From the Associated Press, November 4, 2005

When Antoinette Aboflan fled her West African homeland of Togo in fear for her life, she didn''t know if she would ever see her family again.

But when she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, a number of people interceded to reunite her recently with her loved ones at her new home in St. Louis.

"The last time I was hospitalized, no one thought I would survive, but maybe that''s what has helped me, to have my family here," Aboflan said on Friday through a translator. "So, now everything is getting better."

Cancer is taking its toll on the woman, who said the disease has spread to her brain. She wears a knit cap on her head and a cane is within arm''s reach, next to the couch where she sits. But she also breaks into an easy smile when a family member walks in the room.

Aboflan, 44, had to leave her husband and four daughters behind when she fled her home, near Togo''s capital of Lome. She had joined others in a march against then-president Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2001, seeking reforms and concerned that he would arrange for his son to take over as the nation''s leader rather than allowing a presidential election.

"When it''s too much, you can''t stand not to say anything," she said. "I marched because I thought that was the way to change the government."

Instead, she was punished. Aboflan was later taken - she does know by whom_ and jailed for three days, where she was given only water, questioned and beaten before being released, she said.

With help from friends, she was cleared to come to the United States as a refugee, she said. After living in Illinois and Maryland, she came to St. Louis.

She spent about five months studying English, trying to obtain the language skills she needed for a good job. She continued her efforts to bring her husband and daughters to the United States.

"Then, my sickness started," she said. Aboflan received help through the Daylight Project, funded by the St. Louis affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

The program educates refugee and immigrant women about breast cancer and provides hundreds of them with mammograms, said Eva Enoch, the Daylight Project''s outreach coordinator. Enoch also translated for Aboflan and her family from their native French.

While the hospital continued to treat the disease, its refugee health services program treated the person, said registered nurse Barbara Bogomolov. She said Aboflan needed help cutting through red tape to bring her family to the United States.

Several people began work to bring that about, with assistance from Missouri Sen. Jim Talent''s office. Talent said his office contacted the embassy and asked for its help, which he believed sped up the process by several months.

Talent lost his own mother to breast cancer in 1987. "I think on a personal level, once you have that experience, you feel an extra measure of sympathy."

He said an important part of government is to help people dealing with passport, visa, Social Security or other government problems. "If we can make government responsive, we can help somebody out and help make a difference," he said.

Bogomolov said she didn''t feel gratified by the outcome, but rather has a sense of relief. "Even though we''re going to lose our patient, her family is going to survive. Her family will make it, and they will go on."

Aboflan''s family came to the United States last month, during a turbulent time in Togo. The former president, a dictator for 38 years, died in February. His son, Faure Gnassingbe, was then installed by the military. He later bowed to pressure and held elections, which he won and which opponents said were rigged.

Antoinette''s husband, Blewoussi Dick, waited until he saw his wife again to give her some difficult news: Their eldest daughter, Kafui, died earlier this year of an infection.

But even as the family mourns, the parents said they believe the United States will offer opportunities for their girls. Blewoussi, a carpenter, said it means much to the family to help with his wife''s care. He plans to enroll in an English class and will work toward a job, possibly in construction.

Meanwhile, their youngest, Yasse, 9, is contemplating other plans. She said that one day she would like to go to medical school so she could help treat people like her mother.