Dorothy Hamill...

Paulette531

I found this article dated 2006, it is an interview with Laura Bush, if you read down towards the end, you will see where it says that in 2006 Dorothy Hammill was already a BC survivor, apparently this is a recurrence. The other article I found last week stated "she has been dealing with this longer than anyone might care to know"...

«I am thrilled to be in Turin. The Olympics will be terrific»

Interview with the First Lady, Laura Bush (La Stampa, February 10th, 2006)  > reader comments
«The Olympics in Turin will be terrific». Laura Bush has no doubts about the success of the Games that will start today.
Mrs. Bush, you are leading the US delegation in Turin.
«That's right. I'm really, really thrilled to have this opportunity to travel in Italy, to meet the Pope in Rome, and then to go on to the opening ceremonies and a few of the great events at the Olympics.»
What message are you bringing?
«Of course I'm coming to support the United States team and the United States athletes, but also I've always been struck by the cooperation of each of the countries in the Olympics. I think it's a symbol for a cooperation we could have worldwide. And so I'm really excited. I'm excited to be in Turin; I know it's beautiful. And I'm excited to be there to support our team.»
Usually the Olympic Games are a moment of truce and peace, but now in Europe there are a lot of tensions, especially the anger between the West and Islam concerning the cartoon about Maometto published by a Danish newspaper. How can we overcome this anger?
«Well, I hope that we'll think about the dialogue that we need between all countries. The United States finds it repugnant to find that people would depict Mohammed in a disrespectful and ugly way. But on the other hand, we know what free speech is, and many times free speech is offensive. We want to be able to have the dialogue, to discuss issues that are very, very deeply held. And we expect that people would give respect to the deeply held religious views of people around the world.»
Can you talk about the relation between Italy and your country?
«Italy and the United States are very good friends. They're long allies. Americans love to travel in Italy. Our daughter, in fact, went to school in Italy for a semester when she was in high school, in Rome. And we visited her then. We went over on our American Thanksgiving holiday break, and Barbara, our daughter, who was just 17 at the time, took us around Rome everywhere. We were so proud of her and her independence. She knew all the great little restaurants, the great place we could stop in for a piece of pizza and then eat it on the street, or stand inside the restaurant and eat. Since that visit and since her experience there, we've had a special fondness for Italy. And of course, Italy has stood with us in the war against terrorism, and we appreciate that friendship more than we could ever let the people of Italy know.»
How would you describe the relations between the US and the Holy See?
«We met Pope John Paul several times when we visited Rome. I actually met him earlier when he had come to the United States when my husband's father, President Bush, was President. We loved him, we were always really impressed by his goodness and his deep compassion for people around the world. I expect that Pope Benedict will be very similar. I know that the United States and the Holy See share many of the same goals of trying to relieve suffering around the world, either because of AIDS or because of hunger and injustice.»
How important to American society are the values professed by the Catholic Church, like the protection of human life?
«Many, many values are important. The American people are religious people - of course, all different religions. But we share a lot of the same values with the Catholic Church. I've visited Catholic charities around the world. When I was just in Nigeria, I went to St. Mary's Hospital there, which is a collaborative effort between St. Mary's and the diocese there, and money from PEPFAR, the President emergency relief for AIDS prevention. There the nuns are providing antiretroviral treatment and care, loving care, to people who are afflicted with AIDS. I had the opportunity to see that. In our own country, one of my heroes is Father Gregory Boyle from Los Angeles, who leads a wonderful gang prevention program. He actually works with former gang members in Los Angeles to give them the job skills and the life skills that they need to be able to get good jobs. A lot of these gang members are tattooed, have gang tattoos across the forehead or on the necks, and so they're really not employable. An employer would look at them and be afraid to employ them. So Father Gregory Boyle works with them. He has laser machines, and Los Angeles doctors give their time pro bono to help these gang members remove their tattoos. Then they run the Homeboy Industries and Homeboy Bakery and Homeboy Café so that all of these former gang members can get job skills. And then they go on and get good and decent jobs. There are so many examples. Those are just two of my most recent and favorite examples of ways that I've been able to work with Catholic groups, faith-based groups around the world, the way our government has been able to work with them because they're already there, they're already in the field, they're already working with people. Our government, through our faith-based initiatives, can help support programs that are already there.»
In Italy there is also an initiative to help the fight against cancer that is very close to you personally. Can you talk about it?
«It's been a very long-time issue of mine. Both my mother and my grandmother had breast cancer; they both were breast cancer survivors. My mother is still living in Midland, Texas, which is where George and I grew up. One of my really good friends is Nancy Brinker, she started the Komen Foundation for her sister, Susan Komen, who died of breast cancer as a young woman years ago in Dallas, Texas. George and I lived in Dallas at the time. There was a big luncheon that was a fundraiser every year for the Komen Foundation, and I would always work on that luncheon. That was one of the things I liked to do when I lived in Dallas. Komen now has gone international. There's a large Komen Foundation, and Race for the Cure, which is their big awareness event, so that women will know they're not alone if they have breast cancer in Rome.»
You are very popular in America. Have you ever thought about running for office?
«No, not really. I really haven't. While my husband is President, I've loved having this opportunity to work on issues that are important to me, that I've found important my whole life, like education and human rights, women's rights. It's given me a forum and a platform to talk about those issues. But I'm really happy that he's the President and I'm the one who's supporting him.»
You said that in the next future a woman could be President in America. If there is a race between Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, who would you vote for?
«Well, of course everyone knows that, Dr. Rice.»
You are going to meet the American troops in Aviano as well.
«That's right. A few of them will be just returning home from Afghanistan or Iraq. I'm excited to have our Olympic delegation with me. I'm bringing four former Olympians, United States Olympic athletes, with me. One of them is really well known, Herschel Walker, as a football player. He was a Dallas Cowboy football player. But a lot of people, probably even Americans, don't know that he was also an Olympic bobsledder. So it's going to be fun to introduce him to our troops. Also, Dorothy Hamill. She herself is a breast cancer survivor, and she's a famous gold medal skater. It will be really very, very nice to welcome our troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan there in Aviano, and see our other troops, and then to be able to bring these former Olympians to see them.»
Is there a message you would like to send to the Italians?
«I want the people of Italy to know how excited I am to be able to be the head of our delegation to the Olympics. I want to thank them for their very hard work in building these Olympics. I know they'll be terrific and I want to congratulate the people of Italy, too, for hosting a really wonderful Olympics»

