Montclair natives share marathon tale of friendship, courage, and breast cancer care

  • November 24, 2013
  • By Kelly Ebbels
  • Staff Writer
  • The Montclair Times

Tracy Frazzano happened to go on Facebook one afternoon, where she found a friend reposting another friend’s status. It was an offer to pay the entrance fee for runners in the New York City Marathon, if the runner would raise money for a new breast cancer foundation.

It was Jennifer Finkelstein, an old friend, making the request. Frazzano, who is a lieutenant with the Montclair Police Department, knew Finkelstein from days of playing in the schoolyards at Northeast Elementary School. She soon learned that Finkelstein’s foundation, 5 Under 40, helped young women who have breast cancer – or who have high risk – to cope, buy and fit wigs, and to seek wellness while they are undergoing treatment.

Frazzano reached out with a Facebook message. When the two connected over the phone, they talked for six hours, Finkelstein said. Frazzano committed to running the marathon, something she had always wanted to accomplish.

“I said, ‘I’m going to have to do this,'” she said.

After training for just six weeks, on Nov. 3, Frazzano ran the New York City Marathon. Her sister, an assistant police chief in New York City, stationed herself around the event to cheer her on. She was greeted by her brother-in-law at the finish line. Frazzano’s time was 4 hours and 33 minutes.

Finkelstein was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, at age 32, two months before her wedding. At the time, the national rate of breast cancer diagnoses for women under 40 was 5 percent. Since then, that number has grown to 11 percent, and women under 40 have a higher mortality rate from the disease, she said.

The spike is something major media outlets are only beginning to grasp, Finkelstein noted. (Her foundation was recently featured in Cosmopolitan magazine.) Younger women face different challenges with the disease: If they are interested in having children, they may have to consider options such as freezing their eggs, for example.

When Finkelstein was diagnosed, her family – including her father, Dr. Warren Finkelstein, a gastroenterologist with a practice in Glen Ridge – rallied to her aid. But as Finkelstein sought support through friendship networks, strangers began to step forward to help her as well.

She was introduced to Michal Alibayof over lunch. Afterward, Alibayof took Finkelstein to her apartment. She showed her how to wear a wig, how to keep the hair in front of her ears, and suggested a newsboy cap to complete the look.

“I felt as though this girl was suiting me up and preparing me for battle,” Finkelstein recalled.

As she recovered from her mastectomy and went into recovery, Finkelstein brainstormed. “I thought to myself, ‘What do other young women do?’… I felt like everybody needs a Mihal. Everybody needs someone to talk them through it and coach them on this.” Alibayof died of breast cancer in 2012.

Finkelstein got together with a breast physician, Dr. Dana Holwitt, another former Montclairite, who in 2009 was also diagnosed with breast cancer. They combined efforts with three additional women, Carrie Christensen, Dominique Frio and Jaime Frio.

The 5 Under 40 foundation obtained its nonprofit status one year ago, and has since been helping women who get in touch and who qualify for services. The foundation has since partnered with 45 health and wellness providers. In Montclair, those partnerships include the Montclair Breast Center on Valley Road, where Finkelstein was diagnosed, the Bar Method Montclair on Bloomfield Avenue, and the Plastic Surgery Group on North Fullerton Avenue.

Finkelstein said the main message, along with giving help and support for women facing breast cancer, was to advocate for women to be aware and proactive. “Be your own health advocate,” she said.

Frazzano said she won’t rule out running a marathon again, but said that what was more important was getting the word out about her friend’s foundation. “I’m glad I ran it, but the whole point behind it is to help raise awareness about what her foundation is set up to do, and to get it out there,” Frazzano said.

Finkelstein said she was touched by her friend’s efforts. “She’s my champion,” Finkelstein said. “She’s going to be a friend for life.”

– See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/montclair-natives-share-marathon-tale-of-friendship-courage-and-breast-cancer-care-1.629335