Colorado Strong: Breast cancer survivor says awareness saved her life

A Colorado Springs woman says awareness and persistence likely saved her life from cancer.

In summer of 2013, Emilie Rudolph noticed a lump in her armpit.

“At that point I thought, ‘I haven’t felt that before,'” Rudolph said. “I had a mammogram, an ultrasound, an MRI and nothing was diagnosable.”

But something still felt off. With a history of breast cancer in her family, Rudolph decided to see another doctor several months later. She talked to someone she knew from her kids’ soccer practices, Dr. Laura Pomerenke, a breast surgeon with Memorial Hospital University of Colorado Health.

“Her boys play soccer on our sons’ team. My husband’s the coach,” Pomerenke said. “She did a biopsy on me and immediately diagnosed me with stage two breast cancer.

“Fear is the first thing. Fear of the unknown. You have no idea what you’re up against. You have friends that are diagnosed. You have family members. You watch them go through it but you think, ‘How is this going to affect me?'” Rudolph said.

Rudolph pushed fear aside and thought of her family. She credits humor with giving her the strength to fight.

“I live with three boys,” she said. “Four if you count my husband so it was a little hard at first because you’re going through all these girl things. When they can make you smile at your hardest point, that’s when you know you’re going to make it.”

Rudolph said the best advice she received from Pomerenke was that attitude is the best way to fight cancer.

“You can’t control cancer,” said Pomerenke. “You can’t control some of your side effects, but you can control how you react to that. Emilie has been a tough chick the entire time. The whole time she had a really positive attitude, her family was really supportive and she just wasn’t going to let it get her down.”

After a double mastectomy and four rounds of chemotherapy, Rudolph is cancer free. She and Pomerenke watched their boys play soccer Monday afternoon. Rudolph said she was thankful.

“I was lucky,” she said. “I have friends that were diagnosed with way worse so I try to focus on being grateful.”

Pomerenke encouraged women to get regular mammograms, self-test and trust your gut, If you feel something isn’t right, get a second opinion.

Memorial Hospital’s breast imaging center is hosting a $99 mammogram special during the month of October. Call the hospital to make an appointment.