Community Government Health & Wellness

Denson opens up about cancer diagnosis, urges regular screening for early intervention

Pierce County Councilmember Robyn Denson found out she had breast cancer at 4 p.m. on May 6, five minutes before an important vote at the council’s afternoon meeting.

Denson had been expecting the call, after a mammogram revealed abnormalities and required her doctors to take a biopsy. She didn’t think it would be anything serious.

“I was needed for a vote, so I couldn’t talk to [the nurse] very long, … and I said, ‘Well, just real quick. Is it good news or bad news?’” recalled Denson, who represents Gig Harbor and the rest of Pierce County Council District 7. “She said, ‘It’s not good news,’ or something like that.”

Promoting routine screenings

Denson opened up about her diagnosis in her July 3 newsletter, a couple months after initially receiving the call. She received relatively good news — her doctors caught the cancer early, it’s non-invasive, and in the ducts, rather than her breast tissue, which means she will not have to get a mastectomy. She said sharing her diagnosis so publicly was a difficult decision to make, and it’s hard to talk about without crying.

Pierce County Councilmember Robyn Denson

In the end, though, she opted to share. Her own experience taught her that she might very well save someone’s life by doing so.

“I just felt like … sharing my situation with hopes that women prioritize their health, because their families need them, their community needs them,” Denson said. “Women, in particular, are so busy working, and taking care of our kids, and being involved in the community. It’s just run, run, run, and it’s so easy to put off or just forget about these preventive appointments that are so important.”

By her own admission, Denson isn’t great at taking care of herself. Often, she said, her work and family come first. To top it off, she’s a generally healthy person, had no lumps in her breast tissue, and has no family history of breast cancer. She had delayed her mammogram, thinking there was no urgency.

It was only thanks to a nudge via a letter she received from her insurance company that she decided to get a mammogram in the first place.

“I was like, ‘Oh, who has time for that?’” Denson recalled. “But then I made an appointment, got in, I had the mammogram, and they called be back because they wanted to take some more pictures.”

Radiation therapy

Denson still wasn’t worried. She joked with the radiologist and thought the tissue on which the doctor wanted to do a biopsy was probably just pre-calcification.

She admitted her pending results were on her mind, and she was a little worried after the biopsy. But it wasn’t until that 4 p.m. phone call on May 6 that Denson felt any fear. Shock quickly followed that fear. She thought that “it was a mistake and everything was going to be fine.”

“I think the worst part about this is the fear, and the lack of control, and just not knowing what’s coming,” she admitted.

Denson started radiation therapy on June 10. She is about halfway through a total of 20 treatments. In the meantime, she has also been learning about breast cancer, and what can affect a person’s outcomes and likelihood of being diagnosed with it.

One of the biggest takeaways for Denson, though, is that people should not put off their mammograms. In sharing her diagnosis, she wants to return the favor others did for her.

“I decided to get [a mammogram], because I have some wonderful friends and family members that have been encouraging me to, as I’ve gotten older, take better care of myself, get my mammograms,” Denson said. “And they’ve really been hounding me about it, which is good.”

“So,” Denson continued, “by me sharing this with with the public, even though it’s uncomfortable, I guess I’m trying to do that for other women to really encourage them to get this done, because it is so easy to put these things off and not prioritize our health or trying to take care of everybody else.”

A new worldview

Denson also noted that physical exams aren’t always enough. Her doctor performed a physical exam a few months before the mamogram that caught Denson’s cancer, but did not find anything concerning.

Despite her decision to be open about her diagnosis, it’s been an emotional few months for Denson. She still gets teary-eyed talking about how having cancer reframed her worldview. Denson said it reminded her of how unpredictable and short life can be.

“You immediately think of your kids and your family,” Denson said. “You want to make sure that you’re prioritizing the right things, and taking care of the ones that depend on you and the ones that you love and you’re responsible for, first — and then making sure beyond that, you’re living a life of purpose and meaning, a life that you’re proud of.”