Cancer survivor says quick detection is key

Last spring, Dawn Platke noticed a lump in her chest. She thought she’d pulled a muscle, but just to be sure she went to the doctor and had a mammogram.

“You could literally see my lump,” the 48-year-old from Columbia Falls said last week.

But it wasn’t a pulled muscle. It was breast cancer.

That was April. She had surgery in May and more treatment throughout the summer, including radiation treatment from July to September.

Platke owns the Carpet Studio in Whitefish, and doctors told her no heavy lifting while she was undergoing treatment. That’s a nearly impossible task when running a store that specializes in imported rugs.

“I never felt bad,” she said. “I took the month of June off. Here, the mail weighs three pounds.”

Platke soldiered on. She didn’t let the disease get her down.

“I will not die from this,” she told herself.

She had dealt with cancer before.

The Carpet Studio is a family business started by her parents, Bob and Bonnie Upton, 38 years ago.

“I started working here full time when my mom was recovering from breast cancer,” Platke said.

Her mother survived cancer, and Platke knew she would, too.

And she was right. Today, Platke is considered fully recovered. She looks forward to the rest of her life. An active woman, she enjoys exercise and loves golf.

Her son, Reed, was an accomplished golfer at Whitefish High School and now golfs for Utah State University, majoring in landscape architecture. Her husband, Ron, is a contractor.

As soon as doctors released her to lift weight, she was out on the links caddying for her son at the Fourth of July tournament. She refuses to let her bout with cancer define her, and she urges other women to do the same.

“When you hear that word cancer, you step back and take a breath,” she said. “Proactively go after it.”

Platke urges all women to get regular mammograms and not ignore symptoms. She credits her recovery to early detection and excellent treatment from her primary physician, Dr. Jay Erickson, and her oncologist, Dr. Melissa Hulvat, at the Bass Breast Center at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

“We are fortunate to have great treatment for cancer in this valley,” Platke said.