In 1993, Lisa Ober participated in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Concord, walking to support her best friend’s mom, Linda, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Ober went off to college but continued to walk with Linda and her team from work. Through the years, Ober has walked on other teams in other cities wherever she was at the time.
In 2014, as Ober’s 40th birthday approached, having her first mammogram was definitely on her to-do list to commemorate this milestone birthday. She and her twin sister, Holly, checked in with each other making sure they had each scheduled their appointment. Holly, who lives in Tennessee, went first. Check, all clear. Ober was next. Since this was Ober’s first mammogram, it was reviewed while she waited. The mammographer returned to say they saw a shadow and maybe they did not have a good image and wanted to take more. When Ober was advised they needed to take a third round of images, she texted her sister that something wasn’t right.
More testing was scheduled, an ultrasound and a biopsy. Ober was told that they would have the results in three days. When the call came the very next day asking her to come in with her husband, she knew. On Sept. 17, 2014, at age 40, with no family history and no symptoms, Ober was diagnosed with Stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer. Ober had performed self-breast exams, her doctor had done clinical breast exams during her physicals and even the surgeon who knew she had breast cancer couldn’t feel the lump. In November, Ober had a mastectomy. There was a 10-centimeter tumor and four of the 12 lymph nodes that were removed were full of cancer.
Ober felt her world turning upside down. Her fear was for her husband and boys, who were her world. She was afraid she wouldn’t be there for them. Quickly she went into warrior mode, using her positive attitude and support system as her weapons in this battle. She would need to be a warrior as 12 weeks of chemotherapy, 33 radiation treatments and physical therapy were in front of her. But first, she and her husband, Chad would need to tell their boys that she had breast cancer. Zander, who was 4 years old at the time, didn’t like the fact that mommy would not be able to pick him up but he liked the sounds of his mommy being home more. Ober would be out of work for six months during her treatments. The eldest, Zakkary, at 7 years old had heard the word cancer and was concerned that his mom would die. Ober assured him that she was going to be around for a long time and had every intention of attending his wedding. Zakkary felt better but was not so sure he would ever get married.
As a family they prepared as best they could. Ober prepared for her chemotherapy by looking at wigs and cutting her long hair short. Preparing is one thing, reality another. After the very first chemotherapy session, Ober’s hair was coming out in clumps.
“You don’t realize how attached you are to your hair until you have clumps of it in your hands,” Ober said.
She became upset and started to cry. Chad took the boys out for a while to give Ober some time to process her new reality. When the Ober men returned home, they were greeted by a bald Lisa. Sometimes you have to just lean in and feel the pain to get through it, and together they would. Chad, Zakkary and Zander seized the moment and shaved their heads too. After all, they were a family facing cancer. Ober embraced their new family look by posting their family picture on Facebook. Her honorary nephew Tyler, who was serving in the Air Force, replied by posting his newly shaved head in a show of support.
After participating in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer for so many years, now as survivor, Ober knew she wanted to do even more. She must lead her own team. First the team would need a name. Her friends helped her decide on the perfect name, Lisa’s Loyal Lunatics. They were loyal and the lunatics, a nod to Ober’s over-the-top and crazy personality. In 2015, Ober participated in Making Strides with her family and Loyal Lunatics. The event that she had been participating in for so many years became so much more. The year before, Ober had been there participating knowing she had breast cancer and her surgery was just over a month away. Now she was here with a challenging year of surgery and treatment behind her. Standing at their team sign, Ober heard the call for survivors to gather for the procession and survivor photo. She turned to Linda, her second mom, whose diagnosis had originally brought her to this event, and said “That’s us!” And together they held the banner and lead the survivors to the stage to stand in unity for the survivor photo. In that one moment they were all connected by the common bond of cancer – each with their own unique journey. It was surreal, she was alive – a survivor knowing that all the years she had raised money for the American Cancer Society to fund research had helped her. And now she knew she wanted to continue to make strides to be there in support of others who will face breast cancer.
In that moment, Ober was not thinking about her upcoming reconstruction surgery. A year later Ober is continuing to heal. She takes Tamoxifen, a drug the American Cancer Society helped discover, to reduce the risk of recurrence. She is participating in a trial to help research the effects of tamoxifen. When looking in the mirror, Ober reminds herself that these are the wounds. The only thing that matters is the wounded body staring back at her is here – alive and planning on attending her sons’ weddings many years down the road.
Just like champions before them when asked what they are going to do next, the Ober’s went to Disney to celebrate their victory over cancer. The trip was made possible by their family and friends. It was a trip to celebrate – not to think about cancer or the financial burden that cancer had put on their family.
As Ober prepares for this year’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event, she reflects back on how cancer has impacted her life.
“I love hard. People know how I feel about them, I try to bring hope and happiness to everyone,” she said
The Ober’s invite you to join them on Sunday for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer at Memorial Field. Zakkary and Zander want you to know that the food is their favorite part of the day. The jury is still out on whether or not they will get married. They have a few years to decide and we hope that because we are making strides against breast cancer, breast cancer will be the furthest thing from their mind on that day and all the major milestones in their lives to come.
