BILLINGS — Breast cancer survivors along with their friends and family will be at the Yellowstone Art Museum Thursday for the event Bras for a Cause. The subject hits close to home for one Billings couple, Dick and Lori Allran, who are both breast cancer survivors.
The Allrans, like many other Montanans, love to spend time their time outdoors.
"He likes to golf. I like to garden. I always have a big garden and I really enjoy gardening," Lori said at Billings Clinic Tuesday.
In their 40 years of marriage, for better or for worse is a vow they've taken very seriously as they've been through more than most.
“It’s a pretty emotional trip,” said Dick.
"The odd part is that both Dick and I found the lump on our breasts ourselves," Lori said.
Lori was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer 16 years ago.
"It was in my lymph nodes. So I ended up doing chemotherapy, six sessions of chemotherapy, and then 33 sessions of radiation therapy," said Lori.
"The radiation was very bad. She had big blisters and it was bad. It looked like somebody put a lot of oil in her chest," Dick said.
Lori made it through with Dick's support.
"Dick was my rock when I went through it. He really was. He took good care of me and lots of prayers, lots of good friends," said Lori. "When it was his turn, I wanted to take good care of him and make sure that he was gonna come through it as well as I did."
Dick's turn would arrive in December of 2022.
"It's kind of devastating when you find out that that's what you got...it was very emotional," Dick said. "When I found out that I had it, I was working on my truck and I dropped a jack on my chest, noticed some fluid on my T-shirt. And come to find out, I took the T-shirt off, there was fluid coming out of the nipple. And I felt around, I said, "Well, there's a lump there."
He was diagnosed with the same kind of breast cancer Lori had.
"It's not as bad as when I found out she had it. You don't know how bad it's gonna be or if they can cure it or you just don't know," said Dick.
"It's rare for men to have breast cancer diagnosis in the first place, let alone then take the probability of being married to someone who had their own breast cancer diagnosis," said Billings Clinic radiation oncologist Dr. John Schallenkamp. "Typically in the U.S we find somewhere about 1% of breast cancer cases are going to be men.”
Doctors at Billings Clinic would cut out the cancer, and two years later, Dick and Lori have both beat the odds.
"I think it really has made me realize that each day is a gift, and that when things are the toughest,you have your spouse to support you through it. I think it's made us closer and stronger as a couple," said Lori.
It's given them the chance to soak up retirement with their dog, Koda.
“We got through it wonderfully,” Dick added.
If you'd like to support breast cancer survivors in the community, you can visit the Yellowstone Art Museum on Thursday from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. for Bras for a Cause.
