Five surgeries, two years and one triathlon later, Linnea Johnston's journey is complete.

A Safford High School graduate, Johnston lives in Cedar Ridge, Calif., where she was when she discovered the lump.

On Sept. 5, 2002, Johnston was sitting on her couch with her arms crossed when she felt a lump in her breast. Her husband, Rick, urged her to go to the doctor to have it examined. "He basically saved my life," Johnston said. "I would have blown it off."

Though a mammogram revealed nothing, the doctors performed a sonogram on the breast because mammograms are often unreliable in women younger than 40, Johnston said.

The sonogram also revealed nothing, so a needle biopsy was performed in the hopes that the lump was just a cyst and would drain. The lump would not drain.

Johnston's doctors then surgically removed the lump in a procedure called a lumpectomy. As a result of that surgery, doctors were able to determine that not only was the lump cancerous, but so was the tissue surrounding it.

"At this point, I had a bunch of choices ahead of me -- radiation, surgery, different forms of chemotherapy," Johnston said.

She opted for a bilateral mastectomy, which would remove both breasts, including nipples, because, as a young woman, the chances of recurrence were huge. She also had her ovaries removed because estrogen, which is created by the ovaries, fuels breast cancer.

Johnston also underwent six months of prophylactic chemotherapy, a lighter form of chemo. Although she suffered through mouth sores, weakness and nausea, she did not lose her impressive mane of hair.

"I tried to stay positive," Johnston said. "When I thought about losing my hair, I decided it would be fun to try wigs and cool hats I had never been able to wear before."

In anticipation of her hair loss, Johnston shopped through some hats available at the hospital where she was being treated. She found most of the hats to be ugly. Because Johnston did not lose her hair, she decided to make hats that are fun, colorful, textured and all lined with velvet or satin so those who do lose their hair do not have to wear ugly hats. She makes two hats per month that she donates to the hospital.

Throughout her ordeal, Johnston kept working and working out. She would take off four weeks at a time when having surgery and leave work early on Fridays when she was scheduled for chemo treatments, which would give her weekends to recover.

As part of a very close family, her husband and son, Tye, kept her going. When she told her husband she did not want to die, he simply responded by saying, "So don't."

"They both gave me so much support through everything," Johnston said. "I told my little boy I had to stay alive and to make sure he married a smart and beautiful woman."

Johnston began writing in a journal the day she was diagnosed. The journal, which she calls "the Boob Report," is something Johnston uses to reflect on the ordeal she went through, but also to provide hope and support to other women who are facing the same situation.

Being involved in fitness for much of her adult life helped Johnston maintain that healthy lifestyle even though she was sick. Every day, she told herself to get up and get moving, no matter how much she did not want to. Even on days when the chemotherapy left her fatigued, Johnston would go to the gym and walk on the treadmill.

Though she now has certain limitations she must adhere to in her workouts, Johnston is still working out and trying new things.

She is part of a support group called Team Survivor in which survivors encourage each other to stay active. This winter, Johnston is going to learn to snowshoe.

The removal of Johnston's ovaries has accelerated her body into a menopausal state, which can cause a loss of bone density and rapid weight gain -- two things Johnston wants to avoid, making her workouts even more important.

"I don't want to lose bone density, so I take calcium and do weight-bearing exercises," Johnston said. "I am getting into the gym and maintaining a healthy lifestyle."

On Aug. 29, Johnston competed against 180 other triathletes in an event composed of a 1/2-mile swim, an 11-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. She finished in under two hours and placed 119th, but her placement in the race was not as important as finishing it.

"I just wanted to finish this race -- it was a mile marker, symbolic of the end of my journey," Johnston said. "I crossed the finish line and literally burst into tears."

Johnston was one of four survivors participating in the race.

Johnston was only 33 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and thinks it is very important that no young woman be told that she is too young to get breast cancer.

"So many young women get breast cancer," Johnston said. "If a doctor ever says a woman is too young, she should get another opinion because it simply isn't true."

Johnston's parents, Norman and Gisela Lanquist of Safford, are pleased with how beautifully their daughter has bounced back from her chemo and surgeries.

Johnston's commitment to make hats for the hospital where she was treated has spurred her mother into making hats, as well. Gisela is also involved in the Turkey Trot to Paris, which is a local event that will raise money for the cancer center. The event will have a silent auction, dinner and dance.

"There seem to be a lot of diagnoses that are too late," Norman said. "It's so hard to notice when something is wrong."

"Especially in the younger, healthy women, they don't suspect anything like this could happen to them," Gisela added.

For information regarding the Turkey Trot to Paris contact Fran Collier at 348-4293.

Contact Lindsey Stockton at 428-2560 (ext. 240) or e-mail her at lindsey@eacourier.com.