTTAN
A year later, Cianciulli was diagnosed with the same disease, which afflicts more than 200,000 women each year.
"My fear was that I was 39 and I wasn't going to live to see 40," she recalled. "I was terrified."
Following the advice of an oncologist in Great Neck, Cianciulli underwent chemotherapy for a year. Her doctors decided that the best course of action was to remove her cancerous breast. After they performed a mastectomy and she had a few years of annual checkups and blood work, the doctors concluded that she was cancer-free.
Cianciulli said she didn't know where to turn when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Fears of an early death filled her mind, she said, and she felt like she was alone in the struggle. She found a support group in Elmont - where she grew up - of women under 40 who had battled the disease. At her first group meeting, she discovered that there were other women who shared her fears. "When you're going through this, you feel like you're the only person it's happening to and you have these crazy thoughts," Cianciulli said. "Then you get into a room with all these women and hear everyone and you think, Wow, I'm not crazy. They have the same fears as me. The support group helped me greatly."
While attending the group's meetings, Cianciulli found out about the Adelphi New York Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline. She trained as a volunteer for the hotline, and then began offering advice and support to women callers who had been diagnosed with the disease as well as widowers who had lost their wives to breast cancer.
Cianciulli said that most first-time women callers were scared that they were going to die young. It was comforting for them to speak to a long-time survivor, she said, and she told them that the diagnosis is not always a death sentence. She worked as a counselor for the hotline from 1993 to 2000. To this day she still takes part in breast cancer outreach programs.
Eight years after doctors said she was cancer-free, Cianciulli began experiencing the same symptoms she had when she was first diagnosed. She went back to her oncologist in 2000, and the doctor found a tumor in her other breast. "It was very overwhelming," she said.
Cianciulli underwent another mastectomy, and another six months of radiation treatment in 2001. The treatment was a success, and she thought she had finally beaten cancer. But while giving her an annual checkup several months ago, doctors detected cancer cells in one of her bones, and found a tumor on her adrenal gland.
This time around, she explained, she doesn't have to undergo chemotherapy, but she has to take medications to strengthen her bones and shrink the tumor. Doctors told her that since she began taking the medication, the tumor has shrunk considerably.
Through her struggles with cancer, Cianciulli said, she has learned a lot about life. "My challenges have taught me that life is too short and you need to take time to smell the roses," she said. "I don't let little things bother me. I spend a lot of time with my family, and that's what it's all about. Live for today - tomorrow is another day."
Inspired by her strength and perseverance, an old Elmont Memorial High School buddy, John Savino, decided to help. Savino, a personal trainer in Levittown, is also an avid cyclist. He and one of his clients, Oscar Cervone, biked 50 miles through the North Shore to raise money for breast cancer research. The pair raised $3,500. "Me and Maddie were always tight in high school," Savino said. "This ride will always be for her. That's why I put her name on my helmet."
Savino said that he and Cervone will make the 50-mile bike ride an annual event to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer.
To learn more about the Adelphi New York Statewide Breast Cancer hotline call (800) 877-8077. Comments about this story? ABottan@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 246.
