(Manor Care, Palm Beach, FL) On October 12th, Rebecca Sterenfeld celebrated her 100th birthday and 52 years of breast cancer survival at the Manor Care Nursing Home. Debbie Saline, executive producer of Digital Media Productions in New York City visited her grandmother not only to celebrate the monumental occasion, but to document her grandmother’s life story. Ms. Saline is producing a project that features her grandmother’s life and her survival of breast cancer. The project entitled, “Grandma Rebecca – A Woman of Valor (Eichet Chayil)” will be narrated by her granddaughter Debbie Saline and other family members.
“I think that my grandmother is a remarkable woman. So, that’s why I want to tell her story. Because I want to preserve her 100 years, and tell of her struggle, survival and her positive attitude through it all,” Ms. Saline continues. “How many other 100-year-old ladies are alive and living to tell of their fight against breast cancer? My grandmother and I want all the women in the world to know there is life after breast cancer.”
In 1953 at the age of 48, Rebecca Sterenfeld (now the 100 year old grandmother) was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently had a mastectomy. 52 years later, she is alive and full of life. She has survived the doctor who diagnosed her and the surgeon who operated on her.
According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, in the U.S. a woman will die from breast cancer, on average, every 13 minutes.
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. About 40,410 women will die from the disease this year. Right now there are slightly over 2 million women living in the United States who have been treated for breast cancer.
The Breast Cancer Gene: One in 40-50 Ashkenazi Jewish women carries a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, which greatly increases a woman's risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer. Women with an inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have up to an 80% chance of developing breast cancer during their lifetime and at a younger age than those women who are not born with one of these gene mutations in their cells.
For additional information or to obtain footage contact Debbie Saline at 212-962-5200.
