For Immediate Release

September 30, 2004

Breast Cancer Survivor Speaks Out

Oklahoma City—If it weren’t for Dr. Alan Hollingsworth and Mercy Women’s Center, 34-year-old Jill Greene might not be doing what she is doing today. This past month, she took her 5-year-old son, Cully, and 3-year-old daughter Lucy to their first day of Pre-K, she celebrated seven years of marriage to her husband Trey, and she has diligently devoted her energies as the communication chairperson for the 2004 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Almost a year ago to the day, Greene underwent her first mastectomy after Dr. Hollingsworth, medical director of Mercy Women’s Center, found breast cancer. Actually, nine months earlier Greene discovered a lump in her breast. Long before she discovered Mercy and Dr. Hollingsworth, she went to an ob-gyn and because of her age and because she had no family history of breast cancer, “My doctor said, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ ” Greene said. “There was no follow-up, no call back, no anything.”

By April 2003, the lump continued to bother Greene. It seemed to become more painful. This time, she went to a radiologist she knew. The radiologist performed an ultrasound, but said it didn’t really look like cancer.

“She told me to come back for a follow-up appointment in six months and suggested I try primrose oil and vitamin E,” said Greene. “After I’d gone through a bottle of primrose and vitamin E, I was still concerned.” By August, Greene started asking around and her mother suggested that she go to Dr. Hollingsworth because she had heard “he’s the best breast doctor in the state.”

“I got an appointment and I went in at 10 a.m. on a Monday and had a mammogram,” said Greene. “I then immediately had an ultrasound with Dr. Rebecca Stough. I remember Dr. Hollingsworth asking me rather incredulously point-blank, ‘Nobody has ever biopsied this?’ At 1 p.m. that very day, Dr. Hollingsworth scheduled me for a biopsy.“

“The next morning, Dr. Hollingsworth called to tell me that I had breast cancer,” Greene said. “He said I probably wouldn’t remember anything he said after that and he was right. To this day, I don’t remember one word he said. I was so stunned. Without a doubt, Dr. Hollingsworth saved my life. He is my hero. He found what should have been caught nine months earlier. He found and pursued what all the other doctors ignored.”

From that day forward, Mercy stepped in and Greene found support from all corners. Everyone—from Greene’s breast surgeon Dr. Beverly Talbert to plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Hein to anesthesiologist Dr. Stephen Yeich—was nothing short of amazing.

“You fall to your knees and the people around you pick you up,” she said. “Sharon (Nall) and Michelle (Hauge) at Mercy held my hand and talked me through everything. I was in a daze, but the team of people at Mercy Women’s Center knew just where to lead me and what to say.”

Greene, who underwent a double mastectomy, just recently had her final reconstructive surgery. To find out more information about Mercy Women’s Center and Mercy’s comprehensive breast evaluation and risk assessment, call 405-936-5455.

Mercy Health Center is a member of Mercy Health System of Oklahoma and the Sisters of Mercy Health System-St. Louis.

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