Norris Cotton Cancer Center

One of the most satisfying aspects of Tracy Onega's work with the New Hampshire Mammography Network (NHMN), she says, is creating an opportunity for the women of New Hampshire to feel like they are contributing to a significant public-health outcome.

When a patient first walks into Martha Travis-Cook's cozy and quiet office, they're often in a state of shock.

Happy hour at Molly's Restaurant in Hanover. Most of the nine women gathered at the long, rectangular table order margaritas, only two dollars a drink. "You can't beat the price," one of them laughs. In fact, there is a lot of laughter among this group of friends, teachers, moms, writers, grandmas, businesswomen, and sisters in life experience. They have dubbed themselves TGIF—thank goodness for Fridays, and Mondays, and every day of life after cancer.

On meeting Cindy Carroll one might be tempted to describe her as petite. She's slight of build and just over five feet tall. Talk to her for any length of time, however, and that impression quickly changes.