Queens woman beats breast cancer for 2nd time with help of doctors from Jamaica Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering
NEW YORK -- Doctors from Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan have been working with staff at Jamaica Hospital in Queens to give families in underserved communities quality cancer care without having to leave the borough.
Friday, Leticia Aguilar rang the cancer bell at Jamaica Hospital after beating breast cancer for the second time in 25 years.
"I was fighting every day. And I was thinking, if I don't fight, I'm gonna lose," said Aguilar, fighting back tears. "I have to come to the hospital four days a week for five months ... My body was tired in some moments."
Doctors from Jamaica Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering treated Aguilar just three miles from her home in Queens.
"It's convenient because it's near from my house," she said. "To find everything in one place, is the best for a person with cancer."
The collaboration with both hospitals started in January to address health disparities in Queens and give immigrant families quality cancer care in their home borough.
"Addressing the cancer treatments, but we're also addressing quality of life," said Dr. Rosa Nouvini, a medical oncologist.
Doctors at Jamaica Hospital said they've been treating almost 300 cancer patients every month since their collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering started.
Patient navigators help with everything.
"They're empathic. They understand what our patients are facing on a daily basis," said Eugene Clark, with the patient navigation department.
CBS New York got an inside look at the hospital's new 26-room, 6,000-square-foot cancer center set to open in November.
"Our program's grown significantly. We're hiring more and more people to support our team," said Nouvini.
As Aguilar, an immigrant from Panama and mother of two, celebrates her medical milestone, she said she couldn't have done it without her new family at Jamaica Hospital.
"I'm feeling like I'm 15 years old," said Aguilar. "I want those women out there to feel the same way. I want them to fight for their life."
