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Susan G. Komen was a beautiful person who was always kind to everyone. Susan and her younger sister, Nancy Brinker, were very close. They were best friends. Susan grew up in the small town of Peoria, Illinois, where she was very popular. She went to college, graduated, and returned to her hometown where she was offered a local modeling job. Susan married her old college boyfriend, Stan Komen. Nancy, too, went to college, graduated, and moved to Dallas, Texas.
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Not long after Nancy moved to Dallas, Susan's doctor found a lump in her breast. It turned out to be breast cancer. Susan was only 33 years old. Nancy flew home to support her sister. They did not know very much about cancer so they believed the surgeon when he said Susan was cured after having a mastectomy. Five months later Susan found another lump under her arm.
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Susan went to the Mayo Clinic where she learned that the cancer had spread to one of her lungs and under her arm. The radiation treatment proved useless. She then went to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas where she had intense chemotherapy. She lost her hair and experienced other painful side effects. Susan was still brave and tried to be humorous. Susan hated the bare waiting rooms and she told Nancy she wanted to fix them up for all the other women who had to be there.
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Fifteen months later the disease got much worse and Susan was released from M.D. Anderson. Susan made Nancy promise to help her make the rooms more comfortable for all the sick women in the hospital. Nancy returned to Dallas but visited Susan every other weekend. One day, when Nancy was waiting to get on the plane back to Dallas, Susan said goodbye to Nancy and said that she loved her. Nancy never saw her sister alive again. By the time she came back to her sister, she was too late. Susan was dead. Nancy kept her promise to Susan, however, and started the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation. This foundation funds breast cancer research, has many community outreach programs, and has a web site with lots of helpful information and facts about breast cancer.
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"Nan, as soon as I get better, let's do something about this. You can find a way to speed up the research. I know you can. And I want to fix up this waiting room and make it pretty for the women who have to be here. This isn't right."
~Susan G. Komen
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