Angie Quinones broke down when her doctor told her she was diagnosed with breast cancer in November1995.

    Then her fear of dying turned into overwhelming courage to survive the disease.

    Christine Sansone reacted calmly to learning a cancerous lump was growing on her right breast. Nevertheless, Sansone instantly thought of her friend who had breast cancer 10 years ago and died.

    Sansone and Quinones are surviving breast cancer together now. They're grateful the other has cried through the same ordeal and understands the disease's pain and frustration.

    In January, only a few weeks after Quinones' breasts were removed, Sansone, 39, of Rancho Cucamonga called Quinones, 43, of Ontario.

    The Breast Buddies program at Fontana's Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, which is also sponsored by the Women's Information Network Against Breast Cancer, matched the women together.

    "Having breast cancer, you go through all the feelings that are out there," Sansone said. "If you've gone through any tragedy in your life, you want someone else who's been through it."

    Breast Buddies started in 1995 with $400,000 from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group and $250,000 from another private foundation, said WIN founder and breast cancer survivor Betsy Mullen.

    The program is the first in the nation that brings together a nonprofit breast cancer organization with a hospital to match breast cancer survivors and patients together, she said.

    Laura Ward, Kaiser's breast care coordinator, said the Fontana and Riverside Centers were selected because they have a high number of breast cancer patients and support programs for breast cancer patients.

    The program has 36 volunteers who have gone through an intensive two-day training. The Fontana hospital had about 200 breast cancer patients last year while Riverside had 85.

    Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, according to the American Cancer Society. In 1995, an estimated 20,230 were diagnosed with breast cancer in California and 5,035 died of it."

    Mullen conceived the program after she found herself talking to other women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer each time she visited her hospital.

    Dr. Brad Edgerton asked me to talk to other breast cancer patients who weren't doing so well," said Mullen, a former marketing analyst who quit her job to start WIN. "After talking to them, I definitely saw a need for this type of support program."

    In May, 1994 Mullen had received $900,000 in funding from a private foundation to start WIN, which has its main office in West Covina. The organization provides information to women with breast cancer about the latest treatment and research and follows closely state and federal legislation about breast cancer.

    Mullen, 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. Doctors at the Kaiser hospital in West Los Angeles removed and reconstructed her breast and treated her with six months of chemotherapy.

    Mullen was a "breast buddy" to Sansone before the program even started in Fontana. 

    "She really motivated me," said Sansone as she sat in her home with Quinones. "It's just wonderful to see a cancer survivor who had hair and looked beautiful."

    As Quinones and Sansone talked, the conversation shifted from one topic to another. They discussed how breast cancer has touched so many aspects of their lives.

    During the last eight months of her chemotherapy, which ended last week for Quinones, she would often call Sansone to ask her if all the ill-side effects had also hit Sansone. They also shared books, pamphlets and other information about breast cancer.

    Chemotherapy treatments kill the cancerous cells in a person's body, but also affect some healthy cells. The women experienced a rise in their body temperature, or "hot flashes," often lost their sense of taste and appetite, and had severe hair loss.

    The lack of estrogen in their bodies, which can cause the cancer to come back, also sent the women into early menopause.

    The hardest aftermath for Sansone has been dealing with her infertility.

    "I always wanted a daughter, but I can never have children again," said Sansone, who has a son. "Angie has her daughter, something I've always wanted."

    But then Sansone thinks about her friends who didn't have children, were diagnosed with breast cancer, and are now going through menopause. She reminds herself that's she's survived a "dark moment in her life" with courage and a profound desire to help others in a similar situation.

    And the women can also laugh about some of their ordeal now, like the fake breasts Sansone offered Quinones to wear.

    Sansone joked that the fake breast was "too small for Angie to wear" while Quinones made fun of "the sock," a fake breast made out of flimsy material and foam. Quinones settled on a thicker breast that looks fuller and fits her better.

    They are both encouraging their younger friends to start self-breast examinations in their early 20s. Both women found out they had breast cancer after they examined their breasts and then went to see their doctor.

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