Barb Krumhardt, senior lecturer in biology, got a letter in the mail in September 2012 that she had been waiting a year and a half for. It was the results for her mammogram.

In the spring of 2011 Krumhardt was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

The mammogram she received in September 2012 came back with the results she was hoping for. It came back normal. 

“Two springs ago, two years from this coming March, I went for my annual mammogram and they found something suspicious,” Krumhardt said. “They checked it out and what they caught was ductal carcinoma in situ and that’s very very early stage breast cancer. I had surgery and I had to have radiation treatments, but I didn’t have to have chemotherapy and that’s the key thing; they caught it early.”

Krumhardt is thankful the doctors caught her breast cancer as early as they did. She was very grateful that she did not have to go through chemotherapy.

“Not only did they save my life, but I didn’t have to lose my hair,” Krumhardt said. “For a lot of women, the fact that they would have to possibly go through chemotherapy gets them so they don’t even go for the mammogram. The mammogram made it so I didn’t have to go through chemotherapy, and if I would have waited until I’d found a lump, then I probably would have had to go through chemotherapy.”

Krumhardt understands the importance of yearly mammograms after discovering that her breast cancer was undetectable without high tech machines.

“A mammogram can find cancer that you can’t feel; they called mine impalpable … that means that every one of the doctors — from my general doctor to the surgeon and so on, every single one of them — no one could feel anything and yet it was there. They had to use high-tech methods to locate it for the surgeon,” Krumhardt said.

During the time of Krumhardt’s diagnosis, a medicine called Herceptin was going through clinical trials. Herceptin is an antibody drug against the cancer cells.

“We are really lucky that we have great medical care here in Ames,” Krumhardt said. “Even though I didn’t have to go through chemotherapy, I saw my radiologist and they asked if I wanted to be part of a clinical trial because my cells were [Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2] cells which is a really bad type of breast cancer cells. Bad, like likely to come back. They had developed a drug called Herceptin which they use for more advanced stages, and they were testing it out in a clinical trial. It was basically a 50-50 chance. You either get to have the Herceptin or you don’t, and I got it. I think between all of those things, I’m cured and my doctors think that as well. I feel very happy.”

Krumhardt realizes that “cured” may mean different things to different people.

“Cured is sort of a relative term,” Krumhardt said. “Most people would say five years for a total cure. I’m not there yet. I’m at a year and a half, but the doctors consider … it a cure, unless they find something to make them think otherwise.”

Even though her current mammograms are coming back normal, Krumhardt understands the importance of yearly mammograms and keeping an eye on any changes to her body.

“Next year I get to go for a whole year between mammograms,” Krumhardt said. “I was just astounded because when I go back, since I know that you couldn’t tell that it was there before hand, when I go for a mammogram my blood pressure is through the roof high. I’m a total basket case. I’m sure I do a really great job in lecture the morning before too. I get to go a whole year without it so next September is when my next mammogram is.”

When Krumhardt received her letter in September telling her that her mammogram had come back normal, she was thrilled.

“If you ever get one of those letters, look at it and apprize it, because I never really thought much of it and then I got one of those ‘everything is normal’ letters this September and boy, I wanted to frame it,” Krumhardt said.

Even though going through a mammogram can be a stressful time, Krumhardt realizes the importance of early detection and regular appointments.

“I will be a really good patient and I will go for my mammograms every single year because I would hope that if anything were to reoccur it would be caught still early,” Krumhardt said.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer allowed Krumhardt to look at her life and see what is important to her.

“I don’t know if it has changed how I approach my classes, but it made me realize that my job is not everything and therefore, last fall I applied for phase retirement, which I am starting this year,” Krumhardt said. “For the next four years, including this year, I teach in the fall semester and I won’t be teaching in the spring semester. I’ll have more time to spend with my two new granddaughters who were born this last year … I intend to be on a plane the first day of spring semester because I have lived by the academic calendar since I started grad school.”

Her positive attitude toward life has helped her through her cancer diagnosis and will stay with her through her future endeavors.

“To me, enjoying my life is part of it. I’ve always been a really positive person to the point where some people think it’s obnoxious, but then I just go ‘well that’s too bad,’” Krumhardt said.

Her positive attitude has made her realize how lucky she was to find her breast cancer so early.

“I never went to join any of the support groups because I felt so lucky that I was caught early,” Krumhardt said. “I still went through an awful lot with the radiation. It’s a lot more horrific than you think. It gets you so tired. I felt so lucky.”

While reflecting on the topic, Krumhardt realized that one thing many people do not mention is that early detection can help women not have to go through chemotherapy.

“[Now I] encourage people to go and do the mammograms because that’s the best we have right now and catching it early not only saves lives but it also can mean that you get to save your hair. … If you catch it early enough you don’t have to lose your hair, and maybe that will get one or two more women to go and get their mammograms, if they hear that that’s a possibility,” Krumhardt said.

Krumhardt said hair is a thing many people cherish about themselves.

“Our hair is a lot of how we consider ourselves, our personal image and psychologically,” Krumhardt said. “I would have done the chemo if that’s what my doctors told me to do, no question. I’m not going to argue and say I’m not going to do that. It’s just that I would imagine that there are some women who don’t go for the mammogram because of the fear of the chemo. And the thing is, the cures that they’re effecting nowadays don’t always include chemo, and I’m an example.”

Krumhardt also emphasized the fact that breast cancer does not only occur in women.

“Women need to get their mammograms and men need to be aware that they, too, can get breast cancer,” Krumhardt said. “If they feel anything abnormal — even the slightest thing should be detectable on men — they should be getting to their doctor right away. Unfortunately with the men, they just think that they can’t get breast cancer and they are a lot more likely to let it go until they have to have chemotherapy for a cure.”

Krumhardt knows that early detection saved her life and also knows it can save the lives of others in the future if they keep attuned to changes in their body.