“I’ve been through the wringer” says cancer survivor, Susan Lurie.

Susan was diagnosed with cancer — not once, but twice. Both times, she asked herself, “Why me?”

“I led a healthy lifestyle, and I had regular checkups. But then I thought, ‘Why not me?’ I have a history of cancer in my family. My mother had breast cancer and pancreatic cancer.”

Susan, a teacher of learning disabled children at A.B. Davis Middle School in Mount Vernon, was diagnosed in 1999 with breast cancer. When chemotherapy failed, she had a mastectomy, then more chemo and radiation at Good Samaritan Hospital.

She credits Beatrice Bloom, M.D., Good Samaritan Hospital’s Medical Director of Radiation Oncology, and her staff, for the success of the treatment.

“I love and adore Dr. Bloom,” Susan says. “She is a marvelous physician. The entire staff is wonderful — so caring and kind.”

Susan found the treatment program flexible and the staff accommodating.

“I worked during the day and went for radiation treatment in the afternoon.”

Then, on the road to recovery, Susan was forced to take a detour. In July 2001, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Following exploratory surgery and a hysterectomy, doctors at Good Samaritan again treated her with radiation.

“They literally lit up my life!” she laughs. After treatment, she was back to work in November 2001. But, she will never forget her experience at Good Samaritan Hospital.

“There’s not one person who hasn’t seen me nude,” she jokes, “but we’re all better people for it. The staff encourages you to laugh through the whole lousy situation.”

“When you’re lying there with tubes everywhere, they’re holding your hand,” Susan says. “They don’t leave you alone for one second. If you have to wait for any treatment, somebody is always there with you. It really lessens your anxiety.”
Finally on the road to recovery and not looking back, Susan has blossomed as a cancer survivor by sharing her story with others. She has been a guest speaker at Good Samaritan Hospital’s Annual Cancer Dinner for the past two years. She uses her reclaimed energy in the Race for the Cure, in Central Park, and walked with the hospital’s staff in Making Strides for Cancer in Woodbury Commons.

“I do this for mom and me,” she says.

“I’ve been very lucky, very blessed. The staff members at Good Samaritan are a wonderful group of people. I can’t say enough about them.”