U.S. Army Bloggers Roundtable: Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Cowie, War Veteran and Breast Cancer Survivor

Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Cowie was preparing for her upcoming deployment to Iraq in the spring of 2007 when an Army-mandated mammogram revealed a tumor. That tumor was found to be cancerous; Cowie was diagnosed with breast cancer. With a year-long deployment right around the corner, Cowie opted for an aggressive treatment plan. It included a lumpectomy followed by a surgery a week later along with a five-day targeted radiation treatment -- a plan that would allow her to deploy to Iraq with the rest of her unit that summer. For Cowie, a 42 year old mother of two, staying behind was not an option. Cowie, now back from her Iraq deployment, will talk about how she is doing today, why she chose the treatment option she did, and why it was so important for her to deploy with her unit.

Read Transcript