You and your family were affected by your mother's breast cancer when you were very young. Could you talk about what that's meant to you, and how breast cancer impacts women across the country?
SECRETARY RICE: My mother was first diagnosed when I was 15, in 1970. That was in many ways the dark ages for breast cancer: She had very few choices. You know, I remember that she was diagnosed on a Friday night. I was picked up from school and told that she had been diagnosed as probably having cancer. She was in surgery by Monday morning--no second opinion, no effort to think about alternative treatments or what was specific to her.
Now, of course, the ability to tailor treatments, and to take time to make your own choices and decisions -- the difference is like night and day. But for me, the fact that my mother at least lived an additional 15 years until I was 30 made all the difference. I'm grateful for that. I would urge women -- particularly if you have a risk factor like I do -- to make sure that you're getting the proper screening, and to work out a screening regimen with your doctor. Because now there are a lot of additional options.
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