Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. She decided to disclose her diagnosis publicly saying, "As a public figure, I did not want the gossip to be going around. I wanted to control the message. It was a tough decision to go public with it, though. It made me very vulnerable. Honestly it was the best thing I’ve ever done because I know a couple people who had mammograms after (my announcement), and two of them were diagnosed with breast cancer, so I don’t doubt it was the right thing to do."

Schmidt continued to work through most of her treatment missing less than two weeks of work in-person. She worked from home and even joked that she asked her husband to drive her to the office after she woke up from surgery.

Read more of Schmidt's story here.