Kim Stevens
Owner/Partner CENTURY 21 Select Group

Resides: Lake Wallenpaupack
Age: 45
Family: Husband, Bill; Sons, Max (19) & Jake (16)
Hobbies: Snow skiing, snowmobiling, reading, biking and cooking

Diagnosed: September 24, 2007
Treatment: Lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy and lymph node removal; chemotherapy; radiation therapy, Prophylactic Ovary removal and Arimidex.
Cancer Free: October 12, 2007

Lesson Learned: Any day with hair is a great hair day!

Advice: Exercise! I joined a cancer wellness program while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation that changed my life. Since completing treatment, I begin a strength-training program for breast cancer survivors. More and more research is showing that exercise is key in helping cancer patients and survivors lead more productive lives.

Support Sytem: My family (husband, kids, brothers, mom and dad) all either ran around with pink hair, shaved heads or wore pink wrist bands in support of me and everyone diagnosed with breast cancer. Some even "auctioned off" their shaved heads on EBay and raised more than $2,500 from friends and family for Susan G. Komen For the Cure. This url below will take you to a youtube video my brother made. This will give you a good idea of how much love and strength I am surrounded with and that laughter can truly be the best medicine (that and a glass of wine!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqVPLVCyaUo

Three Questions:
Q. What are the most significant ways overcoming breast cancer has changed your life?
A. In my appreciation of people. In my compassion for people and in the realization that, in more ways than not, getting cancer was a blessing, in the way that overcoming any hardship changes you as a person when you come out the other side. But also in the realization that the world is a wonderful place filled with beautiful people. I never understood the abundance of love that surrounded me until I really needed it, and then it was everywhere like the warm glow protecting me. Understanding the depth of love your spouse, children, parents and siblings have for you is astonishing. When added to the care, concern and good will of your friends, your kids friends, parents, teachers and coaches, your collegues, clients, doctors, fellow cancer survivors and that of complete strangers...it is overwhelming and humbling.

Q. Why do you think it is so important to make people in our area aware of the threat of breast cancer?
A. So that they do breast self exams and get regular mammograms. So they understand that early detection is important. So that people realize that we are extremely fortunate to have such wonderful health care in our area. And so you fathers, sons, brothers and husbands who have special women in your life remind them because you love them they should get checked.

Q. What are your goals for yourself?
A. To stay healthy, positive, strong and in good spirits so that I may perhaps be an inspiration to others going through this.
Tips for Future Survivors:

1. Humor is a wonderful thing. A good laugh can do wonders!
2. Read something inspirational. My brother gave me Lance Armstrong's book, which helped me to realize people have had it worse and came back strong.
3. Stop watching the news and depressing stuff on TV. Tivo your favorite comedies or rent funny movies.
4. Get out and about. While in treatment there are more good days than bad. Go to lunch with friends, and plan something fun to look forward to.
5. Don't get on the internet! Listen to your doctors and other health care professionals. There is some scary and misinformation on the web that won't do you any good.
6. Exercise will keep your energy up, and Yoga will help you to calm down.
7. Let people help you. Friends and family want to help... let them!
8. Understand that you are not the only one going through this. Seeing the fear and pain in your loved ones eyes can be worse than being the one with cancer.
9. Don't get bogged down with statistics. The way I look at it, if the survival rate for stage III breast cancer were a zillion to one... I plan on being the one!

Barbara O’Brien
Math teacher, Scranton Prep

Resides: Scranton
Age: 62
Family: Husband, Joseph; Children, Posie, Chrissy, Katie, Jimmy & Mike
Hobbies: Reading, golfing and hanging out with my grandkids

Diagnosed: March 2007
Treatment: Lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation
Cancer Free: Two-and-a-half years

Advice: Don’t let other peoples’ stories scare you.
“Cancer has made me more grateful and appreciative of the life I live.”

Three questions:
Q. Why do you think it is so important to make people in our area aware of the threat of breast cancer?
A. Early detection is the key.

Q. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A. Raising my family

Q. What are your goals for yourself?
A. To remain healthy and enjoy my family

Kathi W. Davis
Home Furnishings Consultant, Raymour and Flanigan Furniture

Resides: Scranton
Family: Son, Christian
Hobbies: Decorating, cooking, traveling, spending time with friends, reading and learning

Diagnosis: October 2007
Treatment: Bi-lateral mastectomy
Cancer Free: December 2007

Advice: The more time you devote to helping others, the less time you have to worry about yourself

“I am always looking for ways to give back. You know the old adage, "To whom much is given, much is expected." I have wonderful family and terrific friends and a job that I love. I do volunteer work for the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery program which involves giving rides to people receiving treatment and connecting with people who need someone to talk to about their experience.”

Three questions:
Q. How has overcoming breast cancer changed your life?
A. Seriously, not one iota. Maybe that can be inspirational to someone who has recently received the diagnosis. It has however, heightened my awareness to fear that people experience upon hearing the news.

