Sue McDaneld, right, received tremendous support from her co-workers at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department during her cancer treatment, she said. Sue is pictured with, from left, Ashley Halton, Carolyn Ball and Olimpia Tyner. The photo was taken during the 2013 Wear It Pink Day.

Thirteen years ago, Sue McDaneld noticed some minor changes in her breast, and when she had a routine mammogram, it looked different than the year before.

Her health care providers recommended a second mammogram, which led to a biopsy, and that’s when they found the cancer.

McDaneld, a family planning nurse practitioner at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, was officially diagnosed Dec. 29, 2001, at age 46.

“Once I knew my diagnosis, I wanted it taken care of,” she said. “I did not want cancer, and I told the doctor, ‘Do what you have to do to keep me alive from this breast cancer.'”

Just three days after her diagnosis, McDaneld went into surgery for a lumpectomy, but she told her surgeon that if she found more cancer to go ahead and do a mastectomy.

“‘Don’t wake me up and ask. Just do it,'” McDaneld recalled saying.

During the procedure, the surgeon found a second cancer mass, so she went ahead with the mastectomy. She also removed 13 lymph nodes, although later testing determined they were negative for cancer.

“That was good news because the cancer hadn’t spread,” McDaneld said.

McDaneld then had chemotherapy treatments between January and the end of March at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where she also had her surgery.

“I was lucky. I was able to do everything here in Lawrence rather than go elsewhere. I had all of the support I needed and had great care providers. Everyone was just amazing in helping me through the process,” she said.

That process included shaving her head, which in some ways, she said, was more difficult than the mastectomy.

“The loss of hair was one of the most visible things, and that’s when I started to feel sick because of the chemotherapy. I didn’t feel sick up until that point.”

McDaneld said her family — which includes two daughters now ages 31 and 36 — was very helpful and supportive.

“As a family, we dealt with it pretty much with a lot of humor. As my hair started to go, we had a head shaving at home and they helped me shave my head.” McDaneld said she wore scarves, except for Easter. She decided to have fun and decorate her head with temporary tattoos.

McDaneld said she also had incredible support from her co-workers at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department. When she was feeling sick from the chemotherapy, they were quick to fill in when needed. They also made meals and dropped them off for her.

Before her diagnosis, McDaneld was part of a local grass-roots group for breast cancer awareness. The members of the group shared their experiences and offered a lot of support as well. McDaneld said she’s fortunate because many of the members of that group had little to no access to support systems when they were diagnosed years earlier. Now, there’s a month dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness, and McDaneld said her eldest daughter enjoys participating in pink activities to support her and others who have had breast cancer.

“Be attentive and pay attention to your body,” McDaneld advises. “Early diagnosed cancers are very treatable, very curable, and you can survive and live your life. Late-found cancers are very aggressive and tend to have poor outcomes.”