Editor’s Note- October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an international campaign held each October to promote screening and reduce the risk of the disease, which affects 2.3 million women worldwide. During this important month, one local woman, Sara Olson of Langford, is sharing her breast cancer story with the Journal.
Olson was born and raised in Emporia, Kansas. She met her husband Nathan in the Kansas City area and the couple now has two daughters, Emily, 16, and Lillian, 13. Olson is a travel agent for Sun & Sea Travel Co. in Groton, having lived in South Dakota since 2013.
“I was 29 years old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2010,” Olson said. “Breast cancer runs in my family and I’ve known I was a BRCA1 gene mutation carrier since I was 21 years old. There is a substantial family history of breast cancer in my family and I’m a fourth-generation breast cancer survivor.”
A Unique Family History
Cancer was so prevalent among the women in her family that they took part in a hereditary cancer study at Creighton University in Omaha that helped identify the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. “I remember the day in 1989 when researchers gathered the adult women in my family at my aunt’s house to take blood and tissue samples in hopes of isolating a suspected gene that caused breast and ovarian cancer,” she said. “I had to be the babysitter for all my cousins while our moms had their samples collected. I was eight years old.”
Before her diagnosis, Sara was a young mother with a 15-month-old daughter and worked at a hospital managing a boutique for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. “I took on this job because I had always heard that breastfeeding helped reduce the risk of breast cancer,” she said. “I was determined to help women be successful.”
Because of her strong family history with breast cancer, Olson began seeing oncologist Dr. Carol Fabian at the University of Kansas Medical Center when she was just 21. She learned she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, like many women in her family, and had regular imaging and biopsies every six months to monitor any changes.
Not Surprised
“Since I knew I was so high risk and had established care with an oncologist, I did self-breast exams once a month,” Olson said. “I did everything I was supposed to when I found my lump.”
That moment came one evening after she had put her 15-month-old daughter, Emily, to bed. Following Dr. Fabian’s instructions, she marked the spot with a Sharpie and called the doctor first thing the next morning.
“I said, ‘Good morning. This is Sara Olson. I am a patient of Dr. Fabian’s in the High Risk clinic. I’m 29 and I found a lump.’ The receptionist said, ‘Hold on just a moment.’ She came back five minutes later and said, ‘Dr. Fabian wants to see you right now. Get here as fast as possible.’”
By 10 a.m. Olson was in the doctor’s office, by 11 she was having an ultrasound, and by noon she had a biopsy.
“I wasn’t surprised, but it still takes your breath away to hear the words ‘positive for cancer,’” she said. Olson was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer, a genetically driven form not influenced by hormones.
The Good Fight
Her treatment began with a lumpectomy, followed by 16 rounds of chemotherapy between July and December, and later a double mastectomy. “My breast cells were missing the gene that told the cancerous cells to die,” she said. “My cancer cells were multiplying like crazy and my tumor was growing rapidly.”
After months of treatment, Sara Olson’s pathology report finally showed “no evidence of disease.” That phrase, now used instead of remission, marked the end of one difficult chapter and the beginning of another.
One of the hardest parts of her journey came early, when she was told that chemotherapy might take away her ability to have more children. “When my doctor called to tell me the biopsy was positive for cancer, the first thing she asked was, ‘Do you want more children?’” Olson recalled. “I said yes.”
She and her husband began fertility treatments right away, but soon decided to pause them and focus on her recovery. “We adopted the mantra ‘Let Go and Let God,’” she said.
Olson leaned heavily on her strong support system. Her mother, a longtime breast cancer survivor herself, attended every appointment, treatment, and surgery. Her husband worked to maintain their insurance and was her constant source of strength. Friends, coworkers, and family stepped up to help with meals, childcare, and housework.
Through it all, Olson’s biggest motivation was her young daughter, Emily. “She was 15 months old when I was diagnosed and just shy of two when I finished treatment,” she said. “One of my most vivid memories is her grabbing my bald head and kissing me on top. My hair was just starting to come back in, and it tickled her nose. She thought it was funny, but the tenderness of that kiss made me tear up.”
A Changed Outlook
Facing cancer and her own mortality before the age of 30 changed Olson’s outlook on life in lasting ways. “I think about and plan for the future, but I also try to live in the moment more,” she said. “My family and I really try to focus on experiences and making memories with each other.”
Today, Olson stays active, exercises regularly, and uses a gratitude app to remind herself of the good things in life. Though she was once active in several cancer advocacy organizations, she now devotes most of her time to her children’s school and activities.
To those newly diagnosed, her message is simple: “Listen to your doctors because they want to save your life. Lean on your friends and family. People want to help, so take them up on their offers.”
Olson says her mother’s words gave her hope through the hardest days: that there would come a time when cancer wouldn’t consume her life. “It’s true,” she said. “I don’t wake up every morning thinking about cancer like I used to. My cancer journey feels like it was just yesterday and a million years ago all at the same time.”
She believes Breast Cancer Awareness Month remains vital because early detection saves lives. “Triple Negative Breast Cancer is so aggressive that my tumor wasn’t there five months before I found it,” she said. “If I hadn’t been vigilant or taken the lump seriously, I wouldn’t be here today.”
For Olson, faith and family carried her through. Her motto became “Let Go and Let God,” especially after giving up fertility treatments to focus on surviving for her daughter, Emily. She thought that decision meant she’d never have more children, until life surprised her again.
“Seven months after my final chemo treatment, I was sitting at my desk at work and felt a kick in my lower abdomen,” she recalled. “I rushed home and took a pregnancy test. It immediately came up positive.”
The next day, an ultrasound confirmed she was nearly five months pregnant. Exactly one year after finishing chemo, her second daughter, Lillian Faith Olson, was born, a name that captured both her journey and her gratitude.
