One survivor's story

Cathy Hanson of Kalispell is happy to be a poster child for the Relay for Life.

She's also happy to be counted as a cancer survivor, not a victim.

Cathy Hanson of Kalispell is happy to be a poster child for the Relay for Life. She's also happy to be counted as a cancer survivor, not a victim.

The results of a mammogram in December sent her life into a temporary tailspin. The routine test found what a subsequent ultrasound didn't detect: two spots on one of her breasts. Biopsies showed the first lump was malignant; the second one was benign but abnormal.

"I know most women hate to have mammograms. I do, too, but I always went religiously," Hanson said. "The biggest point I want to make is go and have your annual mammogram even if you hate it. It saved my life."

Hanson, 65, went through some depression and a period of "freaking out" before and after she decided to have a mastectomy. With no history of breast cancer in her family and a mentality of "it won't happen to me," she had difficulty accepting her fate.

"I was crying, sobbing, screaming one day," she recalled. "My husband literally had to tackle me to get control of me."

Having a supportive husband made all the difference for Hanson.

"I told my husband to be my second ears. 'I need you to learn about breast cancer. I need you to help me now more than any time before,'" she said. "And he did. I call him 'Larry the sweetheart.'"

Coincidentally, one of her husband's ski buddies, Mike Dougherty, was at one time the leading breast surgeon in Kentucky. He talked her through the disease and "put my mind at ease," she said.

Hanson, likewise, found support and peace of mind from Missoula plastic surgeon Dr. Stephen P. Hardy. She chose to have reconstructive surgery on her breast and, when that decision was made, the surgeon and plastic surgeon worked as a team, she explained.

A biopsy showed the cancer hadn't spread to her lymphatic system, so she didn't need chemotherapy. She's still undergoing pretreatments for the reconstructive surgery.

"This came out of the blue," Hanson said about her cancer. "I was so lucky to end up with this team of people."

Since her bout with breast cancer, Hanson has joined a fitness center and is making necessary lifestyle changes to stay healthy.

Cancer-awareness events, such as the renowned Relay for Life, can make a difference, she acknowledged. Hanson knew the benefits of having routine checkups, and she wants others to realize how important and lifesaving they can be.

The American Cancer Society has been using the Relay for Life as a team event to fight cancer since the mid-1980s, when a Tacoma, Wash., colorectal surgeon, Dr. Gordy Klatt, spent an exhausting 24 hours circling a university track to raise $27,000. During that first night in May 1985, 300 of Klatt's friends, family and patients watched as he circled the track, according to the society's Web site www.cancer.org.

It was his vision that became a springboard for the event that is held in more than 20 countries.

The society's Web site has additional information about the Relay for Life, along with personal stories of cancer survivors that detail what they've learned about life in becoming cancer survivors.

Kalispell's Relay for Life event is scheduled from 6 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday at the Flathead High School stadium. For more information, call the society's regional office in Missoula at 406-542-2191.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.