KAILUA-KONA — After Robin O’Hara was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2016, she delayed making the news public, saying she wanted to “wait until I knew what I was dealing with.”
She discovered the lump a couple of months earlier in April, just five weeks after an annual exam.
“And it felt huge,” she said during the American Cancer Society fundraiser Beat Breast Cancer Bash at Daylight Mind Coffee Co. in Kailua-Kona. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, I think it’s a golf ball — OK, maybe not, maybe it’s a grape. But it seemed huge.”
She said that after her diagnosis, she didn’t really want to say anything until she knew exactly how bad it was.
But a little more than a week before her surgery, a friend pushed O’Hara to post about it, suggesting she might need the support.
“And I just couldn’t do it,” she said during a later interview. “And then finally, the night before surgery, I was thinking, ‘You know, she’s right. I really do need support.’”
“I felt like, at that point, that I better share this with everyone and not feel ashamed that this is happening to me,” she said during Friday’s event.
When she woke up the next morning, she “couldn’t believe it.”
“Like how many people really cared, that I was loved,” O’Hara said. “They really were rooting for me. They didn’t want me to have to go through this.”
An estimated 1,120 cases of female breast cancer will be reported this year in Hawaii, according to the cancer society’s annual report.
“The American Cancer Society’s sole purpose is to help people who are fighting cancer — with treatments, with emotional support, with a hand to hold, a voice to listen at 3 a.m. if you need to call someone because you’re going crazy,” said Kaitlin Moore, community development manager for American Cancer Society for North and West Hawaii, during Friday’s event.
O’Hara honored some people in attendance who formed part of her support circle, including one who came to cook her meals twice a week and another who was part of the Look Good, Feel Better program, which offers beauty services and tips for people undergoing cancer treatment.
Moore said the organization is trying to bring that program to Kona Community Hospital, and noted the other services the American Cancer Society offers, such as free transportation to treatment and mentoring. It also provides support for caregivers.
“We care so much about what you’re going through,” Moore said. “And we want to be there to make sure that we can tell you, like, which doctor you should be going to, give you a ride there and just call you to see how you’re doing.”
O’Hara said later that it was a humbling experience to see just how many people showed sincere concern for her progress.
“I felt so blessed, like, wow, I really have good people in my life. Thank God, you know?” she said. “And I feel like I do. I just have these amazing people in my life.”
Closing her talk Friday night, O’Hara encouraged those with questions — “even silly questions” — to come to her or share concerns, such as not knowing how to help family members.
“I just put it out there because I want people to feel comfortable and I want them to be able to ask, ‘How did you find it?’ ‘What do I need to do?’” she said Saturday afternoon. “I want them to ask that because it’s so important to have that information. So I think the more we talk about it, the more we share, the more real it is.”
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.