While fighting for her life, ABMC nurse works to save others from breast cancer

Robin Troiani is on a mission, and she knows her time is limited. Troiani, a nurse at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Ill., wants to help other women avoid what she has experienced since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999.

After undergoing a radical mastectomy and chemotherapy, she thought she might have beaten the disease, but it later resurfaced and metastasized to her lungs.

"She's driven to make a difference," says her close friend, Debbie Williams, a breast cancer survivor and Breast Cancer Coordinator at the Cancer Institute at Alexian Brothers. "She knows there's an urgency because of her time limit."

That's why Troiani has dedicated herself to teaching the MammaCare technique for effective breast examinations to as many women and health-care professionals as possible."It has given me purpose," says Troiani,who undergoes chemotherapy once a week."It's been the reason I've gotten out of bed sometimes when I didn't feel well.We are going to win this war on breast cancer someday, and I want to be a part of that."

The MammaCare technique is much more thorough than conventional methods such as those described on doctor's office "shower cards" that tell women how to perform self-exams, Troiani says. "Women are capable of picking up very small lumps with this method," she says. "If they practice it and do it, they will catch cancer at a much earlier stage."

Williams has joined Troiani on her mission. "I've held onto her coattails, and she has taken me on the ride of my life," Williams says. Both have undergone intensive training to become certified MammaCare instructors, and together, they have worked relentlessly to introduce the technique to the patients and employees of Alexian Brothers Health System (ABHS), the communities it serves, other health-care professionals, and medical-school students. As a result, thousands of women have learned the MammaCare technique. The initiative has generated so much interest that ABHS has established a separate training center for the MammaCare program. It is one of four MammaCare training centers in the United States and is the only one in the Midwest.

At Williams' suggestion, the new center, dedicated last December 14 in Schaumburg, has been named The Robin Troiani MammaCare Training Center. "It means the world to me," says Troiani, who is married and has three children."Deb knew that after the cancer metastasized, I set a couple of goals for myself, and one was to be this role model for my children. I wanted them to always be proud of me and to know I didn't just lay back and say, `Poor me. I have breast cancer,' but that I thought, ‘Maybe I can do something about it.'

''Williams spearheaded a fund-raising campaign to name the training center after Troiani. The two-day campaign raised $13,000, including significant contributions from several ABHN doctors familiar with Troiani's efforts. "She did it on her own for me, to help me accomplish that goal of showing my kids - and to bask in it while I'm still here - that your mom did make a difference," Troiani says."They are very proud of their mom."

Troiani says she feels fortunate to have received "phenomenal support" from the Alexian Brothers."They have never told me no," she says."They want to do the right thing for our patients and our community of women." She is confident that her MammaCare efforts already have made a difference in women's lives, and she expects ABHN to become a "shining example of what MammaCare can be and what you can do with it." She adds: We're going to affect thousands of women. There's no doubt in my mind."