If not for a mammogram, it might have been years before Lisa Trubilla discovered she had breast cancer.

She had no symptoms, and the lump was too deep to be detected without the X-ray exam.

Her doctor told her that if she relied on self-exams, it likely would have taken five years to come to the surface.

“I tell everybody, ‘Make sure you get your mammogram.’ It might hurt for a few seconds, but just do it,” she said.

Trubilla was diagnosed last fall and had surgery Oct. 29. It happened just as she was beginning her fourth season as an assistant swimming and diving coach at Tamaqua Area High School.

Trubilla didn’t miss a practice or meet. And she matched her athletes’ work ethic in approaching her own treatments.

“Coaching helped me a lot,” she said. “I love talking with them, seeing their accomplishments, cheering them on.”

The swim team honored Trubilla with pink ribbon-themed T-shirts.

At Panther Valley, where she was assistant volleyball coach for four years, they held an intramural volleyball tournament in her honor, with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. Trubilla volunteered as a referee throughout the event.

“I was really humbled, it was really nice,” she said.

After she completes chemo, Trubilla will begin radiation. She’ll continue getting motivation from her daughter as she takes part in javelin, a sport she will continue in college.

Like the volleyball tournament, the cancer courage award was an honor for Trubilla.

“I was in complete shock when they told me I was up for this courage award. I think it’s great,” she said.