Women's History Month: Rose Kushner
Know Your Lemons Recognizes Women’s History Month. Picture of Rose Kushner with text saying: Before Rose came along, it was common for a woman to have her breast removed without her consent or knowledge.
Psychologist, teacher, investigative reporter, medical writer, wife and mother — These are just a few titles that Rose Kushner held in her lifetime.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1974 at age 45, Rose fought to change the picture of breast cancer in her time. Kushner talked to 19 surgeons before she found one willing to comply with her request of getting a diagnostic biopsy and discuss the best course of treatment.
In the 1970's it was common practice for doctors to immediately remove a breast after detecting a malignant tumor, without consulting the patient. Rose put a stop to this practice through her skills as a journalist and medical writer; her research led her to oppose the then-standard treatment.
She is credited as the single most important person to influence the elimination of this practice and became a leading voice and activist for breast cancer awareness. She wrote seven books on the subject and influenced a congressional bill that authorized Medicare coverage for screening mammograms.
Kushner also realized that not all women could access or understand the medical journals that taught them what they needed to know about breast cancer. She turned what she had learned into fact sheets, articles, and books.
In her book, Breast Cancer: A Personal History and Investigative Report, she wrote:
"The point of this book is to show that we women should be free, knowledgeable, and completely conscious when the time comes for a decision, so that we can make it for ourselves. Our lives are at stake, not a surgeon's."
Rose Kushner was posthumously awarded the Society of Surgical Oncology's James Ewing Award for outstanding contributions by a lay person to the fight against cancer. She also received awards from the American Medical Writers Association in 1980 and 1985 for her books and articles about breast cancer. The American Cancer Society honored her with its Medal of Honor in 1987 and its Courage Award in 1988.
We honor her sacrifice and hard work in paving the way for advocacy and education.
Sources: https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/women-who-inspire-us-rose-kushner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Kushner#Awards_and_recognitions
We’ve highlighted 2 more amazing women in honor of Women’s History Month. If you’d like to read about more influential women in the breast cancer realm click here.
