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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Breast cancer is the third deadliest cancer anyone can have, and it takes a strong woman to defeat the disease — like Kristine Logan.

Logan was one of the women who took breast cancer seriously. She went every July to get her mammogram done to stay on top of any cyst or lump they may present itself. Every checkup she had was normal, until her mammogram in 2019.

Logan did not want to take time out of her day that day to go get the mammogram done, but her husband encouraged her to go and wait it out. She did, and got a call a few days later about coming back in for something that caught the doctor’s eye, something Logan did routinely but nothing cancerous was ever found.

“I thought it was just another normal call back,” Logan said. “I was one of the ones that always went each July to get a mammogram, and I always got called back for this reason or that.”

The power was out at the doctor’s office that morning for her follow-up appointment, and she did not want to wait. However, she waited and had her appointment, then returned home.

A few days later while Logan was at work, the doctor called again. They said they have found something they wanted to take a closer look at, and they scheduled Logan for a biopsy.

“I think (the nurse) was kind of taken back that I did not freak out,” Logan said. “I went back to my regular day, and the nurse called me back and asked if I was okay. The nurse was just checking to make sure she was clear she told me I was having a biopsy.”

Her and her husband went together for her biopsy, and she asked the doctor when she arrived how long it would take for the results to come back.

“We already know this is cancer, but we need to figure out what kind,” the doctor said.

“I was completely devastated,” Logan said. “At that moment, my world stopped spinning. When I say that, it is with every ounce in my body. (Me and my husband) literally drove home in silence, and from that point on it was doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment.”

Logan was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer on Oct. 16, 2019, a type of cancer that is more prevalent in younger women. She failed every test she needed to pass on the biopsy, and was referred to an oncologist to begin her road to recovery.

Logan’s chemotherapy began on Dec. 16, 2019, and she had it every Monday for 18-straight weeks. On May 27, 2020, which is Logan’s birthday, she had a double mastectomy removing both of her breasts. She also lost her hair, eyelashes and fingernails, everything that makes her a woman — but she continued to fight.

On June 10, she got the results from a test that showed no cancer cells were found.

“I had an amazing church family, I have three beautiful boys and a husband of 37 years that were my stronghold and they all took care of me,” Logan said. “When I cried out to the Lord for prayers, he sent an army. There were days that were dark and scary, but I never doubted for one minute that the Lord had not let this happen, but was there when it did happen and used my life as a testimony for women who would come after me and look at me like ‘If she can do it, anyone can do it.’”

Logan has two more years until she is deemed cancer-free due to the severity of the cancer she had. She believes “whole heartedly that this was my testimony, and I will live the rest of my life being a champion for women and having the heart to tell my story.”

As now a survivor of the fight, Logan said when it comes to the battle with breast cancer, the most important thing to keep in mind is that everything is temporary.

“The feeling of separation and sadness and days that are bad, you lay down and wake up the next day and you are into a new day,” Logan said. “With every day, you find strength. It is never about a personal strength, it is a strength of a mother, a wife and as a friend that pulls you up out of that bed. As a woman, you have to believe that this is Satan, and you can back him into a corner just like he backed you into a corner, and you will come out fighting.”

Logan is continuing her inspiration in the Chilton County community by speaking with recently diagnosed women to keep them positive throughout their fight.