Some say it’s impolite to ask a lady her age, but cancer survivors Cindy Mastrian, 52, and Sue Cameron Brown, 45, don’t mind the question at all.

“Once you’ve had breast cancer, every birthday is a big deal,” Mrs. Mastrian said. “You no longer dread it.”

With her job as breast nurse navigator at Sharon Regional Health System, Mrs. Mastrian works with cancer patients from the time they receive a questionable mammogram result through surgery, treatment and recovery. She also runs a yoga and exercise class for cancer patients.

Mrs. Brown is clinical manager for the home health agency and works with patients that include those who’ve had mastectomies. Her department oversees in-home care of patients who’re healing after surgeries and other procedures.

Their personal experiences with the disease are a benefit on the job, said both Hermitage residents.

“We have been where they’ve been and through what they’re going through,” Mrs. Mastrian said. Both had bilateral mastectomies since being diagnosed three years ago.

Mrs. Mastrian was a cardiac catheterization nurse for 25 years and she had been involved with the American Cancer Society prior to that because she lost her good friend Jill Stahl to breast cancer years before.

Mrs. Brown’s mother had breast cancer and even though she watched her mother’s struggle, Mrs. Brown said she never thought she’d get the disease.

Everyone reacts differently and every case is different, Mrs. Mastrian said.

“I always tell my patients that it’s not fun, but you’ll get through it,” she said.

Mrs. Mastrian also stressed that it’s OK to not be positive all the time.

“You’ve got to have some down days,” she said. “There are bad moments but they’re temporary and life goes on.”

“And you’re glad that you have that life,” Mrs. Brown said.

“Survivorship is a very difficult thing,” Mrs. Mastrian said. “The emotional scars are deeper than the physical.”

It helps to have someone else who understands.