1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Big Decisions by Catherine Guthrie
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
September-October 2010 issue of VIV magazine
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer may feel rushed to make decisions such as to have a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, or to have reconstructive surgery immediately, later or not at all. This feature looks at all these choices and gives helpful information about each of these procedures, as well as expert opinions on their pros and cons.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
National Cancer Institute statistics Annals of Plastic Surgery May 2010 issue Journal of Clinical Oncology, March 2010 issue Journal of American College of Surgeons/Breast Reconstruction Systematic Review Your Rights After a Mastectomy/U.S. Dept of Labor
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Barbe Mariotti – woman who had to make such decisions Amy Alderman, M.D. Asst professor of plastic surgery Univ. of Michigan Med. Center Clara Lee, M.D. Plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Univ. of North Carolina Peter Cordeiro, M.D., Chief of the Plastic and Reconstructive Service, Dept. of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Roberta Gartside, M.D., VP Amer. Society of Plastic Surgeons Stephen Ray, M.D., Dir of Oncoplastic and Reconstructive Surgery
6. Results (if any).
No
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
None
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
One key to the success in addressing this big topic is to devise a clear way to organize the information so that women can either read the piece all the way through or go directly to the information that is relevant to their situation. It's also very important to speak to a number of experts so that ramifications of each decision are very clear.