Breast cancer survivor shares importance of checkups

Rae Marie “Ree” Jones went in for her regular mammogram, just like millions of American women do each year. When her doctor called to notify her that they’d need to do an additional scan, she wasn’t worried. This had happened before and in previous instances, nothing was awry.

But in March of 2019, doctors had different news to deliver.

This time she wasn’t so lucky; this time it was cancer.

But even still, Jones wasn’t worried.

And it wasn’t bravado that kept her from pushing the panic button -- it was faith.

“If this was what’s going to take me, it’ll take me,” Jones recalled matter-of-factly.

Around 1 in 8 American women will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetimes with more than 275,000 cases estimated to occur in 2020 alone, along with 48,000 cases in men, according to BreastCancer.org.

The cancer diagnosis wasn’t the first medical malady to come her way. The longtime Bigfork Elementary School teacher had a stroke in 2001. Although her case was severe, she continued to teach, albeit on a half-day basis. Jones isn’t the type to roll over without a fight.

So when cancer came along, she faced it head-on with the same mix of tenacity and realism. Jones had HER2-positive breast cancer, which meant that she tested positive for the human spiderman growth factor, a protein that promotes cell growth. (CHECK) The survival rate is quite good, according to the Mayo Clinic, but this added factor in her diagnosis meant that Jones would have to undergo surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.

She kept a journal during her cancer treatment, making notes about what each of her six chemotherapy experiences was like. The sessions varied in intensity -- the worst by far, being her first infusion. She remembers laying on the bathroom floor at one point, after being ill, and another bout ended with Jones in the ER. The common thread through each chemo session was fatigue -- a kind of tiredness that couldn’t be remedied by sleep alone. And just when she’d start feeling better, it was time to return to the hospital for the next round.

“One time I barely got out of the chemo wing -- I felt like I was going to throw up,” Jones said. “And one time it was two days before I was feeling badly.”

The chemo also caused her fair to fall out.

“I knew as soon as I was losing it that I wanted to shave it,” she said.

Her husband did the honors on their back porch, which was later refined by her daughter-in-law Ashley who was a hairstylist at that time.

Then came radiation -- the part she thought would be a walk in the park -- which turned out to be anything but as the treatment caused her to break out in itchy sores.

What kept her going through it all was her faith.

“I just felt held by God,” Jones said. “He just comforted me. So many people would say, ‘I bet you were so frightened,’ and I wasn’t.”

It’s been over a year since her initial diagnosis and Jones is, for all intents and purposes, cancer-free. Her hair is back too, although curlier than before.

She hopes her experience can serve as encouragement for others to get regular checkups. If it weren’t for the mammogram, her cancer may not have been discovered so early.

“The surgeon said it's very good that the mammogram picked it up because she couldn't even feel it,” Jones noted.

Looking back on the whole ordeal, Jones said cancer has strengthened her faith and made her more grateful for each day.

“We’re only given the day -- we’re here right now, today,” she said. “We don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring.”

BREAKOUT

Winkley Mobile Mammogram to stop in Bigfork

Winkley Mobile Mammography will be at the Old Town Shopping Center in Bigfork on Friday, Oct. 30 from 9am.m-3 p.m. No scheduling is necessary. Patients will spend 30 minutes or less with the imaging tech and are asking to bring their ID and insurance information, if available. Questions? Call (406) 751-7523 or learn more online at www.krh.org/breasthealth. This event is made possible by the Save a Sister initiative, a collaboration between Kalispell Regional Healthcare, North Valley Hospital and the Flathead City-County Health Department.