“Cancer hits too close to home for everyone,” says Rosella Kelly, explaining that her sister Nora passed away in 2012, after a nine year battle with breast cancer.
Recently, Kelly and her husband Kevin helped Sutter Medical Foundation in Roseville purchase tomosynthesis, powerful 3D imaging technology which allows radiologists to spot suspicious masses that might otherwise be obscured by thick or dense tissue.
“After learning about this awesome technology, and what happened to my sister, I immediately thought, ‘how can I help?’ I have to help,” Kelly says.
“Cancer is real and it rips families apart. I have experienced that. After we learned about tomosynthesis, we wanted it in our community so we could benefit from the advanced technology along with our family members and friends.”
When doctors caught Nora’s cancer the first time, it was in stage 4. “My sister was very diligent about getting her mammograms, so ignoring signs or procrastination was not the cause,” Kelly says.
“We feel that 3D tomosynthesis would have helped find it sooner if it was available to her. Maybe she would still be with us today. Detecting it sooner than later – in our opinion – is the key to survival and why we are passionate about supporting the 3D tomosynthesis project at Sutter Health.”
“Being that it could potentially be genetic, that scares us,” Kelly adds. “I want to be around for my kids and grandkids. My husband wants me around too!”
Kelly grew up in Sacramento as the youngest of 12 children. Today, she and Kevin live in Granite Bay with their three sons, Adam, 11, Logan, 9, and Jake, 1, — who were all born at Sutter Roseville Medical Center.