Patty Masure of Northampton knew she was going to appear in the breast cancer section in the latest O, The Oprah Magazine, so when she saw the issue on a rack in the grocery store, she grabbed it eagerly.

“I started looking through it but I couldn’t find myself,” she said. “I figured, maybe they didn’t include me.”

Masure, 65, a breast cancer survivor, who works as a sales representative at the Gazette, started leafing through again, oblivious to the fact she was holding up the line at the cash register. She saw her picture smiling back at her on Page 104, just as the guy behind her lost his patience: “Are you in line or are you just going to read that magazine?” he asked.

“I closed it really fast and put it back,” she said. Flustered, she continued on, paid for her food items and left.

But it’s not every day you get to be featured in a national magazine. Masure soon went out and forked over $5 to buy the October O.

Masure is one of three women featured in a portion of the breast-cancer section called “Feeling Good.” In it, the trio, all breast cancer survivors, discuss their ways of coping with treatment. Their comments are called “What no one tells you.”

Masure said she was chosen to participate because a friend who is the friend of the executive editor recommended her. Dawn Reesman, 42, of Southampton is also included, though she said the national exposure was enough for her and she declined to be interview for this article.

Masure, Reesman and the third woman, Cheryl Jernigan of Kansas City Missouri, each submitted a tip on what helped her through her ordeal. The section also includes articles from experts in the field, about how to live healthy, happy lives while fighting cancer.

Masure, who had both radiation and chemotherapy following a lumpectomy last year, told Oprah’s readers that during her radiation treatment lotion became her best friend.

Since the radiation, which permeates the chest, burns the skin, using lots of lotion can help prevent permanent damage, she said.

“You actually get red like you have been in the sun.”

After a treatment Masure would slather Aquaphor under her arm and over her breast. “Because I took such good care of my skin, I didn’t have the redness or ‘tanning’ that some people do,” she said.

Though this wasn’t included in her Oprah advice, Masure said an unexpected discovery during cancer treatment was finding that Popsicles are comforting. Her oncologist told her to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated throughout the time she received chemotherapy. But, she said, she found she liked eating ice pops because they settled her stomach.

“When you are lying there and you can’t think of any food that would taste good to you, Popsicles seemed soothing.”

Also during treatment Masure tried to maintain a regular schedule and kept going to the gym to keep her body strong. Radiation was always planned at the end of the workday.

She took just one day a week off during the time she needed chemotherapy.

“I just wanted things as normal as possible,” she said. “I didn’t really focus on the cancer. I just focused on living every day and getting better.”

Coworkers, she said, seemed surprised that she was able to forge ahead. 

“You just put a smile on your face and get through the day and know that it isn’t forever.”

Reesman’s comments to Oprah’s magazine centered around losing all semblance of modesty during treatment. “After endless examinations, modesty will become a thing of the past,” she said. “By the time I’d exposed myself to half the state of Massachusetts for breast exams, scans, injections, etc., I wasn’t shy about flashing anyone — even interns who looked half my age.”

Masure said seeing her picture and words in a national publication felt odd. “It was surreal. It wasn’t like it was me,” she said.

When she was first approached to contribute her story, she said she joked that Oprah, who is known for her lavish gifts, was going to give her a car.

That didn’t happen. But Masure was pleased with the experience.

“It was a very positive ending to what I had gone through for over a year. It made you feel good.”