My Hope Chest looking for donations to aid women recovering from breast cancer

When Lisa Sajardo was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, she got help from a stranger in Florida who has since become her “sister.”

Sajardo was a seasonal employee with the United States Postal Service at the time. After years of chemotherapy, radiation treatments and two surgeries, she is in remission but not at ease.

“Even though the doctor says my MRI is OK, I have a feeling it’s going to come back again,” Sajardo said. “It’s just, I’m scared. This time, my body might not be able to beat it.”

Helping her through recovery is Alisa Savoretti, a fellow breast cancer survivor, who flew to Las Vegas from Florida to be with Sajardo during her surgeries.

In 2004, Savoretti started My Hope Chest, a nonprofit organization that helps women without insurance get reconstructive surgery following mastectomies. The organization began in Las Vegas but helps women across the country.

Sajardo’s insurance paid for some of her cancer treatment, and she received help from other charitable groups, but not for reconstructive surgery. Some of the nurses at University Medical Center suggested that she contact Savoretti and My Hope Chest.

Savoretti, a former Las Vegas showgirl, has been in Sajardo’s position. She was diagnosed with cancer in January 2002. After receiving a mastectomy in March 2002 and subsequent chemotherapy, she returned to the stage five months later, performing with one breast. Her insurance did not cover reconstructive surgery, so she looked for programs that could help pay for it. Finding nothing, Savoretti saved for more than two years to afford the surgery. She also started fundraising for her own nonprofit to help other women get reconstructive surgery.

My Hope Chest started in 2003 and has helped about 20 women since, Savoretti said. But there are hundreds of women on the waiting list, and the organization has never gained a steady stream of donations.

Basic reconstructive surgery typically costs about $25,000, Savoretti said. Surgery usually begins with a tissue expander — basically a balloon — being placed under the skin following the mastectomy to stretch it out. This process can take several months depending on the size of the other breast or preference. During a second surgery, the bag is removed and an implant inserted. A third surgery may be necessary to fabricate a nipple using scar tissue and to tattoo the areola. The whole process takes about a year, Savoretti said.

While it is a cosmetic procedure, Savoretti said it weighs heavily on the psyche of women.

“A woman goes from looking into a mirror where she was disfigured to having two breasts and feeling whole again,” she said.

Sajardo is unemployed but looking for work. She and her children are living off disability for the time being in a small apartment near Tropicana and Polaris avenues.

Sitting at a table in the living room-kitchen combination, Sajardo begins crying while remembering how important the surgery was to her.

“It may sound vain and everything, but I don’t know,” she said. “I felt like I needed it. ... I felt like I could not get a job because of that. And (Sajardo) helped me do it. She gave me that boost.

“Maybe not every woman feels the same way, but I felt like it was very ugly, and I didn’t like how I looked.”

Savoretti is a former southwest-area resident but moved in with her mother in St. Petersburg, Fla., after a startup business failed, the nonprofit could not sustain itself, and her home was foreclosed on.

Even while struggling in Florida, Savoretti was there for Sajardo.

“When I did my surgery, she was right there beside me,” Sajardo said of Savoretti. “She took me to all my appointments and my surgeries. She waited there for me, took me home and stayed with me overnight.

“I didn’t have anyone else ... Alisa was there for me. She called me every day to see how I’m doing.”

Savoretti was even sending money to Sajardo for a while, but once Sajardo learned it was coming from Savoretti’s own pocket and not My Hope Chest, she asked her to stop.

Sajardo said she is grateful for what Savoretti has done and wants to host a fundraiser for the nonprofit.

“My plan is to be active with My Hope Chest and help her out and give back because of what she’s done for me,” Sajardo said.

For more information or to donate, visit myhopechest.org.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.