Mom Around Town

Be Aware and Arm Yourself with Knowledge

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and knowledge and early detection are our best defense.

I had a cancer scare this past summer. After my annual mammogram, I was called back for more studies. This has happened before, so initially, I wasn’t too concerned, but started to worry a little when South Jersey Radiology called me on my cell and left numerous messages for me at home to make sure I was scheduling another appointment. The second appointment was less than a week after my first visit. After more films and an ultrasound, I sat in the dimly lit exam room waiting for the radiologist to come in and tell me what was going on. My thoughts raced. I thought about my daughters and my husband and how our lives could change immensely in the next couple of minutes. Panic set in for a moment but I pushed it away as quickly as I could. …

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Remembering a Life by Giving

The Mary Anne Mazanec Ovarian Cancer Foundation reaches sufferers in financial need.

It could be said that chocolate ice cream brought Tom and Mary Anne Mazanec together in 1971. Tom was beginning his sophomore year at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) and he and some other members of the school’s band had become friendly during freshman year. “In between classes, some of us met up in a room, and Mary Anne had come along. She was eating chocolate ice cream. She asked me if I wanted some, and I said, ‘I don’t like chocolate ice cream.’” Tom chuckles at the memory. “She thought that I was being contentious.” Different tastes in ice cream didn’t deter a romance; by senior year, Tom and Mary Anne had gotten engaged. They had their wedding on Aug. 10, 1974, two months after graduation. The couple settled in …

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