The average day for Donna Yeager begins in a hot tub. It’s a time of reflection. It’s also a chance for her to plan out her day, contemplate life and count her blessings over a cup of coffee.

At 57, Donna has overcome more adversity than most people will see in three lifetimes. In her youth, she struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. Her husband of 20 years died in her arms of a stroke. In the past seven years, she’s survived breast cancer, cancer in her bones, cancer in her liver and lungs, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation for all three, as well as a full mastectomy. And her battle with cancer continues.

The temptation for most would be to consider these things setbacks, the sheer weight amounting to more than many people could bear. But for Donna, it’s just a part of life. And the secret to getting through it is acceptance.

“I’ve never questioned ‘why me,’” she says. “Why not me? I have good insurance. I have wonderful friend-support. So why not me?”

Adversity has also brought Donna her share of triumphs, imbuing her with a resilience many are never forced to realize. She’s overcome alcohol and drug addiction. After dropping out of high school in her senior year, she went back to school years later where she earned an associate of arts degree, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and began work on her PhD – all while working full-time. She has a son and a grandson. And throughout the course of a 20-year career, she enjoyed an incredible sense of accomplishment as an addiction medicine therapist for Kaiser, guiding others toward sobriety with tools, counseling and an endless array of stories taken from her personal experience.

Donna has bright blue eyes, a quick, genuine laugh and a finely-tuned sense of self-depreciating humor, containing equal parts honesty and realism, that instantly endears her to everyone she meets. Her face is lined not by years, but a warm expressiveness that can only be the end result of frequent laughter. Yet with all that, the quality that overshadows all others is her unshakable determination.

Simply put: Donna has too much to do to be sick. Her grandson is 7-years-old and therefore has the better part of a decade before completing his high school education. During a recent doctor visit, Donna asked if she would see him graduate. In no uncertain terms, she was told that would “never happen.”

“At first, I took that real serious and it affected how I thought – maybe I better do my ‘bucket list’ stuff right away,” Donna says. “And then I thought, one, I’m not a statistic. And two, there’s nobody who’s going to tell me how long I’m going to live or not going to live. I will see my 7-year-old grandson graduate from high school. I am going to be there physically. I will be there.”

Donna is also fearless. Unafraid to walk up to someone and compliment them on a particularly striking hairstyle, or some other aspect of their appearance that catches her attention, Donna enjoys watching others light up and continuously seeks opportunities to make that happen, even at her own expense.

“Sometimes people look at me like I’m a little odd… but I am,” she says with a laugh. “And that’s OK.”

Odd to some, certifiable to others, but irresistible none the less, Donna possesses an unbridled sense of enthusiasm that makes her stand out in a crowd – that and the occasional green wig or temporary tattoo. Known for her wild, theme-inspired costumes and outfits, it’s not unusual to find her in a lime-green wig and matching dress as she passes out candy from a shamrock basket on St. Patrick’s Day to friends, colleagues and the staff at Longview Radiologists.

“I felt comfortable enough at Longview Radiologists that I could do that,” she says of the safety and comfort she felt after being received in her green wig with laughter and hugs. “Some of the other places where I’ve had tests done, I couldn’t do that.”

With Donna, life is never dull. Constantly looking for ways to outdo herself, she affixed a temporary zipper tattoo to her scalp after losing her hair during chemotherapy. In the seemingly worst of circumstances, she continues to live, laugh and love, inspiring those around her toward the same.

She draws strength from a belief in the inescapability of life. Whether positive or negative, whatever happens is simply a part of the journey.

“Wishing it away is not going to make it go away,” she says. “So what I get to do is learn how to live through it.”

But living through it isn’t always easy, especially when confronting the unknown for the first time.

“I was really scared,” she says of her first visit to Longview Radiologists. On her own and unsure of the people or what to expect, without a preconception of what was going to happen, uncertain what tests she was going to have or what the outcome was going to be, Donna suffered from a huge fear of the unknown. But it was fear that was short-lived.

“They were so welcoming and just put me at ease,” she says. “One of the things I really liked is she held my hand and that felt really good. It’s like, okay, I’m not in this alone.”

“The staff at Longview Radiologists have made this journey so much more pleasant,” Donna says. “They’re real caring – there’s not that plastic persona. Those gals, and guys, really cared about me as an individual. I felt like I was important… that I wasn’t just being cattle-raced through. When I had questions, they would answer and take as much time as I needed.”

When Donna went in for an MRI – a process she says that can be frightening – the techs at Longview Radiologists would tell her the exact details of each session and how long each step would last, relieving the stress and worry by walking her through each phase.

“And then, the thing that I really, really liked was every time I would come into Longview Radiologists after that, the gals called me by my first name,” she says. “That really meant a lot.”

Though nothing in life is certain, the one certainty for Donna is that it remains busy. And even though she retired in 2009, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The cancer has really helped to reinforce the preciousness of every day,” she says.

Now going through cancer for the third time, Donna’s wispy reddish-blond hair is just starting to come back and is somewhat “fly-away.” In typical fashion, she’s having it dyed hot pink in support of cancer research and for “Runway to Recovery,” the ninth annual breast cancer survivors fashion show and luncheon, where Donna will be modeling clothes at Macy’s alongside other breast cancer survivors. She’s also remained actively involved in Alcoholics Anonymous for the past 25 years, regularly attending meetings and working with people currently struggling with alcohol and drug abuse.

The human spirit can be defined as a combination of hope, faith, resilience, patience and other qualities that give an individual unique strength. Often illusive, it makes a lasting impression on those it touches, leaving them changed for the better in its wake. If you’re ever looking for it, you’ll find it living in a small town in the southern corner of Washington state. If you visit in March, it should be pretty easy to spot... just look for the green wig.