Q. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A. My biggest accomplishment is that I have made a difference in the life of a child and I think in some other lives as well.

Q. What are your goals for yourself?
A. That I will continue to make a difference.

Lizz Smith
Art Teacher, Carbondale Elementary School

Resides: Glenburn
Age: 39
Family: Husband, Peter; Daughters, Sky (10) & Ellie Fu (6); plus “Two beautiful horses, some crazy chickens, Ernie the goat and a boxer named Lillian who thinks she is a lap dog.
Hobbies: Riding horses with her daughters, drawing, painting and teaching yoga.

Diagnosis: December 12, I was diagnosed with breast cancer after my OBGYN sent me for a mammogram at the age of 30 due to a history of breast cancer in my family.
Treatment: Bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and four chemotherapy treatments
Cancer Free: Eight years on December 27. “Yehawwwww. I think a trip to Jamaca should be planned.”

Advice: Being diagnosed with cancer not only affects the person it affects all the people that surround that person. Some people don't understand how to deal with a friend, a sister, a wife, a loved one who is diagnosed with cancer. Don’t shy away from friends when they need you the most.

“I think it is so important for women in our area to know that people under the age of 40 get diagnosed with breast cancer. I was a healthy young woman who ran six miles every day and watched everything she ate when I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 31. I thought my Dr. was crazy when he sent me for a mammogram at the age of 30 just a few weeks shy of my 31st birthday. I did not think that breast cancer was for young women but more and more of what we hear is young women in our area being diagnosed.”

Three Questions:
Q. How has overcoming cancer changed your life?
A. Having cancer and beating cancer has changed my life in so many ways. I now try very hard to take the time to realize that every day is a gift. I have learned to honor myself and as hard as it may be at times to try to put myself first in the decisions that I make.

Q. What are some lessons you’ve learned?
A. I have made new wonderful friends that I would not have met if I had not had cancer and I have lost a few that just could not deal with it. Even though my cancer is gone not a day goes by that I am not reminded by the battle I have won and not a day goes by that I wonder if I will ever have to fight that battle again.

Q. What are your goals?
A. One of the most important goals I have is to raise two healthy, happy girls. I constantly instill good nutrition and a fit healthy lifestyle into their lives. I worry about Sky and the genetics I have passed down to her, and I pray that when her time comes someone would have found a cure.

Meet their Oncologist
Lisa C. Thomas, M.D.
Physician, Hematology & Oncology Associates of Northeastern Pennsylvania

Resides: Archbald
Family: Children, Blake and Justin (11) & Kristina (9)
Hobbies: Traveling, Broadway theater, attending my children’s activities and Board Memberships

Advice: There is over a 97% five-year survival rate when breast cancer is detected early before it spreads to other parts of the body. Early detection with mammogram and radiographic studies in addition to breast self-examination procedures are of the utmost importance for women at any age to have done. If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you should realize that the treatments that are offered today from a surgical, oncological, and radiological perspective are very effective in treating the disease. What was once thought of as a terminal illness years ago is now a disease that can be cured.

“These four women, as well as the hundreds of other patients in my practice, are very special to me. Whether they are actively being treated with chemotherapy or not, whether they are in remission from their cancer diagnosis or not, my patients, in my opinion, are true heroes and heroines. These women and my other patients have incredible fortitude. They show me everyday that life does and must go on even in the face of serious illness.

“At Hematology & Oncology Associates of NEPA, we treat patients with early stage breast cancer and breast cancer that has spread to other organs called metastatic disease. In 2008, approximately 1500 patients were evaluated for breast cancer who were over the age of 50 and approximately 200 patients were evaluated for breast cancer under the age of 50 at our facility.”

Three Questions:
Q. Why is awareness so important?
A. It is important to make people in our community aware of breast cancer because it is a potentially curable cancer if it is detected early. It occurs in women of all ages and races. It is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the second leading cause of death among women diagnosed with cancer. Some interesting statistics are that over 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. One person is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes and one person dies of advanced breast cancer/metastatic disease every 14 minutes.

Q. Can you comment on your relationship with your patients?
A. When patients are given a diagnosis of cancer, it is an overwhelming and a very frightening experience for them. When I initially see patients in the office in consultation and they have recently been told about their cancer diagnosis, the interview is quite emotional. They can experience anxiety, depression, fear, and confusion. Unlike patients who are seen for benign illnesses i.e. flu or colds, these patients are being evaluated for life-threatening diseases. Due to the seriousness of their diagnoses and the treatments they receiving, patients are seen frequently for follow-up visits in the office. In my practice, quite often, what starts off as a professional relationship between the patient and me, often turns into a personal one.

Q. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
A. There are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today which includes women that are actively being treated and those who have completed treatment. The definition of a survivor is “someone who continues to function or prosper despite the hardships they have endured.” Breast cancer “survivors” exemplify this definition.