This was not the way it was supposed to be.

Dina Wood was 36. Thirty-six-year-olds don’t get breast cancer, she remembers thinking.

But sure enough, a lump was in her breast. Thankfully it was caught very early and a sentinel lymph node biopsy found the tumor had not metastasized to her lymphatic system.

“I only had a tumor in one breast, but I opted for a bilateral mastectomy,” Wood said. 

Now 42, she encourages survivors to talk about their experience and is an advocate for earlier screenings for women with family histories of breast cancer.

“The health-care industry is like, you must get mammograms at 40,” Wood said. “If you have a family history, get checked out. Forty is not a magic number.”

She had been married for just 18 months when she got the diagnosis. A short month later she had the surgery to remove her breasts and entered into further treatment. “I did not have to do the radiation. As soon as they remove the tumor, the cancer is technically out,” Wood said of her experience. 

“I was diagnosed in early March. I had the tumor removed April 1, and my chemo was finished in August.”

Wood is fully aware not everyone’s experience with breast cancer will as relatively easy. That’s one reason she started the Flathead Valley Cancer Chicks, a support group for active survivors who meet once a month.

The group was founded several years ago as the Young(er) Women Surviving Breast Cancer, with Wood and one of her friends, another survivor. Ultimately the name was changed to be less of a mouthful and to avoid excluding people.

“Young is a state of mind,” Wood said. “One of the reasons I felt I needed it was that when I was undergoing treatment, I got support from family and friends. Afterward, it was like ‘now what?’ There’s a lot of mess to clean up after cancer, and I wanted to talk to people who knew what I was going through.”

She said when she beat cancer six years ago, there weren’t many support groups for younger survivors of breast cancer. Every year, more than 250,000 women under the age of 40 are diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 1,200 die from breast cancer nationally.

Wood, a Chicago native, said her husband, Glen, was an amazing source of support for her during one of the scariest periods of her life.

“Whether you know the outcome or not, you visit with a breast cancer surgeon, a plastic surgeon, and a bunch of others,” she said. “He went with me to every appointment. He asked questions and was very supportive and encouraging.”

Wood said women who get breast cancer under the age of 40 can have different issues than those who suffer from it later.

“Sometimes they still have young kids, personally, I was newly married,” she said. “Other younger women just have different issues they need to talk about.”

Chemo was understandably unpleasant for Wood, but she encourages other patients to talk to people about it.

“The scariest thing about chemo is waiting for it to start,” she said. “It is different for everybody, and the side-effects are a list as long as my arm, but waiting is the worst. It’s OK to be angry. It’s OK to be scared. It’s OK to get a second opinion. But you can’t isolate yourself.”

Wood said when she went for treatment at Glacier Oncology, the community of cancer patients would bolster each other’s spirits. People would bring baked goods, play music and just talk to take up the four to eight hours which each treatment can take.

A graphic designer, Wood spends much of her time as a supportive figure for other women, but advises them to be proactive.

“You have to be an advocate for your own health care,” she said. “Don’t let doctors intimidate you. Ask questions. Be as strong as you can.”

To find more information about the Flathead Valley Cancer Chicks, contact Wood at 270-5623 or dina@sherpadesign.net.