Survivor advocate ‘blessed’ by those on her journey

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Survivor advocate 'blessed' by those on her journey

During Bethany Poellinger's free time, she loves going to outdoor music concerts with groups of her close friends. It was after one of these concerts - when she returned home from an exhausting but exciting weekend - that she felt something while showering. And she knew it shouldn't be there.

That discovery stepped off the 45-year-old mother of three's journey with breast cancer. Because of her bravery and positivity throughout the process, as well as her desire to help other women battling the same disease, Bethany's been named the 2025 Steppin' Out in Pink survivor advocate.

The La Crosse area has always been Bethany's home, graduating from Viterbo University and marrying into a family that owns a local small business. She's raised children here and has worked for the past 18 years in IT at Emplify Health by Gundersen. She enjoys her flower garden, hiking with friends and spending time with family. She takes care of herself.

That includes getting a routine mammogram, which she has done regularly and did in January 2024. Like she'd heard countless times before, everything looked good that day. But one night around the beginning of April, after that music-filled weekend, Bethany felt a lump while bathing.

"I feel like I immediately knew that it was something that definitely had not been there before," Bethany says. "It was a little bit above (the breast), so it wasn't quite where one might expect breast cancer to be."

Bethany panicked at that moment but didn't say anything to her family. She went to the Emergency Room, then was referred to the Breast Center. Just two days later, she was scheduled for another test, where doctors said they didn't like what they saw.

"I knew," she says. "I didn't know know, but I knew."

As devastating as the news was at the time, Bethany says she was proud of herself for acting on her intuition and not ignoring it for fear of what it could be.

"It would've been easy to be like, 'Oh, that's kind of weird. I'll just feel it randomly for the next how many weeks,'" she says. "But I didn't do that. I was immediately like, 'This is not meant to be here.'"

Coping with a cancer diagnosis

Initially, Bethany was more worried about the people in her life - especially her parents - rather than herself. How would they handle hearing that she had cancer? What will her kids think? But before she shared her news, it was important to have a treatment plan in place that she could tell her family about. Her plan involved eight chemotherapy treatments, followed by surgery in September.

"I started out really strong. Sure, that first treatment I felt super nauseous, it wasn't great. But I was like, 'I can do this,' and I could do it. I did it," she says. "But slowly, it took its toll on me."

However, Bethany fought through the discomfort, the pain and the surgery, and just six months after she discovered the lump, she was declared cancer free.

"I feel very blessed. I know that that's not the case for everyone," she says. "I try to really keep that perspective of how lucky I am."

Prior to her journey, Bethany admits it was easy to wish well to someone who has cancer or knows someone else who does, then move on with her day. That's not the case anymore.

"Now when something's happening to someone I know, my empathy, the compassion, it's very hard for me to turn that off," she says. "These past six months, I've spent time trying … to work through those feelings. I hadn't even thought of myself as a survivor."

In addition to her family and friends, previous breast cancer survivors were also a great support through her journey. They shared their lived experiences and offered support in any way they could - including one survivor lending her journal, which Bethany read throughout her journey.

"It made me feel not so alone in my thoughts and fears and feelings," Bethany says of what she read. "And then to know she's on the other side of it and doing well."

A history of Steppin' Out in Pink

Bethany's history with Steppin' Out in Pink goes back to the event's inception 20 years ago. She got a team together with her coworkers, and she walked the event with her friends and family. Again, at the time, it was just something fun to do. No longer.

"To me, it was just a walk at the time and a fun, 'Hey, let's wear pink and fundraise,'" she says, "but now I really see what's behind that fundraising and the importance of it."

Her message to people going through breast cancer would be to know your body and talk to your body. She recalls finding it helpful repeating mantras to herself as treatments ramped up.

"I would say, 'Alright, tomorrow's kind of a rough day. We're going to get some medicines that are going to make us feel not so great, but these are meant to help us, and we need to let them do their job,'" she says. "I love you and I support you," she'd tell her body.

The day after treatment, she'd express her gratitude that the treatment is working and that her muscles and organs were strong. Just that positive self-talk, she said, gave her comfort.

Bethany said she's honored to be the survivor advocate and is now "embracing the pink." She feels blessed for the care and treatment she had during her journey, and she wants that for everyone.

"I look forward to more research being done so maybe there aren't so many of us in the future," she says.

Join Bethany Sept. 13 at Steppin' Out in Pink

Early bird registration is open for Gundersen Medical Foundation's 20th annual Steppin' Out in Pink, happening Saturday, Sept. 13 at Riverside Park. Take advantage of the early-bird rate, available from April 28 through June 27, and register for just $20. Don't miss out on the biggest and most inspiring celebration of the year!

Learn more and register today at steppinoutinpink.org.