GPD recognized for its efforts to raise cancer awareness.

By Mary O’KEEFE

On Monday, the Glendale Police Dept. was recognized by the Adventist Health Glendale hospital with the Flame of Hope Award.

“Once a year we have [this event] as a celebration of life for our survivors and our community,” said Dennis Quagliani, director of Cancer Services at AHG.

The celebration, titled “Bravery in the Line of Cancer,” is held for survivors of all types of cancers, regardless where they received care, he added.

The GPD received the Flame of Hope for its effort in bringing cancer awareness to the community.

“We award this to individuals or organizations that have put forth a recognizable effort to bring awareness and help those battling cancer in the community,” Quagliani said. “Glendale police have done a phenomenal job in raising awareness and support.”

He added that the police department reaches so many in the community, and that they continue to share their support for cancer research, care and awareness is incredible.

“You don’t see a lot of police departments that do that,” he said.

In the last 10 years, there have been significant advancements made in cancer detection and treatment.

“We are seeing a lot of advances [such as] in targeted chemotherapy and radiation therapy,” Quagliani said. “That has definitely resulted in higher survival rates – for instance, in breast cancer. It is not the diagnosis it used to be 20 or 30 years ago. Many women have been cured of [cancer and had an] extended life.”

Adventist Health Glendale has several ways to help patients when cancer is the diagnosis, including offering support groups and other complimentary services.

One of those who faced a cancer diagnosis was Tahnee Lightfoot, spokesperson for GPD and the keynote speaker for the luncheon. Lightfoot shared some of her life history, from growing up in the Crescenta Valley to her career path that led to GPD. She became an officer and served with the department in several areas, including opening the Montrose Community police office. She then met her husband, who is from Australia, and they moved to his home. Later, when her mother fell ill, she and her daughter moved back to CV.

“I called [GPD] and said, ‘I am coming home; is there any chance there is a job available?’” Lightfoot said.

There was, and she now works at the department in community outreach and relations.

She said that when she was attending a conference, she noticed an odd sensation in one of her breasts. She had had a biopsy done in the past, but she knew that this was different. She was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer and she scheduled a lumpectomy.

“So everything happened quickly,” she said.

Her sister had battled stomach cancer, and her grandmother, breast cancer, so Lightfoot had some idea of what she was going to face. She had the surgery, and everything went smoothly. For her recovery, she decided to go to a family home in Arizona.

“I didn’t tell my doctors, but my husband was a professional rugby player and knew first aid,” she said.

He wrapped her well, and she was able to waterski every day for five days while she recovered.

“I was bound and determined not to let this get me down,” she said.

Lightfoot told the luncheon audience that a positive attitude was what got her through this difficult time and treatment.

Six or seven weeks after the surgery, she met with Dr. Sara Kim, and they scheduled the six weeks of radiation.

“Monday through Friday for six weeks, I got up, got ready and at 8 a.m. [drove] to radiation [treatment], which only took about 10 to 15 minutes, and then [I was] in my car and off to work,” she said.

She had a 12-year-old daughter, a very long-distance marriage, a sick mother and a demanding job, but she continued to stay positive.

“The diagnosis was a wake-up call for me. Every day while driving myself to treatment, I reminded myself that this disease was just a bump in the road. I needed to slow down, take time to listen to the medical experts and go with my gut instincts. I was not going to allow myself to fall into negativity and [instead] focused on a positive attitude,” she said.

One day when she walked out of the hospital she was thinking of what GPD could do during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

“There was a big van with signs and graphics [around it]. I thought, ‘What about [covering] a police car in pink, with ribbons?” she said.

Chief Robert Castro did not have to be convinced; he supported the effort immediately – even getting a new police car that he had painted pink. Over the years, the effort has expanded to include pink motorcycles and pink ribbons on GPD air support, and the department continues to support cancer awareness and research.

  Mary Okeefe