Public Employee Press

Coping with cancer

DC 37 and member team up to fight her disease

“Thank God for the union”
— Harriet Reynolds, Computer Associate

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Harriet Reynolds, a 28-year veteran of the Dept. of Corrections and member of Local 2627, was doing her routine self-examination when she felt a small lump in her breast.
Reynolds wasted no time scheduling an appointment with her doctor, and in April he gave her the diagnosis that no woman wants to hear.

“I was devastated when he told me it was cancer,” said the New York native, who works as a Computer Associate and lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

The following month she underwent a mastectomy, which was followed by an initial round of four weeks of chemotherapy treatments. In October she began another cycle of treatments, which will take 12 weeks.

“It’s very tough,” said Reynolds, who as a teenager worked summer jobs in the Dept. of Corrections. Reynolds has a sister and a daughter who are constantly in touch, bringing bags of hearty groceries when she’s too weak from the treatment to leave her apartment.

Bill collectors also stay in touch. “The bills are starting to pile up,” she admits. DC 37’s Help Our Own Fund provided a needed financial boost, and her local made a matching contribution.

Unable to work, Reynolds gets regular disability payments from the DC 37 Health and Security Fund. Still, she has fallen behind on her rent, and an attorney from the union’s Municipal Employees Legal Services program helps her deal with her landlord.

“Thank God for DC 37,” she said. “I know I can count on the union during this difficult time. I hope other members understand that they can go to the union for help when they need it.”

Reynolds admonishes members to be vigilant about their health, get yearly checkups and most importantly annual mammograms. “That’s really important because cancer is a tricky disease that can just sneak up on you,” she said.

Reynolds has a point. While progress has been made in treating the disease, doctors still don’t know what causes breast cancer. But studies show that women who engage in regular physical activity and control their weight have less risk of developing breast cancer than those who are sedentary and overweight.

If it is detected early, breast cancer can often be cured, and it is frequently not necessary to remove the breast. The American Cancer Society recommends that women have yearly mammograms (breast X-rays) starting at age 40. A serious illness can cause significant financial, social and familial hardships, so members should be sure to seek out and use all the resources that are available to them, said Local 2627 President Ed Hysyk.

“It’s a very stressful time,” Hysyk added, recommending that members consider counseling at DC 37’s Personal Service Unit and contact their agency’s human resources unit when they will be away from the job for significant periods due to illness.

Harriet Reynolds is waging an uphill battle, but she is not alone. “I am going to fight this thing,” she said. “And knowing I have the union in my corner makes a huge difference.”