Walk for Diane to inspire all affected by cancer

A cancer diagnosis is a tough pill to swallow. When that diagnosis is stage 4 breast cancer, the news is particularly difficult to comprehend.

According to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, only one in five patients lives past five years after a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis. The survival rate is relatively irrespective of age, similarly devastating to young and old.

Former Kendall Park resident Diane Goodwin knew the reality but believed she could overcome it. Despite a 1993 diagnosis, Diane lived 16 more years, finally succumbing to the disease in August 2009 at the age of 53. Her husband, John, said she beat the odds due in large part to her positive attitude. “It was a walking miracle, statistically off the charts,” he said. “Even though it was devastating news, she still kept a great focus on life itself. All throughout, she had a very positive spirit.”

In honor of Diane’s courageous fight, the Amy Feiman Behar Foundation hosts the Walk for Diane 5K every year to raise money toward the cost of screening mammograms at Saint Peter’s University Hospital and diagnostic ultrasounds at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

The foundation was established to help women without health insurance obtain free mammograms and provide these women with the gift of early detection. It has enabled more than 1,000 uninsured and underinsured women to receive a yearly mammogram so far.

This will be the third Walk for Diane, although Goodwin said he hadn’t thought the walk would become an annual event.

“At the first walk, I was in a fog, showing up as a symbol to rally for anything having to do with my wife,” he said. “I’m so pleased to see it move into something else, where the cause takes center stage.”

Goodwin said his involvement with the walk and the Amy Foundation makes him and his family feel good, and they enjoy giving others the chance to catch the cancer in its early stages and move on with their lives. Goodwin participates in the walk with his and Diane’s two children, Tina and Robert.

Kendall Park resident Arie Behar started theAmy Foundation in 2007, a few months after his 49-year-old wife, Amy, passed away from breast cancer. Amy and Diane were neighbors and friends, so the partnership was natural.

While Diane inspired family and friends with her bravery during her battle, crocheting yarn angels for loved ones and jokingly referring to her wig as “Betty,” Goodwin acknowledges that his wife’s attitude did not, alone, help keep her alive for those additional 16 years.

“Not one day did she kid herself,” he said. “She read up on everything and worked with the doctors. She sought the advice of more than one doctor, received excellent treatment, the drugs they tried worked, and they worked well.”

In this respect, Diane was fortunate, and her family is now trying to give other women a fighting chance. According to the Amy Foundation’s website, 46 million people are uninsured in theU.S. and at least half of them are women. Goodwin said early detection for thesewomen is the key to longevity and quality of life and significantly increased treatment options. He hopes that one day breast cancer can be controlled as a chronic condition for a full lifespan.

“I see the wonderful things they’ve done with HIV and hear about people getting older with it,” he said. “I’m encouraged by stories like that.”

The 5K walk begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, at Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick. Check-in is at 8 a.m. The registration fee is $15 person, and each registrant is asked to raise at least $70 (which is half the cost of a screening mammogram), using the foundation’s online fundraising tool. Those who cannot walk can donate to the cause at www.theamyfoundation.org.