Breast Cancer Detection, Prevention, Treatment
To Be Subject Of Next ‘Dinner With The Doctor’

In recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this month’s Dinner with the Doctor” series at Jersey City Medical Center will focus on the early detection, prevention and treatment options of breast cancer.

Dr. Julie DiGioia, a breast surgeon and a breast cancer survivor, will present on this topic at Jersey City Medical Center (355 Grand Street, Jersey City) on Wednesday, October 27th. The event will be repeated at Chandelier Restaurant, 1081 Broadway in Bayonne, on Thursday, October 28th. Both events start at 6:30 p.m. and are free to the public.

About Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States (other than skin cancer). Each year in the United States, more than 192,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Men can also get breast cancer (about 1 percent of Dr. DiGioia’s patients are men). Treatment works best when the cancer is detected early.

Dr. DiGioia, who has been named by Castle Connolly as one of New Jersey’s top surgeons for many years, was recently named as the new Medical Director of the Cristie Kerr Women’s Center at Jersey City Medical Center. Working with her husband, Dr. Stephen Hall, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, she has dedicated her practice to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer since 1990.

In 1998, she received the American Cancer Society’s medical honoree award. A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, she did her medical training at Jersey City Medical Center. She is a graduate of medical school in the University of Rome and St. Peter’s University, and grew up in Jersey City.

Dr. DiGioia has long been an expert on breast cancer. In January 2009, she found what it was like being a patient after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing treatment.

Cancer-free since she finished treatment in August of 2009, she said her experiences as a patient have changed her perception as a physician. She realizes now, she said, that the minor complaints, like dry mouth, are sometimes more important than what a doctor would consider to be a major complaint. She now has a personal understanding of what her patients are going through, she said, and has learned to "speak the language of patients."

Materials on breast cancer will be made available to attendees at each event.

“Dinner with the Doctor,” held monthly at Jersey City Medical Center and at other community locations, gives area residents the chance to enjoy a light dinner and listen to leading physicians discuss their specialty and answer questions.

“Our mission is ‘enhancing life’ and, with our ‘Dinner with the Doctor’ series, we do it through fostering education and awareness,” said Joseph F. Scott, President and CEO of LibertyHealth. “We strongly encourage those people who live and work in the communities we serve to meet some of the area’s best doctors and get answers to questions they may have on various health and medical topics.”

To register for either of the two events, call 201-915-2332.