Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Two Bend women share their victories, together

(Update: Adding video interview)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Jenny Widder was diagnosed with breast cancer in June.

"I was absolutely shocked, because that happens to somebody else -- not me," Widder said. "I had a lot already going on because...my mom passed away three weeks before I was diagnosed, and it was actually two days before her funeral service. I was literally sitting on that front porch, and I got the phone call -- and I couldn't believe it."

Although she was forced to face the dreadful reality of cancer, Widder wasn't alone. She and Jan Koester, her co-worker at Weight Watchers in Bend, leaned on each other for support, given that they were diagnosed with ductil carcinoma in situ only one day apart.

"We've been very competitive with the breast cancer," Widder laughed.

Koester teased, "I told her she was a copycat."

Both women got a lumpectomy within a month of their diagnosis, fortunate to have caught the problem early from a mammogram.

NewsChannel21's Bola Gbadebo spoke with both women about their experiences battling breast cancer. Here's her special report.