(Interview by Maurizio Molinari ad Paolo Mastrolilli)

Anonymous

I believe I watched that interview.  However, I forgot that she brought up Dorothy Hamill's name.

Thanks for posting.  I've always been a fan of Laura Bush.

Shirley

Paulette531

I probably should not have said "apparently this is a recurrence" because that is just an assumption on my part...so strike that please!

And shirley, you're welcome, I thought it might shed light on Dorothy's diagnosis. 

Poppy

I had never heard Dorothy Hamill had BC before. I've checked those "Celebrity bc survivor" websites a couple times over the last few years and don't recall seeing her name. I hope treatment works for her. Damn cancer.

I like Laura Bush too. Not to sound like I'm from the 50's, but she knows her place as First Lady. She has issues that she devotes time and attention to, but she has no agenda other than supporting her husband. Not saying ANYTHING about George here but as a wife... as a first lady, IMO she is great.

Erica

Paulette531

I like Laura Bush also and agree with what you say about "knowing her place" as first lady. I find her to be poised, gracious and IMO very classy.

In Dorothy's case, maybe she didn't want it to be public information in the beginning and so it was kept private between her and her doctors/manager. And, I think that's OK too. Everyone, celebrity or not handles things differently.  

NoH8

Poppy I saw Dorothy Hammil interviewed a few days ago, I can't remember where, and she talked about her diagnosis and how it's effected her. She didn't mention that it was a recurrence and I tend to think Laura Bush was mistaken rather than taking her word as fact. I've never liked her much. I don't dislike her, I just haven't found much to like about her--I like my first spouses to be like Eleanor Roosevelt rather than arm candy.

Anonymous

I was so sad to hear Dorothy Hammil is one of us.

Leslie 

Emelee26

I read the article on the original posting and it doesn't say she was a survivor..it just lists former Olympians that are part of a delgation there..here..I'll paste the exact section..maybe this will clear it up

I think the confusion was caused by them asking about her BC connection prior to talk about the opening ceremonies so it seemed like these people were connected..here's the text:

We are all so happy to be here. As you know, we're here to go to Torino tomorrow to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. And so I thought you all might want to meet our delegation. We have some former American Olympians who are part of the delegation, and I thought you might want to meet them.

First, Dr. Debi Thomas, who is standing right here. (Applause.) Dr. Thomas is a figure skater. She won the bronze medal in Calgary, and she's now an orthopedic surgeon. We have another doctor with us, Dr. Eric Heiden. (Applause.) He is an Olympic gold medalist speed skater. He was the first to win all five of the speed skating gold medals at once, I guess. Is that right, Eric? And he's also an orthopedic doctor. I think it's interesting that these athletes are all now working on people's bones and joints. (Laughter.) Miss Kerri Strug, Olympic gold medal gymnast. (Applause.) And a favorite of all Americans, Dorothy Hamill. (Applause.) Dorothy won gold medalist in the '76 games in Austria, and she still skates in the United States. A lot of people love to see her.