As October rolls in, the air fills with pink ribbons and messages of hope, signaling Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Bozeman Health Foundation’s efforts to raise support for its Mammogram Project Fund that provides no-cost breast cancer screening and diagnostic services for local women in need.
For Dr. Robin Hape, this month holds a deeply personal significance. It serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative journey he and his wife endured after her unexpected diagnosis. In 2000, his pursuit of becoming an emergency medicine doctor took a profound turn during his second year of medical school when his wife, Molly, received a life-changing breast cancer diagnosis when she turned 40, following her first-ever mammogram.
Today, he draws from his own experience as a husband of a breast cancer survivor to help inform his patients as a surgeon at Bozeman Health where he performs intricate breast cancer surgery and works with local plastic surgeons for breast reconstructive surgery. He combines his technical skill with compassionate care, and emphasizes that regular mammograms can be lifesaving. And, the importance of early detection.
“When we learned of Molly’s diagnosis, it highlighted the importance of early detection in ways I could never have imagined.” The diagnosis, he said, thrusted them and their two young sons, ages 4 and 6 at the time, into the daunting reality of stage 2B HER2-positive breast cancer and came as a total shock. Molly had no family history.
Surgery and six weeks of chemotherapy later, her physical transformation and emotional weight was met with her husband’s comfort and reminders that “he didn’t marry me for my hair or breasts.” Even so, Molly said she would look in the mirror and not recognize herself. She was living in constant fear of the many unknowns.
Their community wrapped them in support and the medical school rallied behind Dr. Hape so he could see through completing his final exams and onto medical residency.
Two years later, just as soon as Molly began feeling like herself again, her cancer reoccurred. Only this time, she was a candidate for Herceptin, a medication that works against HER2-positive breast cancers by blocking the ability of the cancer cells to receive chemical signals that tell the cells to grow. Dr. Hape believes the treatment absolutely saved his wife’s life.
As our community comes together to support women in our region, Dr. Hape’s message as a surgeon is clear: early detection saves lives and makes all the difference in treatment options and health outcomes. And, as a Foundation board member his call-to-action is for our community to show unified support by ensuring every woman in need has access to screening and diagnostic services.
One in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
Gifts to Bozeman Health Foundation’s Mammogram Project Fund provide no-cost mammogram and diagnostic services to local women in-need. Women face many barriers to accessing mammograms and the follow-up diagnostic services they need including lack of insurance coverage for services, many cannot afford the cost of screening or a diagnostic test so delay care, they don’t qualify for government programs or require a service not covered.
Philanthropy plays a vital role in helping women overcome these barriers to receiving the life-saving care they need. You can help ensure that patients facing cancer, like Molly, continue to have access to lifesaving screening and diagnostic services for local women who are in need.
Your gift is a meaningful and powerful tribute, one that provides hope, healing and recovery.