Mary Pat Hunter: �Deal the best way you can�

The word �cancer� has the power to shake even the most valiant fighter. When Mary Pat Hunter received a dreaded phone call after a visit to the doctor, the word took on even more meaning than it had previously carried. It was already a part of some members of her family�s story; now it was also part of her own.

�It was upsetting at first, just because of the word �cancer,�� Hunter says. �It�s alarming to everybody.�

Hunter had been getting routine mammograms since the 1990s; she started doing this around the same time her sister, Linda, passed away from breast cancer. Despite Linda�s proactive efforts of having a double mastectomy after discovering precancerous cysts, the doctors told her there was a 10 percent chance the cancer would come back. It did, spreading to her lungs.

It was because of her sister�s experience that Hunter requested a mastectomy as soon as the doctor told her the lump in her own breast was malignant.

�I had the surgery Mar. 31; I remember because the next day was April Fools� Day,� Hunter says. �I went in that morning and came home the next day. It was easy, but a lot of people don�t have that kind of experience. I was fortunate that it was caught very early.�

The people she holds dearest helped get her through that time in her life.

�You need friends and family, big time,� Hunter says. �My family is close, and we all depend on each other. I would say that my sister, Harriett, was my rock. She is the matriarch of the family.�

Hunter�s positive mindset is something that kept her moving forward.

�Everybody has their heartaches and worries,� she says. �It is what it is. You take your blows, and you deal with them the best way you can.