‘I got off lucky’: Bend resident Danielle Gates shares her breast cancer survivor journey

(Update: Adding video)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. 

Bend's Danielle Gates knows the shock of such a diagnosis.

"It was daunting," Gates said. "It's emotional, when you hear the word cancer associated with yourself."

Gates said she put off being screened every year, until she found a lump. 

"I was 52, so it was spring, two years ago, and I found a lump," Gates said. "I tried to put it out of my mind. I didn't want to think that it was possibly breast cancer."

But an inner voice convinced her to get it checked out. 

"My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, but a different kind of breast cancer a year before I was, so I thought it was really unlikely," she said.

Gates had a double mastectomy, subsequent surgeries and will take medication for a total of five years.

"Half of me was really checked out," she said. "I was really, you know, quite angry that I got cancer."

She leaned on doctors and family during the difficult period of her life. Two years later, she's grateful to have her life back. 

"I got off lucky. I get my life back. I get most of my mobility and physicality back. I get to participate in my community." 

Gates said since her diagnosis, she's had three or four friends that have been diagnosed, as well. She stresses the importance of getting screened.