FAMILY: Three children, Julia, 18, Nathan, 13, and Kevin, 10
OCCUPATION: Formerly self-employed
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT: Radiation, chemotherapy and left mastectomy
HER STORY: Pak had a bump underneath her arm when she went in for a routine mammogram. Though the test didn’t turn up anything, she went back to the doctors because she sensed “something was just not right.” A biopsy three months later confirmed she had breast cancer.
Shock is one word to describe Pak’s first reaction.
As a breast cancer survivor, Pak feels like a “new person.” She tries to take one day at a time and eliminate stress from each day.
HER ADVICE: “You will have days that you will just want to cry,” said Pak, 48. “Don’t give up.” Learn to depend on others and keep a positive outlook, she said.
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