"What I heard was an immediate death sentence. It was late October, and I wondered, do I order a turkey for Thanksgiving?" Carpenter says.

Though she experienced no symptoms before her diagnosis, learning that she had breast cancer actually was not a complete surprise. Her mother and three aunts all had been diagnosed with the disease, so Carpenter, who is now 56 and lives in Del Mar, Calif., did self-exams and went for mammograms frequently. The lump that turned out to be cancerous didn?t show up on a mammogram at first. She felt it.

Carpenter was 43 when she began treatment for her breast cancer, undergoing a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation treatment. A marathon runner before her diagnosis, she resumed running as soon as she could after surgery.

"Running gave me a mental boost. It helped me feel normal, like I was still the same person, still able to do things. And though people think running makes you tired, it really energizes you. I just couldn?t give it up," she says.

Thirteen years after her diagnosis, Carpenter is still running marathons. One of more than 2 million women in the United States who have survived breast cancer, she has become an activist for the cause of finding a cure. Earlier this year, she testified before Congress on behalf of the American Cancer Society (ACS) on the need for more funding for cancer research.

She also has devoted herself to helping other women with breast cancer through theACS?s Reach to Recovery program.

An estimated 182,800 women and 1,400 men are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year ? twice as many as were diagnosed in 1970 ? and each of them will have to face the anguish of accepting the situation and making critical choices about treatment. Reach to Recovery connects those newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer survivors, who supply them with literature on cancer and offer understanding and support.

"I would have loved to have someone to talk to, someone who had lived through breast cancer, when I was diagnosed," Carpenter says. "I have lots of friends and family, but what you find is, a lot of times, they?re so upset you?re sick, you end up giving them support. When you talk to someone who has had breast cancer, there is immediate understanding, an immediate connection. You can talk about subjects too painful to discuss with people you?re really close with."

When Carpenter calls on someone through Reach To Recovery, she is careful not to offer any assurances. "Nothing is true for everyone," she says. "You just don?t know how things will turn out. But at least when people talk to me they know it?s possible to get through this."

And running has helped her stay positive and feel powerful. This year, she came in first in her age group in a San Diego marathon, giving her a tremendous sense of accomplishment. "Surviving cancer has made me profoundly respectful of the moment and the simple things in life. I?m more positive, more grateful, more content. And getting older has a whole new meaning for me. When my birthday rolls around, instead of moping, I think, ?I?m here!?"