Katie Pizza | Williston Herald Clara Engberg, right, gives money from selling luminaries, which honor loved ones and friends who have had cancer or in memory of those who lost their battle to cancer, to Upper Missouri Relay for Life Accounting/registration/on-line chair Amy Wells. Engberg is a breast cancer survivor and is thankful for the support of her family and friends.
In October 2005, after receiving a mammogram, Engberg was diagnosed with cancer.
“It was my first mammogram ever,” Engberg, now 46, said.
After learning of her diagnosis, she postponed surgery until January 2006.
“I was still in shock,” she said. She travelled by train to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., with friends who lived in Rochester bringing her and her husband, Vernon, from the train station to the hospital. Back in Williston, her co-workers at Gaffeney’s banded together and organized an auction to raise around $10,000 toward Engberg’s travel and treatment.
“My co-workers were exceptional,” she said.
Also helping her get through her treatment which included a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery at the Mayo Clinic, were her family and friends.
“There were a lot of prayers,” she said.
She said her husband was good support and her sons, Lance, 22, Shawn, 21 and Eric, 17, helped her move around the house after surgery made her weak.
Engberg said her father, sister and mother died of cancer, with her sister dying a few months before Engberg was diagnosed.
“Cancer doesn’t discriminate,” she said.
After being on team at Gaffeney’s, Engberg organized a Relay for Life team at United Pulse Trading, where she has been employed since October.
The Upper Missouri Relay for Life ” part of the American Cancer Society's largest fundraiser ” is scheduled to take place in Williston on Friday at Cutting Field in Williston.
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