All Are Our Heroes

'You have to decide to celebrate life.'

Lynne Gasiorek is a big believer in gut instincts. Just over 20 years ago, at age 38, she discovered a lump in her breast during her monthly self-examination.

“I had a mammogram and nothing showed up. The doctor basically said -- Don’t worry about it. Come back in a year and we’ll check it out again,” recalls Lynne. Ditto for the second doctor.

“But I still wasn’t comfortable. I think women have to trust their instincts, so I contacted a third doctor.” A needle aspiration revealed abnormal cells and the surgical biopsy that followed confirmed Lynne’s gut feeling – breast cancer. Lynne had a lumpectomy, followed by six weeks of radiation and a year of chemotherapy – “as an insurance policy.”

Armed with a ready laugh, an undaunted sense of humor and an “incredible support system” including her husband and her daughter, then just 6, Lynne got on with life. Her approach? Tough love for herself, supplemented an occasional good cry. “But then you have to move on.”

“You have to make peace with this disease. You have to learn to live with uncertainty… Each day provides a gift. It may be hidden at the time…sometimes you have to look real deep.”

Lynne found comfort – and her sense of self again in volunteering. She became a devoted member of the Gwinnett American Cancer Society’s Women’s Auxiliary and in 2008, finished a two-year term as co-president. Last year also brought “an absolute shock.” A routine mammogram showed a thin line in her left breast – cancer again, in the same breast. Not a recurrence, doctors believe, but a second primary occurrence.

“Again, I had choices to make, and I chose a bi-lateral mastectomy followed by reconstruction.” And again, shocking news followed. After the surgery, the doctor called to tell Lynne that they had found abnormal cells in the breast thought to be healthy. “I would have had cancer a third time. At this point though, I’m considered recovered.”

“My personality – who I am – is not about cancer. It’s a piece of me, but it isn’t all of me…There are other parts of my life that are predominant. I want to reach every day with a grateful heart.”