For Kim Kaufman, part of the treacherous journey began in September 2023. During one of her routine checkups, her doctor found a dense tissue in her left breast. At first, she did not pay much attention to it. But it was only months later, when Kaufman noticed that a faint dimple had appeared on her breast. A mammogram and ultrasound in late September 2024 confirmed that it was a mass. For her, her whole world changed that day.

Kaufman had Stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma. Her tumor was four inches long. Her situation required her to undergo six rounds of chemo from January through April 2025, and seven weeks of radiation ending in June. She needed moral support at this time. So, when Kim walked into her first chemotherapy session, she had her friend Angela Stanford with her. But walking into that room, as she settled into those nine-hour days hooked up to an IV, she didn’t realize that, beyond fear, guilt would engulf her, too, and that, too, because of fear, not many people talk about openly.

“You feel guilt for a couple of reasons. Everybody wants to help and do things. Even now, how do you thank people enough? How do you say, ‘I’ve got this,’ because everybody wants to help. It’s so nice, but you don’t know if you can ever return the favor,” Kim Kaufman shared on Golf Channel.

“We had a good time,” she recalled. “Talk about feeling guilty—we would hear other people who were so sick, and I did not have any nausea. I had plenty of other symptoms, but you felt guilty for that. We thought maybe we shouldn’t be so loud. We shouldn’t be laughing.”

“…You feel guilt because not everybody comes out. Even people who are cancer-free, some are not doing as well, struggling with neuropathy or other side effects. I’ve been really fortunate to be at 100%…I do know that I was lucky,” Kaufman continued empathetically.

This is another reality of cancer that not many survivors talk about. The guilt that accompanies you once you win through this deadly battle. Guilt because you know not many have been lucky like you. It’s called survivor’s guilt. It is a psychological response that many cancer patients experience after enduring treatment and living through what others did not. Studies show that 55% of lung cancer survivors report some form of survivor’s guilt, which is more often than not tied to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

At the same time, it gets exacerbated with the bonds that are formed in those cancer communities, as one becomes fully aware that some friendships will see their ends soon. That is why, since her cancer journey, she’s done everything she could for cancer patients. From conducting free breast examinations on the Epson Tour to donating to charities, the list is long.

Her diagnosis came at a time when she was on the verge of regaining her full LPGA status, but unfortunately, that dream was shattered. Left with no choice, Kaufman chose to take a complete break from golf. This was also the time when she faced extreme pain in talking about her struggles. But eventually, she persevered.

Kaufman, now cancer-free, made her comeback this September when she tied for 37th at the Murphy USA Dorado Shootout. And just a few weeks ago, she advanced through Stage II of her LPGA Q-School. Kaufman’s now set to compete at Final Qualifying in December 2025, the same event she had to miss a year earlier because of her diagnosis.

So, of course, with such a bounce back, it makes sense why Kim Kaufman would feel a pang of guilt. She’s out there achieving successful accolades; meanwhile, some cancer patients don’t even know what the next day will hold for them – many of them surviving it all alone. Luckily, that was not the case for Kaufman.

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Kim Kaufman on the generosity of the Epson Tour Players

Any patient, cancer or otherwise, bodes well when they are surrounded by the love and support of a community. For Kim Kaufman, it was the same. But what stuck out to her was the way those people were out there for her.

“I know what they [Epson Tour players] make,” Kaufman said. “Those are the girls who gave so much. It just tells you about who they are and how they rallied around me. The ones that you would think have the least give the most. It’s a testament to the girls who are out there. I would not have wanted to be in any other place.”

For anyone following golf, especially women’s golf, they would know the economic disparity that exists on the professional circuit. While LPGA players compete for multimillion-dollar purses, the Epson Tour exists in a vastly different tangent.

For instance, in 2025, the highest earnings on the LPGA Tour were $3.8 million (Minjee Lee). On the other hand, the Epson Tour, the financial reality is brutal. The highest earnings in 2025 for the tour were $186,986 (Melanie Green). Yet, the girls from the Epson Tour did ten times more than what anyone else could have done for Kaufman.

“It wasn’t just money,” Kaufman recalled. “They sent me things and gifts. Everybody sends you things right away, but they did it over seven months. When you’re going through chemo and you get something in the mail, it lifts your spirits.”

As Kim Kaufman says, everybody loves finding a gift in their mailbox, but the value of such gifts increases when you realize who it’s coming from.