Alberta Stephens
I was born on June 6, 1934, in Ansonia, Connecticut, the sixth child of ten to O’Donnell and Isabel Brockington Hilton.
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Quinnipiac University. I retired from Yale University, as the Assistant Director of Student Financial Services in 1997.
I am a member of Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc., and the Red Hat Society.
In July 2009 I had an appointment with my primary doctor, Dr. William Rosner, for my annual physical. During the examination he detected a lump in my right breast and recommended that I have an ultra sound. After the ultrasound the lump was suspicious enough that a biopsy was scheduled. The results showed that not only was the lump malignant but a lymph node was also malignant.
Dr. Karen Johnson was my surgeon. After discussing the various procedures with her, I opted to have a bilateral mastectomy. It is good that I did as cancer was also in my left breast. After the surgery, Dr. Johnson referred me to an Oncologist, Dr. Samuel Bobrow. Because one lymph node was cancerous, I had to have chemotherapy. During this ordeal I lost my hair and some weight. However, since then my hair has grown back and my weight has stabilized.
Breast cancer is prevalent in my family; I lost three sisters to breast cancer, Mae Hilton-Bryant, Juanita Hilton-Ewing, and Beverly Hilton-Kimbro. I am not only a breast cancer survivor but a lung cancer survivor as well.
Many thanks to my husband Lewis and my sister, Vivian Clyburn, who traveled from Washington D.C. to care for me as well as my nephews and nieces.