Carol Wiener wasn’t sure what to expect when she was invited to attend a “surprise day” for women with breast cancer. A 27-year veteran of the Visiting Nurse Service, Wiener has had two recurrences of breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy several years ago. “It’s a devastating disease — financially, emotionally, physically,” she said.

To ease some of that devastation, the Karen E. Mumford Cancer Foundation sponsored a special “Karen Cares” event for 10 women, all members of the Federation of Nurses/UFT, on Oct. 6. The surprise day included spa treatments, brunch, gift bags, a limo ride and a guided tour of Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, which showcases strong women throughout history.

“When my mother, for whom the foundation was named, was going through her bout with breast cancer, she didn’t feel beautiful anymore,” said Nathan Mumford, the executive director of the Mumford Foundation and a cancer survivor himself. “So we made a program specifically for women to uplift their spirits and make a day just all about them.”

For Paula Gittens, a nurse who recently completed her first round of radiation, the day was a chance to bond with other women who have survived breast cancer. “It was my first positive acknowledgment of breast cancer,” she said. “I literally was in tears. Nurses are always the caregivers, and being on the other side is hard to accept. [The day] made me realize that these are things I can and should do for myself.”