Life was looking good for Kacey Danielson. Her youngest daughter Kortlyn was coming up on her first birthday. Her husband Drew had taken a new job and the family was preparing to move.
Then, on March 13, 2024, everything changed. Kacey was told she had invasive ductile carcinoma – breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.
“I was on my lunch break. My husband was signing his contract,” she said. “I called him and texted him and he wasn’t answering.”
When he did answer, his new boss could hear her screaming over the phone, she said with a laugh.
While she waited for Drew to get home, she just laid in bed.
“Fear overtook me,” she said.
But it wasn’t fear for herself. It was fear for her husband and daughters, Kamrey, now 5, and Kortlyn, now 2.
“I was scared I would miss out on them,” she said.
Kacey is originally from Gresham and graduated from Centennial High School in 2009. She played softball and was on the dance team, as well as participating in Future Business Leaders of America, student council and National Honor Society.
She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and was part of the Willard Sorority. She also met her husband, Drew Danielson, there.
He is a teacher and basketball coach. They started in Cozad, then moved to Hastings. When she received her cancer diagnosis, they were preparing to move to Kearney, where Drew is now the girls’ basketball coach.
Kacey works for Ellerbrock Norris, an insurance company, in the employee benefits department.
“I was 33 and healthy” when diagnosed with cancer, she said. “It was one of the scariest moments of my life.”
Kacey’s mom, Sue Ann Romohr, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Kacey remembered that she was studying for finals when she found out.
Everyone went to Sue Ann’s first appointment. The doctor told Kacey and Kirby, her older sister, that Sue Ann would dance at their weddings.
Her mom’s diagnosis made Kacey more diligent in her own self checks, she said.
One morning she felt a lump and called her doctor. The doctor said not to worry because she’d just had a baby. But the lump kept growing.
In February of 2024, she made an appointment and pushed for an ultrasound and mammogram, just for her own peace of mind. When the results came back, the doctor said they needed better imaging. A biopsy the next week came back positive.
“I went straight to Lincoln,” Kacey said.
She saw Dr. Rachel Jendro with Bryan Breast Surgery Specialists.
“She saved me,” Kacey said. “She was everything I could have asked for and more. The moment we met, I knew things would be OK.”
Jendro helped guide Kacey through the entire process, helping set up appointments and meetings. The oncologist Kacey saw, Nathan Green, was her mother’s oncologist, as well.
Through all the scans, surgeries and treatments, Kacey said, Jendro was by her side.
“It was nice to know she had my back,” she said.
Treatments started almost immediately after her diagnosis, Kacey said. She found out on March 13, 2024, had a port put in April 5 and went through her first chemo treatment April 14.
Kacey said she’s had 20 chemotherapy treatments and 16 rounds of radiation. She also underwent a double mastectomy on Aug. 26 with reconstruction.
She also tried a new procedure called cold capping that let her keep most of her hair during the chemo treatments.
In cold capping, the patient wears a cap during treatments. It freezes the head and hair to -15 degrees so the chemo can’t get to it.
“The first 15 to 30 minutes are brutal,” Kacey said.
She did lose some hair, but she said if a person didn’t know she was undergoing chemo, they wouldn’t have been able to tell.
“If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know,” she said.
That helped her keep her life more normal. She said her older daughter Kamrey knew what was happening to a point.
“I was really sick and tired a lot,” Kacey said.
Drew has been her rock throughout this time, she said.
“He’s kept the ship afloat,” she said.
She said the welcome the family received in Kearney and the kindness shown to them were more than they could ask for.
“They were great about appointments and Drew being with me for them,” Kacey said.
Treatments were every three weeks in Lincoln.
At her most recent appointment, Jendro said she could graduate from treatment.
“I said I don’t think I want to graduate yet,” Kacey said. “She said see you in six months.”
Her last treatment is scheduled for Oct. 23.
She’s looking forward to getting back on a normal schedule. She’ll continue oral chemotherapy for the next 10 years.
Kacey said her mother’s diagnosis encouraged her and her sister, Kirby Crawford, to advocate for themselves and to be diligent in checking.
Kacey said there are genetic tests that can be done to determine probability of developing cancer. All three women (Sue Ann, Kirby and Kacey) have done the testing. Kacey said she would encourage her daughters to be tested, as well.
“Anything that can help be proactive,” she said. “I will be a huge advocate for our kids and family.”
Kacey said no one should think they’re too young to have cancer.
“Cancer doesn’t discriminate,” she said. “It doesn’t care about age or gender.”
She encouraged everyone to start doing self checks early. If you are concerned about anything, advocate for yourself. Talk to your doctor, she said.
Other lifestyle changes that can help include limiting alcohol consumption, exercising and eating right. Kacey said sugar feeds cancer cells, so cutting back on that could help.
Having someone who can help take care of you is also important. For Kacey, that was Drew.
“To find a caretaker and who loves you unconditionally and who will go through the process with you – he’s been everything,” she said.
Finding that support system will also help get you through the process.
“They will get you further than you can imagine,” Kacey said.
