By LOIS KINDLE
lekindle@aol.com
Back in the 1970s, Karen Lifshin began a career in nursing in Boston. At the time, CAT scans and MRIs were just being introduced. Drawn to the emerging technology, she returned to school to become a registered technician for both, a decision that decades later helped save her life.
She came to Florida in the late ’90s when her husband Gary had a job transfer, and by 2009 was working at Moffitt Cancer Center as a breast MRI technician. Six months into the position, she decided to get baseline imaging done on her own breasts due to her family history and learned there was a suspicious area in one of them.
Although Lifshin had no symptoms, a subsequent biopsy revealed she had stage 3 breast cancer.
“Since the cancer didn’t show on a regular mammogram, and I had lost my mother to stage 3 breast cancer in 2005, I chose to have a mastectomy the following month,” she said. “Five of 18 lymph nodes were found to be cancerous during the surgery and were removed.”
Afterward, Lifshin needed to undergo intense chemotherapy for four months, followed by radiation for 30 days. It was harsh and grueling, but barring her most difficult days, she worked full time during the entire treatment plan.
Due to its after-effects, she decided to retire in 2011.
In 2024, Lifshin published Pink Warriors, a reflection of her personal experience with breast cancer, a testament to her mother who shared the journey and a work aimed at building public awareness of the disease.
“My claim to fame is I’m a stage 3 breast cancer survivor, not an author,” she said. “Everyone who has breast cancer is a warrior, whether they survive, thrive or succumb.”
Now in remission, with no evidence of disease, Lifshin volunteers for the Sun City Center Emergency Squad as a van driver on Team 8 and dispatcher on Team 2.
Pink Warriors is available on Amazon in paperback for $8.99 or Kindle format for $2.99.
Be proactive
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, highlighting the importance of early detection, knowing the signs and understanding risk factors. Mammograms beginning around age 40 — or earlier for women with higher risk — remain one of the most effective tools for reducing mortality.
“Early detection is always best,” Lifshin said. “Even with diagnosis at a later stage, treatments and immunotherapy drugs are helping women live many years after.”
Because 80–85% of women diagnosed have no family history, routine screening is essential.
Any change in breast size or shape, a lump, skin dimpling, nipple changes or unusual discharge should prompt medical evaluation.
Per the American Cancer Society, about one in eight U.S. women (13.1%) will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.