By Shawn Skager

The Courier-Herald

When Leslie Bley walked into his shop, Jeff Withers wasn't surprised by her request.

&#8220A lot of people get tattoos to commemorate things, like deaths of loved ones,” Withers, owner and artist at Ground Zero Tattoo in Buckley, said. &#8220This was the second tattoo I've done to commemorate breast cancer.”

For Bley, who already had one tattoo at the time, the idea that she could commemorate not only her battle with cancer, but help support all who have battled the disease, was appealing.

&#8220I decided after my second bout that I wanted to get a tattoo to show support,” she said. &#8220I also wanted it for a badge of honor, of courage. I want people to know that life goes on, that it's tough, but it goes on.”

With Withers' help, Bley settled on a small pink ribbon, with a stylized Hawaiian orchid, on the inside of her wrist, to celebrate her victory over cancer.

Bley had her first skirmish with cancer at the age of 27, when she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease, a cancer which affects the lymph nodes. Luckily, Hodgkins is one of the most curable forms of cancer, and after chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Bley was given a clean bill of health.

Twenty years later, cancer again invaded Bley's body, this time in the form of a lump in her breast.

&#8220I believe that the radiation that I received for Hodgkins and the breast cancer are related,” she said.

After a mammogram by her doctor revealed nothing, Bley said her doctor told her not to worry about it.

&#8220They said my breast tissue was too dense to get an accurate read,” she said.

After a couple of years, Bley said the lump was still there and she decided to have her new doctor look at it.

&#8220Two years down the road I said that thing is still there,” Bley said.

The doctor ordered a mammogram, which was again inconclusive, as well as an ultrasound, which found three separate lumps in her breast, all cancerous.

Now, after five surgeries in two years, including a mastectomy, a lumpectomy and several reconstructive surgeries, Bley has advice for anyone who thinks they have an abnormal lump in their breast.

&#8220Women need to understand that the mammogram is not the be all and end all,” she said. &#8220Don't stop there, insist on the ultrasound. If I had insisted two years prior, I probably wouldn't have had to go through all that I have.”

Now, with surgeries behind her and with the lingering effects of her chemotherapy, which ended last August, beginning to fade, Bley looks at life differently.

&#8220The first time I had cancer was when I was 27,” she said. &#8220At that age I felt there was nothing that could hurt you. Dying never entered my mind.”

However, when she was diagnosed at age 48, Bley said she felt her own mortality acutely.

&#8220Now I do a lot more things,” she said. &#8220I don't worry about money, whether I have any in my pocket. I spend it.”

According to Bley one of her pleasures now is visiting Hawaii, which she has done four times in the past two years.

&#8220I think about ‘If I die today, what would I have missed,” she said.

Sitting on the couch in the waiting room of the Ground Zero parlor, Bley looks down at the tattoo on her arm.

&#8220I also think of my father,” she said. &#8220He died recently of lung cancer, and I think of him when I look at this, too.”

&#8220What really got me through all is support from my friends and family,” Bley added.

Her daughter, Jenny Lindstrom, laughs when Bley talks about a hat party her daughter threw for her after she lost her hair to chemotherapy.

&#8220I didn't realize I knew that many women,” Bley said.

&#8220There must have been 35 to 40 women there,” Lindstrom said. &#8220She must have left with at least 100 hats.”

In addition to her daughter - with whom she partners in the Enumclaw salon Hula Moon - Bley credits her husband Matt, her son Bryon Davis, who paid for her recent tattoo, and especially her dog Angus, who went with her to every doctor visit during her battle.

According to Withers, although his prime drive behind his business is just that - business and making money - he always gets a bit of a charge out of doing tattoos with significant meaning.

&#8220I really enjoy doing tattoos with true meaning or ones that are sentimental,” he said.

Shawn Skager can be reached at sskager@courierherald.com.