Our Mission

• To create a funding source for breast cancer survivors in need of reconstruction with no insurance or financial means to acquire this "final step in breast cancer treatment"
   
• To raise public awareness for this need not only nationwide but worldwide
   
• To implement a legislation that will require insurance companies to pay for mammograms for women beginning at age 35, and for women 30 years of age with a previous family history
   
• To educate within the school system the importance of self-exam from an early age

		Alisa Savoretti has faced what many Las Vegas showgirls might consider their worst nightmares: Losing a breast to cancer. Savoretti, 41, is a classically trained dancer who worked in several local productions before leaving the craft. She was about to launch a new business a few years ago when she got the news she had breast cancer. To make matters worse, she was uninsured, and credits welfare with saving her life. Five months after finishing chemo, with only one breast, Savoretti returned to her role as a showgirl. "I was onstage with one breast [because] I had no insurance," the former dancer said. "The first month it was just grueling [with shows six nights a week]."

Savoretti's experience inspired her to start her own nonprofit organization, My Hope Chest (featured in an April issue of CityLife). It's geared toward helping uninsured women get breast reconstruction surgery after cancer.

On June 16, the organization helped its first client start the breast reconstruction surgery process. Boulder City native Susan Davis, 42, had the first of three surgeries that are required in the process. For the first surgery, an inflatable bag is placed under the pectoral muscle and slowly filled with air in order to stretch out the skin once a week during doctor visits. Later the first inflatable bag is replaced with a larger bag, and the process is repeated. Finally, once the skin is stretched to the appropriate size, the breast implant is inserted.

Davis was about to sideline her embroidery business to go back to teaching for the Clark County School District last fall when she found out she had breast cancer. The idea of trying to work full time and go through chemotherapy was overwhelming, she said.

Davis has since applied with the district to start teaching.

I'd live to see women get a reconstructive surgery because I had breast cancer, my hopes are that "My Hope Chest" has fulfilled its mission with this first surgery.

My Hope Chest is seeking donations to help more clients, as well as volunteers. To contact the organization, call 579-0799 or go to www.myhopechest.org.

We'd like to thank CityLife for sharing THIS article with Vegas Community Online.