Cancer equipment should be nearby

Dear Editor:I think it’s wonderful that the Valley View Foundation is trying to get stereotactic biopsy and, eventually, radiation equipment for the hospital in Glenwood, so those of us in this area don’t have to travel so far for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. I found the prospect of cancer, diagnostic procedures and surgery a great stress. To have to drive long distances was an added strain.However, I’d like to point out a mistake in the [Glenwood Springs] Post Independent’s article an Monday, May 23, reprinted in The Aspen Times the next day. Women don’t have to travel as far as Grand Junction or Denver to have a stereotactic biopsy or radiation. The Shaw Regional Center at Vail Valley Medical in Edwards can provide these, with state-of-the-art equipment, well-recommended medical professionals like Patricia Hardenbergh, M.D., and a staff whom I found very kind.I wish the foundation good luck in raising funds. It would be so much easier to have facilities nearby. Even though I had a partner to drive me to radiation every weekday for six weeks last fall, having barely recovered from various procedures and surgery, I found the two-and-a-half hour round trip from Basalt very tiring, which might have contributed to other medical problems, including back trouble. The total driving to Edwards came to almost 6,000 miles. Imagine how nice it would be for other women in the Roaring Fork Valley to be able to travel only to Glenwood!Karen SignellBasalt