PatIENt ProfIlE Continued from page 11
Lori, Cindy and Linda like to refer to Dr. Budway as “the fifth sister” and are grateful to her for her skillful care and compassion. “Dr. Budway is like family to us,” says Lori. “We love her. She’s honest, positive and open; you can talk to her. Even her staff treats us like family.” Dr. Budway is a Pittsburgh native and a medical school graduate of Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. As a breast care specialist, she directs St. Clair’s Breast Care Center, which offers women a range of advanced diagnostic, treatment and support services. Dr. Budway says that the incidence of breast cancer has
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no matter how bad you thInk It mIght be, breast cancer Is both treatable and survIvable. who better than these three women to carry that message to thIs regIon?
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DR. RAYE J. BUDWAY, DIRECTOR, ST. CLAIR HOSPITAL’S BREAST CARE CENTER
stabilized: “Breast cancer peaked in the early 2000s with 225,000 cases per year nationwide, but now it’s down to 200,000. This is due to our understanding of the impact of estrogen replacement therapy on breast health. At St. Clair, we get excellent outcomes. We believe that survivorship has multiple dimensions and we
Beating the odds
offer women many resources.” Dr. Budway is an emphatic advocate of education. “The more you know, the better off you are. Women need to educate themselves about screening, including breast self exam and mammogram. Early detection and diagnosis makes an impact, increasing the odds of survival.”
There are 2.9 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. today — the largest group of all cancer survivors.
Like the Resnik family and thousands of others, Dr. Budway participates in the Komen Race for the Cure every year. For her, it’s a day of intense and conflicting emotions. “The worst feeling for me is to see the name of one of my patients on the back of a t-shirt, below the words “In Memory Of” — I can’t even explain how that feels,” she says. “But the best feeling, 100 times better, is to see a patient who is alive, thriving and healthy. That is the absolute best feeling in the world.” ■
RAYE J. BUDWAY, M.D. Dr. Budway earned her medical degree at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. She completed her residency training in general surgery at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital and a fellowship in surgical critical care at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She served as the Site Surgical Clerkship Program Director for Temple University School of Medicine, Site Program Director for the Allegheny General Hospital General Surgery Residency Program, and Director of the Surgical Breast Disease Program and Surgical Intensive Care at West Penn Hospital. She is board-certified in surgical critical care and general surgery. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and serves on the Fellowship’s Commission on Cancer. To contact Dr. Budway, please call 412.942.5600.
12 I HouseCall I Volume IV Issue 4