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Iowa Breast Cancer Survivor Continues to Inspire a "Crusade"

Katie Mangan of Waukee, who survived breast cancer and inspired the first Katie's Crusaders race and fundraiser event in 2009, continues to help Iowa families facing struggles similar to her own.

Four years ago, Katie Mangan was still reeling from the shock of finding out she had breast cancer. Today, she can say she, her friends, and her family have helped 21 families face similar news.  

Mangan is the inspiration for Katie’s Crusaders, a 5k /10k race and fundraiser. The Crusaders are set to hold their fifth annual event in October, and hope to raise funds for nine more families, bringing the total number of families they’ve “crusaded for” to twenty-one. This includes one family they helped send to Disney World in February.  

Mangan said cancer has changed both her life and her attitude. Before doctors told her she had cancer, Mangan hated working out, she said. Now she’s training to walk in her fourth 60-mile event.  

Here, she describes how she’s been able to persevere and help others.  

Q: What was it like to have your world turned upside-down by cancer?

A: To say my life was turned upside-down by cancer is an understatement. I had just turned 30 years old six weeks prior to my diagnosis. My husband, Tim, and I were finally feeling good about our financial situation after three moves in three years. We were just getting settled in our new community and getting ready to celebrate the first birthday of our second daughter.  Before my cancer diagnosis I didn’t really know anyone with cancer. I come from a fairly large family, and at the age of 30, I was the first to be diagnosed with cancer. I had to be strong not only for my husband and my two young daughters, who were four-years-old and eleven-months-old at the time, but myself, too. I looked at my diagnosis as a detour on the road of life. Sometimes it is going to be a little bumpy and other times it is going to be like you are getting towed out of the mud.

Q: How did you come through it and use the experience as a force for positive change?

A: I came through my cancer because of my family. I never could have done this fight without them. My husband is my rock. My girls bring laughter to us every day! When faced with a “terminal” disease like cancer, you can find out who your friends are and aren’t.  We not only learned that, but we also learned about how strong our family is — between the friends and family that put the first Katie’s Crusaders 5k on for us, and those who are still helping us 5 years later. That first race in 2009 blew me away!  Our family and friends raised close to $10k for us. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of so many that the ONLY choice was to pay it forward to others going through a similar situation. The look on those faces when we present them with their donation is wonderful, but the friendships and networks we have all made together are priceless. 

Q: What has changed when it comes to your attitude and how you approach obstacles after fighting cancer?

A: My attitude changed the day I found out I had cancer.  I had a “gut” instinct before I was diagnosed that I wasn’t going to get good news. I think that mental preparation helped me guide my family through the journey. I won’t say that at times I didn’t have a bad attitude, because I DID! Everyone has their moments and it is scary not knowing what is going to come up in the days, months, and years ahead. But I feel I was given a second chance at life, and I could either have a bad attitude about having gotten cancer, or I could take it and fight like heck to get my life back and be here every step of the way for my girls and husband.  So many things have changed for me after cancer. Before the big “C” I HATED working out! While going through treatment I learned of a 60-mile event that helped raise money for research. I talked to one of my aunts and we signed up. Over a 24-week period we trained through reconstruction and the final months of chemo to prepare our bodies for the 3 days of walking 60 miles. Since 2010, we have walked in 3 different 60-mile events, and are starting training for our fourth. Life is like a deck of cards — you have to play with what you are dealt, and so far I think I am dealing pretty well. My next challenge is participating in a 5k mud obstacle this July with a few other Breast Cancer Survivors.

Q: Could you share a recent success story of how “Katie’s Crusaders” have helped an individual or family facing cancer? 
  

A: Katie’s Crusaders has had so many AMAZING families over the last 4 years that choosing just one is not easy. I think that each and every one of our families is amazing and they are what keep me going. Tim and I are so blessed to be helping so many. At the end of this year we are at 21 families in five years!    Looking at those 21 families, I guess one that sticks out to me is Heather from Pleasant Hill. Heather was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2009, and has had one reoccurrence after another. She has NEVER been able to stop fighting. Heather and her family were Crusaders in 2011. At the time Heather was going through her third diagnosis of Breast Cancer. In January 2012, she found out she was Stage IV with mets to the bones. The Crusaders Board decided we wanted to do something for their family.   In one of Heather’s journal entries she made the comment that all she wanted to do was see her kids at Disney World. After a long hard fight to get there we made the dreams come true for them. This past February, Heather, her husband, and her mother got to take their two children to one of the most magical places on earth. Knowing that we made that wish come true for them felt amazing. Shortly after their return she ended up in the hospital, with fevers and had to start chemo again. She is amazing in my eyes and those kids have an amazing mother.                  

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