When Linda Tobias has a challenge to face, she needs information, and lots of it.

So when a routine mammogram in July 1999 revealed a tumor, she logged on the Internet and gathered as much information as she could find.

Four days after her suspect mammogram, Linda’s doctors scheduled surgery.

“I was in shock,” she says. Although doctors performed an outpatient lumpectomy and removed 17 lymph nodes, Linda, who is a teacher, didn’t let it slow her down.

“I went to school the next day and did some work in my classroom,” she says.

She then met with Dr. Bardwaj, Director of the Bobbi Lewis Cancer Center at Good Samaritan Hospital. “He and his staff put me at ease,” she says.

Because hers was a very aggressive cancer, Susan received aggressive chemotherapy treatment for five months in late 1999. In March 2000, she began radiation treatment.

“The staff members at Good Samaritan Hospital are wonderful people,” she says. “They helped me through my treatment program.

“It’s a pretty awful experience to go through. But because the staff works with you ever day, they get to know you as a person, not just as a patient. You know that you’re important to them. They listen to your concerns.”

“You can ask them anything,” Linda says. “As a patient, I need caregivers who are honest, who give me information and give me options. At Good Samaritan Hospital, I got all the information I needed.”

After her treatment, Linda received follow up mammograms every six months.

“In July, I reached three years cancer-free,” she says. “Just this summer, I started to feel like my old self again — spunky, feisty and happy.

“I feel great now. You learn to put it behind you and move on.”