Woman raises awareness of male breast cancer

Macomb Daily staff photo by Craig Gaffield
Rosalba Pacella, founder of the Team Angels Foundation,
and Bill Rands, a breast cancer survivor.

By Maryanne Kocis MacLeod
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
October, 2006

When Rosalba Primavera Pacella’s brother was dying from metastatic breast cancer, both of them had a spiritual encounter that changed her life. Pacella’s unfolded in the hospital waiting room following Nicola Primavera’s brain surgery.

A woman wearing old-fashioned clothing took her hand as the tears flowed down Pacella’s face. “She asked me why I was crying and I told her my story,” said Pacella of Macomb Township. “She said Jesus was her brother. Then said: ‘Now, let’s pray for your brother.’ “When she prayed with me, I was at total peace,” Pacella said.

Then, about a month before his death, Nick told his sister about an evening of peace that he experienced. “Wow! You should have been here last night, there were angels here, baby angels, climbing on my bed,” Primavera told her. “They were all dressed in pink. Only one was dressed in blue.”

“I knew then what my mission in life was to be,” Pacella said.

Before her brother lost his battle with the disease in 2003, Pacella created the Team Angels Foundation to raise funding for both research and treatment. “Our motto is ‘Don’t just think pink, think blue,’” Pacella said. “It serves as a reminder that men also are at risk. However, early detection can save women and men. If my brother would have known about breast cancer, he would be alive today.”

Not including this year’s event — Fighting Breast Cancer with a Passion for Fashion held at Penna’s of Sterling Heights — Pacella’s group has raised $150,000.

Supporter and breast cancer survivor Bill Rands, 62, of Grosse Pointe, is especially grateful for Pacella’s efforts. Rands was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 after discovering a lump.

The money from this year’s event was the final step in a 5-year effort to collect the $1 million necessary to create the Nathanson-Rands chair in breast cancer research at Henry Ford Hospital. Additional funding will be donated to a local individual to help pay for treatment.

“Rosalba’s mad as h—- like the rest of us at this disease and we’ve all dedicated ourselves to fighting back,” said Rands, a retired money manager. “She is dynamic and passionate. Anybody who can put together a crew of 900 people on any given night has got to be pretty special.”

For Rands, who shared his story with supporters at last year’s fund-raiser, the “victory walk” he participated in was the highlight.

“There we were, about 25 survivors, with the spotlights and everything set up for the fashion show,” Rands said. “I was escorted down the runway by Rosalba’s daughter and one of her nieces.

“We each were given longstemmed rose, but instead of keeping mine, I did something different. I tossed first one, than the other out into the audience,” Rands said. “It was the most incredible feeling of victory.”

Diagnosed in September of 1999, Rands underwent a full mastectomy in November of that same year and began chemotherapy a month later.

“A couple thousand men in this country are diagnosed with breast cancer each year,” Rands said. “A lot of people, including the medical community, just go around ignoring that men can be at risk.

For more information about Team Angels or to learn how you can donate, visit www.teamangelsfoundation.org.