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People On The Move: Dr. Phillipa Woodriffe
04/30/2009
NO HOLDING HER BACK
Dr. Phillipa Woodriffe has accomplished much in her life. In 1977, she became only the fourth female surgical resident at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Following that benchmark, 27 years ago she went on to become the first female in Monmouth County to practice surgery. Adding to her list of firsts, she was recently elected the first female medical staff president in all of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. She has also completed four marathons, including the 2008 New York City Marathon. Her most important achievement, however, has nothing to do with her career or recreational pursuits. Dr. Woodriffe is a cancer survivor.
On February 16, 2004, during her annual mammogram, X-rays revealed calcifications not there the previous year. While a biopsy needed to be done to prove if the discovery was indeed cancerous, in Dr. Woodriffe’s mind it was cancer until proven otherwise. She was diagnosed with stage zero ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which means the cancer cells are inside the milk ducts but have not spread through the walls of the ducts into the nearby breast tissue. It is the most common type of non-invasive breast cancer; approximately 24% of all new breast cancer screenings diagnosed in the United States reveal DCIS, and 1 case is detected per 1300 screening mammograms done in North America. Virtually 100% of stage zero DCIS cases are curable.
Rather than go through the process of 5 to 6 weeks of chemotherapy, she decided to undergo a double mastectomy. The amazing part of the process was that Dr. Woodriffe’s surgery and treatment were completed by February 29 – less than 2 weeks after her diagnosis. It was only put off that long because her husband, Tibor Szekeres, had just returned to work in Budapest, Hungary, after having traveled home for Phillipa’s birthday and having had surgery of his own, so he needed to organize some overseas business in order to be with his wife for the procedure.
“I didn’t waste time,” says Dr. Woodriffe, 58, a Holmdel resident for 24 years with a general surgery practice in Tinton Falls. “I had been religious about getting my mammogram every year. I did not have a big emotional worry about it. I had already decided what kind of treatment I was going to have. I was not worried about the surgery. I knew what it would look like.”
Four days after the surgery she was back in the office, and 11 days post-op she returned to the operating room. “Patients don’t get sick at my convenience,” she said. “There were a lot of people with a lot worse diseases than I had and I knew it. I would not have been able to work if I had chemotherapy. I understood I was darn lucky.”
Dr. Woodriffe has also been an advocate for breast cancer awareness, reminding women to get yearly mammograms; she declared that she is a poster child for early detection. She was a board member of the American Cancer Society for 5 years, beginning in September 1996, and served as president of the local chapter for 2 years. In 1997, she formed a fundraising group for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk for the first time. Since then, her team (Woodriffe’s Warriors) has grown to nearly 100 members, including her patients, Riverview staffers, and some relatives from Brooklyn. “When they raise this money and it goes to research or to help people with the finances to get treated, it helps my patients so it’s worth it to me,” said the mother of two and grandmother of one.
In her spare time Dr. Woodriffe enjoys crocheting baby sweaters and running. She’s also involved with Red Bank’s annual Paint the Town Pink – an event held each May the week before Mother’s Day. With the help of more than 100 local businesses, the city’s downtown turns into a sea of pink to raise breast cancer awareness. As both patient and doctor, Dr. Woodriffe has advice to benefit women who may be confronted with breast cancer. “With all the treatments out there women are living so much longer after the diagnosis…that they need to know there will be a tomorrow.”
STATS
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Sofia’s, New York City
FAVORITE MUSIC
Calypso
FAVORITE MOVIE
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
PET PEEVE
inconsiderate drivers
THREE PEOPLE YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH
my husband (since he works in Budapest) Martin Luther King, Jr., and Aristotle
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