Without risk factors

But Card is one of the majority of women who develop breast cancer without having any significant risk factors. Card was diagnosed with stage I, an early-stage breast cancer that had not spread.

She is still a little bit in denial about her breast cancer, even though each day, when she gets dressed, she sees the scars from her surgery. Card’s tumors were very deep in her breast tissue, close to the chest wall, so neither she nor her doctor was able to feel the lumps.

“Until the ultrasounds, they didn’t really show,” she said.

Card postponed her lumpectomy until after Thanksgiving last year because her college-age sons would be coming home for a visit.

 Her smile slips a bit when she thinks about that time.

“I didn’t want my kids to see me sick,” she said tearfully in a conference room at Klamath Youth Development Center, where she works as an administrative assistant. “It’s harder on those you love and you’re around because you know what’s going on and they don’t.”

Card’s husband of 31 years, Dave, never missed a radiology appointment, Card said. Her sons Bryn, 22, and Drew, 20, always called afterward to see how she was doing.

Surgery

Card had surgery on both breasts. Three lumps were removed from her left breast and one from her right, along with six lymph nodes. She was allergic to the dye used during surgery and now has blue spots on her breasts that are reminders of the cancer.

“Our society is very breast conscious. I feel like Dr. (Raul) Mirande did the best that he could to make them look appealing,” Card said. “I wouldn’t wear a swimsuit anymore.”

Card doesn’t dwell on that. She has determined to not let breast cancer get the best of her.

“When I am sitting alone in my room, do I think about it? Yes,” she said. “Am I going to let it consume my life? No, I’m not going to let it consume my life.”

Card was grateful for the Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center. Her life was barely disrupted while she went through treatment. Most cancer patients must get daily doses of radiation for six weeks.

“I felt exposed,” Card said of the radiation treatment. “Not because I didn’t have clothes on, but because I was letting this other thing in my body to take over and change things.”

Joking around

Although it was hard at first, as Card lay there thinking about having cancer, she shared jokes with the radiation oncologists as she got closer to the end of her treatment.

“The guys and gals who do radiation are just fabulous,” she said. “It was very scary going in and having thousands of units of radiation shot into your body.”

Card finished radiation in February and gets mammograms every three months. So far, the cancer has not returned. She will continue to take Femara, an estrogen-based therapy for post-menopausal women.

Card admits she took her health for granted, and having cancer woke her up to life again.

“The one thing I appreciate about being diagnosed with this is, it’s given me a stronger outlook on life. I enjoy things more,” she said. “This slaps you awake. I don’t want to miss out on anything anymore.”