As the Gold Sponsor of Boston Design Week, Cutting Edge Homes will be at the AD20/21 Art and Design Show. Cutting Edge Homes would like to offer WellesleyWeston readers complimentary passes to join them at AD20/21 at the Cyclorama, Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston,  valid April 8-10.

Please RSVP at AD2021VIP.EventBrite.com and select “Cutting Edge Homes” to receive your free passes. Learn more about AD20/21 at www.AD2021.com and view the full calendar of Boston Design Week events at www.BostonDesignWeek.com.

Barbara Hertz who grew up in nearby Brookline,MA has found a way to honor her dad Dr Saul Hertz (1905-1950) and raise money for cancer research.  She has teamed up with Sara Campbell who will host a charity fashion showcase at her Wellesley store in Linden Square on April 3rd from 4:00-6:00PM.

While going through the clutter and memories of her Brookline childhood home she came across boxes and boxes of her dad’s original research documenting Dr. Hertz’s discovery of the medical uses of radioiodine(RAI).  RAI is used to diagnose and treat thyroid diseases.  RAI is the first and Gold Standard of targeted Cancer therapies.  Barbara had little knowledge of her dad’s profound contribution to medical science, in that she was a small child when he passed. Barbara says, “My dad’s contribution that has saved the lives of countless generations of patients had been grossly overlooked and minimized.”  Her doctor, now retired, Weston’s Dr Donald Goldstein encouraged her to to share her dad’s story of his extraordinary contribution to medicine.

She commented, ” There were quotas for outsiders in medical schools and little opportunity to be on the staffs of Boston’s elite hospitals. The very reason for establishment of The Beth Israel Hospital and Deaconess Hospital. She appreciates the challenges that her father was able to overcome to bring his work to fruition and the profound legacy that he created.

Sara Campbell and Barbara met some years ago after Barbara had shopped in her Nantucket store.  The fashion showcase will have models who are cancer survivors. Samantha Martin was treated with RAI when she was just five years old. Ellen Cavalier, a twenty year cancer survivor also treated with the life saving treatment of radioiodine.   Barbara invited Newton’s,Estelle Colgan, whose father was recently treated with RAI for his thyroid cancer. Other local models include Barbara’s Baker School classmate Jackie Firestone and her Brookline High friend’s wife Lisa, now from Natick. Judy Kaplan, co-facilitator of the ThyCa Boston cancer support group, has been instrumental in locating the models.

The money raised will be donated to The Light of Life Foundation whose mission is supporting thyroid cancer research as well to improving the quality of life of thyroid cancer patients.

Additionally, MGH’s Russell Museum of Medical History and Innovation will present a lecture, “Dr Saul Hertz: Discovers RAI” .” on April 5th at 6PM. Registration is free: mghhistory @partners.org An exhibit highlighting Dr Hertz’s innovative research will be on display for a month at the museum located at 2 North Grove Street in Boston. The Russell Museum can be reached easily by public transportation, is open to the public and free of charge.

One local patient emailed Barbara stating: My husband and I plan to attend the April event at MGH.    Treatment with radioactive iodine knocked the thyroid cancer (metastatic to a little bit of bone and lung) right out of me, exceeding my doctor’s expectations… I am now 83.  We have a large family.  Many were praying for me.  The cure delivered on the wings of prayer was your father’s discovery, the miracle of radioactive iodine.  Few can equal such a powerful and precious gift.

On Monday, April 18, Theresa Keresztes, of Wellesley, will run The Boston Marathon in support of Susan G. Komen^® Southern New England, and the local fight against breast cancer. So far, she has raised more than $2,600 towards her $4,000 fundraising goal. Keresztes is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2007 after detecting a lump while lying on the floor playing with her daughter.

After deciding to run Boston, Keresztes did research on organizations that support breast cancer patients who do not have health insurance. One of the first things that came up on her search was Susan G. Komen. As an entrepreneur, and founder of My Girls Skin Care, a calendula cream known for help with protecting against the skin side effects of treatment, she experienced difficulty with health care coverage and even delayed important doctor’s appointments and scans due to lack of coverage. Keresztes was even been dropped from some health plans because she was “too expensive.”

When it came time to select who she would run for, Komen Southern New England seemed to be a natural choice. “With gaps in health coverage, I became cognizant of what my scans and medicine actually cost. I wondered how women with little or no health insurance could afford a $1,000 imaging scan or a $4,000 3D mammogram, not to mention the cost of chemotherapy drugs,” explained Keresztes. “I am very impressed with all the support systems Komen has to offer women going through treatment and their partnership with CancerCare®, a national financial assistance and an emotional support system for people battling cancer and their families.”

Having watched her mother battle breast cancer, Keresztes knew that she had to be proactive with her own health. “My primary care physician recommended I begin mammograms at the age of 35 due to my mother’s breast cancer. Because of her advice, my breast cancer was found at stage zero in an annual mammogram shortly after my daughter was born.”

Keresztes says if she could break a myth about breast cancer she would want people to know that a lump or sore does not have to be painful. “I was playing with my daughter when I discovered the small lump,” she explained. Even though the area was not sore, Keresztes knew that having it looked at was the right choice.

“After treatment, I read a study by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that advised women to exercise 150-300 minutes per week to reduce body fat which is associated with increased risk of breast cancer,” said Keresztes. As she trains for her first Boston Marathon, she enjoys advice from seasoned marathoners, but also the protective benefits of training. Keresztes hopes her daughter will one day join her to run Boston with her and friends as part of a healthy, active lifestyle. “I really try to get my exercise in and stay active to reduce my chance of recurrence and of course, keep my health insurance costs in check!” she adds.

To support Keresztes and Susan G. Komen Southern New England with a donation, visit KomenSouthernNewEngland.org.

About Susan G. Komen® Southern New England

Susan G. Komen Southern New England is working to better the lives of those facing breast cancer in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Through events like the Race for the Cure®, Komen Southern New England has raised money that has funded $11 million in community breast health programs in Connecticut, $9 million in Massachusetts, and nearly $7 million to support breast cancer research. For more information, visit KomenSouthernNewEngland.org.