[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. JEANNE PETREK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 2005

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
exceptional woman--a devoted wife, mother, physician, and researcher--
Dr. Jeanne Petrek.
  Dr. Petrek, born in Youngstown, Ohio, pioneered the field of surgical 
oncology during a time when very few women practiced such a demanding 
specialty. She received her medical degree from Chase Western Reserve 
in Cleveland and served on the faculty of Emory University School of 
Medicine in Georgia before joining the staff at Memorial Sloan-
Kettering Center in 1978.
  As director of the surgical program at the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast 
Center, Dr. Petrek became a leading expert on lymphedema and pregnancy-
related breast cancer. In a field where most physicians focus on 
survival and the ability to extend life, Dr. Petrek chose to study how 
to improve the quality of life for cancer survivors, particularly after 
treatment. She also went on to study the links between surgery and 
lymphedema, which ultimately led to the development of surgical 
procedures that spare lymph nodes.
  Dr. Petrek treated more than 4,000 women during her career in a 
specialty in which doctors normally handle about 400 patients. She was 
a true patient advocate and embodied the very best of what science and 
the medical profession can achieve.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in honor and recognition of Dr. Jeanne 
Petrek whose life will be remembered as one in which her determination 
to make a difference through her work was only matched by her devotion 
to her family. Her passing is a tremendous loss to her husband, her 
children, her colleagues, and her community, and she will be remembered 
in the hearts and minds of the thousands whose lives she touched.

                          ____________________