Clarion woman diagnosed with cancer thanks all her “peeps” as the community rallies around her

            Lyn Thompson is likely a familiar face to many around Clarion. She has lived in town for around 15 years. Lyn has worked at different places in Clarion and this past July, started at Brothers Market. She hadn’t even worked there three months when her life abruptly changed. Lyn was diagnosed with breast cancer this past month. And, much to Lyn’s wonder, even though she had not worked at the market very long at all, they rallied around her in an amazing way, soon followed by several others in the community.

            Lyn discussed those scary days leading up to her diagnosis. Several months ago, she found a lump in her breast. She admits that she was too nervous to do anything about it and just hoped it would go away. It did not. At the beginning of October, which happens to be Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lyn visited her doctor about an unrelated injury. She decided to get the lump checked out since she was there. Her doctor was concerned.

            Lyn’s medical team at Iowa Specialty Hospital jumped into action. She says, “They all had so much empathy for me. They could sense the urgency of the situation.” The next day she was getting a mammogram followed by an ultrasound and a biopsy. They discovered that Lyn had a malignant tumor and pathology revealed that it was triple negative cancer in her left breast. Lyn adds that it an aggressive form of cancer that can easily spread.

            Lyn and her husband Bret who is the Clarion Assistant Chief of Police described the first days after the diagnosis. 

For the full story, see this week's Monitor.