Who is Kelly Corrigan from The Middle Place and what is their importance?

Kelly is a thirty-seven-year-old wife and mother who lives in the suburbs outside Oakland. One afternoon while she's bathing with her two young daughters, Georgia and Claire, Kelly discovers a lump on one of her breasts. It frightens her because she knows that a tumor that is hard and rigid is not a good sign. She stays calm for her daughters but later rushes to a friend who is a physician who confirms that the tumor is highly suspect. Kelly goes through a series of mammograms and a biopsy to learn that she, indeed, does have cancer.