A decade ago, Jan Chouljian was heading to Washington, D.C., to take over a new job. As a lifelong athlete — she paddled, swam and played tennis — she felt strong in her new size-6 power suits and full of hope.

A few weeks after moving, the Kailua veterinarian felt a lump in her armpit.

It set off a difficult decade. Her father had died of cancer at age 54, and there were lingering fears. Her doctors said the odds of her making it to her 40th birthday weren't good; they recommended the most aggressive treatment available.

So she signed on for clinical trials at Georgetown University Hospital's Lombardi Cancer Center. There were times she would rather have been dead.

"Just shoot me now and get it over with," she remembers thinking, then adds with a sigh: "It was a difficult time in my life."

The repercussions of her cancer treatment linger today. Chouljian, now 47, developed depression, a peripheral neuropathy (pain in her hands and feet), and as a result of one of the chemotherapy drugs, fibromyalgia, which causes chronic muscle aches; she regularly gets flareups, feeling sore and achy.

"Exercise helps, working those muscles helps, but it's hard to get going, because you feel tired and fatigued," she said.

Now, Chouljian has chosen to get healthy and to lose the weight that crept up on her. "For me, it's a huge change to be overweight," said Chouljian. "... Now, if I look at charts, I'm considered obese. That's a shock."

A month ago, some lab results came back showing that her cholesterol was slightly elevated for the first time. She adamantly doesn't want to court heart disease or diabetes.

She joined a gym about a year ago, and worked out about once or twice a week. That wasn't enough, so she's stepping it up.

Last month, her trainer persuaded her to prep for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, a 26-mile walk followed by a half- marathon the next day, held in Washington, D.C.

It's a chance for her to help others who are coping with the disease that steals more than a lump of breast tissue.

"The first couple years," she said, then paused before going on, "I lost time there. I can't tell you what I did for so many years, I retracted from the world."

So she's taking a break from work and turning her life over to regaining her health. She works out two to three hours a day, and trains for the walking marathon that will take about eight hours.

"I feel good," she said. "So far haven't lost weight, but I feel stronger. It feels good to have a goal to work toward.

"This is a big goal. When I left, I was in wheelchair. I was so debilitated."

When Chouljian feels stronger, she plans to go back to Washington, she says, "and deal with those demons still in my head."

And she's going back empowered, adding: "I'm going to be older, wiser and much stronger."

JAN CHOULJIAN

Eating habits: "I eat very well — I love salads and fresh fruit; I normally eat lean protein, whole-grain carbs, daily oatmeal with fruit and wheat germ, regular vitamins — but my weak spot is chocolate."

Next challenge: The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington, D.C., which is a full walking marathon on May 5 and a half-marathon on May 6. Information: www.avonwalk.org.

Advice for those in the same boat: Give yourself a big physical challenge, something specific. "I'm telling everybody about (the Avon marathon), so I actually do it. People will ask me, 'How much did you walk today?' That's been helpful."