Diana Marlowe remembers last year’s holiday season well, for all the wrong reasons.

The St. Joseph woman detected a lump in her breast Dec. 2. She went for a mammogram, then had a biopsy the next week, on Christmas Eve. It was on Dec. 30 — her 50th birthday — that she received the news she had breast cancer.

“As soon as you find out the results, you want it out,” said Ms. Marlowe, who is still undergoing treatment.

The good news is that she has only three more chemotherapy treatments left, which — depending on how her white blood cell count holds up — could be completed before the one-year mark of the start of her journey with cancer. Another piece of good news is that an event tonight at St. Joseph’s Dress Barn, 5201 N. Belt Highway, will serve to remind her she’s not alone.

Dress Barn, with St. Joseph Oncology and in observance of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, will host a Fighters and Survivors Fashion Show beginning at 7 p.m. in which women affected by breast cancer will receive personal sessions from a Dress Barn image consultant, as well as a free Mary Kay makeover and a consultation with a local hairstylist. Some women, including Ms. Marlowe, will model their new looks, and all women will receive a coupon worth 30 percent off any clothing they’re interested in purchasing.

Dress Barn has also been raising money for the American Cancer Society through sales of a $5 stuffed, scarf-wearing dog named Biscuit, said St. Joseph Dress Barn manager Heather Birkinsha. She added that in the past six years the national chain has partnered with the American Cancer Society, Dress Barn has raised $5.5 million for fighting breast cancer.

Although this is the first year St. Joseph’s Dress Barn has participated in the event, Ms. Birkinsha previously managed a store in Kansas City, which held a fashion show last year.

“The women all had different forms of breast cancer, even though that wasn’t what we were looking for,” she said. “And they all had different stories of how they survived it, how they fought it, how much support from their friends and families and places like the Dress Barn meant to them.”

Kim Wells, a medical clerk with St. Joseph Oncology and the daughter of a breast cancer survivor, noted that unless they are involved in a support group, events like this are one of the only ways women can connect with other local women affected by breast cancer.

“Because of HIPAA, we can’t say ‘Call this person’” to receive support from someone who has survived breast cancer, Ms. Wells said. She added that she hopes tonight’s fashion show connects women currently battling the cancer with survivors, allowing them to “talk to people on the other side and see there is hope.”

Already, Ms. Marlowe knows how much support like this means.

“It’s been like one big hug,” she said.

Erin Wisdom can be reached

at ewisdom@npgco.com.