'We never got around to it'

Libby Rudolph, right, with her daughter, Jordan, 12, and son, Koby, 17. Libby was diagnosed with breast cancer last month.

By LISA BRITTON
For the Baker City Herald

Libby Rudolph admits she wasn’t as vigilant about mammograms as she should have been.

Her doctor recommended every two years.

Which should have been last year. She and a friend planned to go together.

“We never got around to it. Which is stupid,” says Rudolph, who just turned 47.

In early September of this year, she had her yearly exam, which included a clinical breast exam.

It was clean.

She went for a digital mammogram a few days later, on Sept. 12.

“That’s when they found the lump. It was deep,  near my chest wall,” she said, explaining why it wasn’t detected during the regular exam.

She’s thankful she knew Coby Mastrude, who did the mammogram.

“She was my angel that day,” she said.

She had a biopsy Sept. 19 — even though she’d preferred to have it done the same day the lump showed up.

“I didn’t want to wait,” she said. “I wanted to know right away, so I could do something right away.”

On Sept. 21, the doctor called to say “Yes, it was cancer.”

The official diagnosis was invasive ductal carcinoma. The lump was 1.4 centimeters.

“I kind of already knew,” she said. “I was calm — I knew it was early and I could get it treated.”

Plus, she has a good support system of friends who have fought cancer.

“They are so open, and so ready to give information. And they have a great attitude,” she said. “They want to live. They’re happy to be alive.”

She’s also active in the local Relay for Life event, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society.

She went in for a lumpectomy on Oct. 13.

“They ended up taking more lymph nodes” than they expected, she said.

The surgeon removed 13 nodes because one sentinel node had cancer, and that could mean it had spread.

Only that one node had cancer.

Also, her surgeon said it was fast-growing, and “may not even had shown up on a mammogram last year.”

She sees her oncologist next week to discuss treatment options.

“I’m pretty sure radiation will be a part of it,” she said.

Her recovery, she said, is “a lot more than I expected.”

The nodes were removed from her left side, near her armpit. She works at Ambience Salon, where she is a hair stylist and also does manicures.

When she returns to work, she will start with manicures, because she doesn’t really need to use her left hand.

It’ll take a bit longer to offer hair styles again.

Maybe.

“I could do a mean one-armed clipper cut,” she said with a laugh.

Facing a cancer diagnosis has changed her priorities — focusing more on family and less on spending countless hours at work.

“I don’t have time for this, but I certainly don’t have time to die,” she said.

She’s involved her husband, Dave, and children, Koby, 17, and Jordan, 12, from the very beginning, and will take them all with her next week to the oncologist.

“I want them to be a part of this,” she said.

Her son and daughter have both joined her team for the Relay, taking their turns walking the track to raise money for cancer research.

And now she has a renewed interest in the Relay mission, which includes spreading awareness of cancer resources and the importance of being proactive with regular testings.

She’ll never put off a mammogram again.

“It’s important for people to not ignore mammograms. Once you’re of a certain age, just do it,” she said. “If I have to bully people, I will.”