When Heartland Regional Medical Center's breast center was completed a year ago, Sharon Gray sang with the St. Joseph Community Chorus at its grand opening.

A few months later, she discovered a lump in her breast.

Her primary care provider referred her to Heartland's breast center, where Kristen Thatcher, the center's nurse navigator, walked her through more than six months of tests and treatments - holding her hand and crying with her during some of the most painful.

"Kristen is the one who was with me in those difficult moments," Ms. Gray said. "I don't know what I would have done without her."

Ms. Gray is one of many women the center has worked with since its Oct. 22, 2008, opening. Ms. Thatcher tracks 100 to 120 patients each month - providing them with information, helping them coordinate their care at Heartland and just generally making a very difficult time a little easier. One of the main ways the breast center accomplishes this, she said, is by reducing the amount of time between a woman's abnormal mammogram and when she learns whether she has cancer, from a number of weeks to a number of days.

"We've cut a lot of time out of that, and it makes a big difference on the emotional impact on patients," Ms. Thatcher said, adding that patients now know there's a single person they can contact about questions and needs throughout all stages of their treatment.

The breast center hopes to bring a nurse practitioner on staff and to begin a survivorship program, Ms. Thatcher said.

And as the center approaches its first anniversary, Ms. Gray has a milestone of her own to celebrate. Last June, she received the news that she was cancer-free.

"(The breast center) made a very difficult journey much easier," she said. "I'm one of the happy stories."

Erin Wisdom can be reached

at ewisdom@npgco.com.