Name: Joanne Gardner.

Age: 84.

Residence: Lynden.

Prior career: Administrator for Northwest Medical Center in Bellingham.

Family: Two daughters, Jeanie Schneider and Donna Royal, who live in Lynden and Bellingham. She has four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She is married to Ken Chatwood, her second husband.

Avocation: Gardner devoted much of her professional career to starting the Bellingham-based Laurendeau Foundation, which has helped more than 300 cancer patients for the duration of their illness with both finances and emotional support. She also learned to be an outdoorsman with her first husband, Carl, who died in 2004, because he loved to travel and climb mountains.

Overcame: “In 1980, I started not feeling well, and I had cancer, which was unreal and unexpected because here I was helping all these cancer patients,” Gardner says.

While she was recovering from cancer, she had a heart attack and had a triple bypass. She then had to have a valve replaced and had to go to Seattle for the operation. “Through all of this, my body disintegrated and it took me a long time to recover.”

Time in hospital: She spent more than 15 years in and out of the hospital, and then many years in hospice care. “I was in hospice and not expected to live. But I fooled them all and pulled through.”

The path to recovery: She then moved to The Leopold, a senior facility in downtown Bellingham, but was resigned to living with a wheelchair and oxygen tank.

Then she made friends with Ken, who helped her recover. Now they are married and have lived on their own in a duplex in Lynden for three years.

Other burdens: “There were a lot of financial concerns, with all the sickness.” Before Gardner’s husband Carl died, he was sick as well. She said it was hard to deal with the money constraints.

On the home front: Carl was good at taking care of things at home while she was hospitalized. When Gardner was in the care of hospice, she says they handled regular housekeeping duties for her. She would highly recommend hospice to anyone.

Healing help: “When I first came home from the hospital, two ladies named May Tankey and June Roberts came over every day and gave Carl a break.

“Everyone was always praying, and I have to say God had a hand in it, and He has a purpose.”

Advice for families: “If the need is there, get a hold of hospice,” Gardner says. “They not only help you physically, but they help you mentally.

“Having faith has a lot to do with it, too, and determination.”

Gardner also advises seniors to have a plan in case they fall ill and end up in the hospital. “At least think about it and have a plan.”

Coping with fear and uncertainty: “I’m sure I was nervous, but I had a lot of faith. I knew the doctors and I had all the faith in the world in them.” As administrator of the Northwest Medical Center, Gardner says she knew all the doctors like they were brothers.

Passing the time: While she was recovering, Gardner says she took up painting scenery and houses from her past. “It was very time consuming and rewarding,” she says. “I think everyone in the family has my paintings strewn around.”

Small pleasures: Knitting and visiting with friends were also a big part of her recovery. But Gardner says she is now too busy to knit.

For fun: “It’s all fun,” Gardner says. “I don’t have any real responsibilities anymore.”

She is still involved with genealogy projects and is a Plymouth Colony member.

What changed: “I’ve slowed down considerably. I was always on the go and I wasn’t home very often because I was involved in so many things.”

Staying healthy: “Now, I eat right. I never was too concerned about my diet until I got sick. I think that it is a big thing — to stay at the right weight and eat the right foods.”

Family’s help: Her children stop by regularly to help organize her pillbox and check on her. Her grandchildren also call frequently.

Keeping up spirits: “My family is so good to me, so attentive. They treat me like a queen, and I have to say, I like it.”

Most comforting: Good communication with her family is comforting for Gardner. She says her family likes Ken and knows he is taking good care of her.