Submit your ideas for
neighbors
neighbors
to [email protected]
5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
Jaclyn Alterwein
Former NBA cheerleader and breast cancer survivor advocates for research
WRITTEN BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
Seven years ago, Alterwein never
would have guessed a person who
looks this good could be a survivor
of breast cancer. “In 2012, the only
think I knew about breast cancer was
that one in eight” women eventually
are diagnosed, says Alterwein. “And,
shamefully, I disregarded that num-
ber. I thought that it was elevated
because, out of all the women I
knew, I thought I should know
dozens – if not hundreds – of women
with breast cancer. And I didn’t
know anybody.”
Alterwein was wrong, of course.
The Bergen County resident knew
lots of women who had survived
breast cancer, many more who were
still undergoing treatment or were
soon to be diagnosed. It’s just that
we tend to make our successes pub-
lic, but keep our illnesses private. But
breast cancer is real, and in 2017 it
killed 40,616 women in this country,
according to the American Cancer
Society. Another 316,000 women
were diagnosed.
In 2012, Alterwein’s mom was
diagnosed with breast cancer. Then
two of her friends. Then her little
sister. In March 2017, Alterwein
went for her own doctor’s visit.
“It was a beautiful March day. I
had my sun room open and my music
blasting. I was in great shape, and
14
FALL 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
Alterwein as
a Knicks City
Dancer in
2000
I was going to get good news,” she
says. “The moment my doctor walked
in, I knew what the answer was.”
Alterwein had breast cancer. But
otherwise, her diagnosis was as good
as it could be; the cancer cells had
not yet spread beyond the milk ducts
of her left breast. Still, her story
has two big takeaways. First, breast
cancer can affect anyone. Alterwein
was young. She ate well. As a former
NBA cheerleader turned popular
North Jersey fitness instructor, she
was in amazing shape. If Jaclyn
Alterwein can get breast cancer,
any woman can.
Second, mammograms work.
A mammogram was the only way
Alterwein could have detected
her cancer at such an early stage,
and early detection makes cancer
much easier to treat. For Alterwein, it
meant that from diagnosis to surgical
removal by way of a double mastec-
tomy, she had breast cancer for only
three weeks.
“On a grand scale, three weeks
with cancer is a short period of time,”
says Alterwein, whose surgery leaves
her odds of recurrence at less than
one percent. “The good news is that
we caught my cancer so early, so we
got such a good prognosis.”
Mammograms are no fun, but they
can be lifesaving. Women as young as
40 should start to think about getting
a mammogram every year, accord-
ing to the National Cancer Society.
Starting at 45, every woman should
go for an annual screening, the
society says.
“My message is annual mammos
save lives,” says Alterwein. Here
are five things about her you should
know.
S
HE WAS A CHEERLEADER FOR
TWO NBA TEAMS. Alterwein was
as fierce in her response to cancer as she
was about her career. A cheerleader in high
school in Coral Springs, Fla., at age 19 she
tried out for the Miami Heat.
She got in. Four years later, in 1994,
she auditioned for the New York Knicks
cheerleading squad, called the Knicks City
Dancers. She got in again. But that wasn’t
necessarily enough to win a spot on the
Madison Square Garden floor. “I was told,
‘You made it. Wonderful. By the first
practice I want you ten pounds lighter,’”
Alterwein says. “So I’ve been judged my
whole life, mostly on physical things.”
Despite this, she remained a member of
the squad for six years, her final three as
captain.
J
aclyn Alterwein is totally ripped.
Her triceps have triceps. A long-
time yoga student, she is 48,
teaches stationary bike classes at
Cyclebar in Montclair and has
the poise and muscle tone of
an athlete half her age.