Thursday's Internet Edition, July 24, 2008.

Kate Burbank, who works to promote nutrition and fitness as part of her job as county extension agent, was diagnosed with lung cancer over a year ago. DAVID HEDGES/SPENCER NEWSPAPERS

“Nutrition and exercise have been my passion, and part of my job,” Burbank, who boasts that there hasn’t been a loaf of white bread in her home in over 30 years, said.

She follows healthy eating habits, exercises regularly and never smoked. She hasn’t even been around a smoker since childhood.

That’s what made the news such a shock.

“I could believe I had any kind of cancer, except lung cancer,” she said. “I’m not your most likely candidate.”

At first she wasn’t too alarmed when doctors had some questions after a routine chest x-ray showed something a little suspicious.

“They weren’t too concerned, but they wanted me to have more tests,” Burbank, who was 59 last year when she got the news, said.

A needle biopsy was inconclusive, so Burbank was given two options. She could wait three months and have another test, or she could have surgery.

“I chose to schedule a surgery,” Burbank said, and she went under the knife last May in Parkersburg.

Doctors would take out a small piece of her lung and, while she was on the operating table, determine if it was malignant. If so, they would remove the entire lobe, which is what they ended up doing.

Her first reports indicated that the cancer was a slowing growing type in the early stages, and no further treatment was necessary. But her oncologist insisted she see a lung cancer specialist at Ohio State University. There she got a completely different story.

Burbank first thought her cancer was caught in stage 1, the earliest of four stages. The first doctor she saw in Columbus agreed with that diagnosis, before the specialist came in and told Burbank she was at stage 3b, a half-step away from the worst possible prognosis.

“We were just numb from the news,” said Burbank, who went to Columbus with her husband, Bill.

“We went into the doctor’s office thinking I needed no treatment,” she said. “We went from that to a recommendation of aggressive chemotherapy.”

It was in late July Burbank learned she would have to start treatments. That was about a month before her only child was to give birth to her first grandchild.

“It was the timing as much as anything that bothered me,” she said. “We had other things to be happy about.”

Her grandson was born Sept. 5, and one week later Burbank had the first of four treatments.

Burbank stepped up her healthy lifestyle by consulting with a nutritionist and a master herbalist, and began adding immune boosters and vitamin supplements to her regime.

“I give that a little bit of credit,” she said. “Through all the treatments, I never got fatigued, like about 90 percent of people do. It’s pretty amazing.”

In fact, Burbank is proud to say that, except for the treatments, she did not miss a day of work.

“Even though a healthy lifestyle didn’t keep me from getting cancer, I have to think it helped me get through the treatments,” she said.

Her doctor told her that, looking at her blood work while she was taking treatments, it was no different that a normal person’s results.

Keeping up with her physical health is only one reason Burbank feels she has handled her illness as well as she has.

“People say maintaining a positive attitude is the most effective treatment, and I’d have to agree with that,” she said.

She also says the support she has received from family, friends and churches has helped her cope with cancer.

Burbank admits she had questions about the Relay for Life when the American Cancer Society program began here a decade ago.

“I used to think too much of the money was going to research,” she said. “Now I realize that even more research is needed. A lot of things with lung cancer haven’t changed in 30 years.”

While breast cancer is the most prevalent type among females, striking one of every nine women in the U.S., lung cancer remains the leading cancer killer of women and the most deadly of all cancers.

Research isn’t all that is funded by the Relay for Life.

Burbank attended a session of the American Cancer Society’s “Look Good, Feel Good” program for women conducted by a volunteer and an ACS representative.

“It creates an awareness that even though you are going through treatments, you can still try to look your best,” she said of the program she recommends for all women.

Burbank said she plans to participate in this year’s Relay, and wants to help in any way she can.

“I really don’t like to talk about it, but if I can help people with my experience, I will,” she said.

Burbank continues to undergo periodic testing since her treatments, with no problems so far.

She says she has not let the threat of a possible recurrence take over her life.

“It’s not something that has consumed me,” she said.

“When you have cancer, you examine your life as to things you want to change,” she said. “There’s not much I want to change.

“After almost 39 years in a career, a lot of people think about retiring,” she said. “But I’m not, because I love my work.”

And, like always, she continues to practice what she preaches.

This is the second in a series of articles leading up to the 10th annual Relay for Life Friday, June 20, at Roane County High School.