Karlene McGowan was a full time wife and mother and worked outside of the home, but when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, all of that changed.

“Before cancer, I was working and enjoying my life,” she said. The diagnosis of cancer seemed to come out of nowhere. McGowan explained that when she began having health problems, she initially thought she was just experiencing menopause. As the symptoms became more problematic, she consulted her doctor. “My doctor sent me to a specialist, and through a biopsy, found I had stage one uterine cancer,” McGowan said.

Hearing the diagnosis, McGowan said she was stunned and let down. “It was like walking in a daze. I went through several different stages from disbelief to anger, then I was very determined to beat the cancer and not let it beat me.”

Prior to her diagnosis, there had been one instance of cancer in her family. McGowan said her father died of prostate cancer in 1995, however, the diagnosis still came as a shock.