The Hill

By Judy Kurtz

September 17, 2014, 01:00 pm

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who publicly revealed in 2009 that she is a breast cancer survivor, says she still thinks about the disease “every single day.”

“When you’ve been through breast cancer, it sort of stares you in the face every morning. There’s no getting away from it as a survivor, so that’s sobering,” she says. Noting that she “took all the steps,” Wasserman Schultz says the thought of a recurrence doesn’t cause frequent nail biting. 

“I don’t worry about it, if I’m going to get it again — I don’t want to say ever — but it’s not a constant worry,” she says.

The Democratic National Committee chairwoman discovered a lump in her breast during a self-exam only months after a clean mammogram when she was 41. She underwent multiple surgeries, including a double mastectomy.

Now, Wasserman Schultz is to be recognized for her work fighting the disease at Thursday’s Susan G. Komen gala, “Honoring the Promise.” The annual fundraiser at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will also honor The Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein and will be emceed by Joan Lunden, who earlier this year disclosed her diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer, a rare form of the disease.

“I’m looking forward to sharing this moment with my family and with my care-giving team. My best friends who came up and took care of me when I was recovering from my mastectomy and other surgeries are all going to be there,” Wasserman Schultz, 47, says. “It’s going to be a very emotional experience.”

Over the course of her cancer journey, she says she had to look for and create lighter moments for herself, “because you want to jump off a building sometimes when you’re at your low points.”

What is an example of the bright side during the road to recovery?

“I not-so-jokingly refer to my, um, ‘enhanced’ look as my silver linings from having gone through breast cancer,” the congresswoman says. “I finished up with a little more than God gave me, and that was my reward for being a breast cancer survivor.”