In May of 2009 our daughter Lynne Hartke, 48, who lives in Chandler, Ariz., was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery and radiation and is on a five-year chemotherapy medication. She is cancer free.

After the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommended in the fall of 2009 that women under the age of 50 probably do not need a mammogram, Lynne wrote the following:

I am more than

one in eight women.

I am more than

20 percent of diagnosed

females under the age of 50.

I am more than 192,370

new cases this year.

I am more than

a survivor in an enormous sea

of 2 1/2 million

survivors.

I am more than a statistic.

I am

your sister

your mother

your wife

your daughter

your friend

I am the reason to get

a mammogram.

I am living proof.

Her poem was recently printed as a bookmark for a table favor at the Desert Cancer Foundation fundraiser in Chandler, Ariz.

Lois Hankins

Albert Lea