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STAYING IN THE FIGHT & KEEPING THE FAITH

By Judy Normand/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, October 10, 2008 11:32 PM CDT

As the 2008 edition of the Race for the Cure gets under way today at Little Rock, Jimmie Le’Nee Jones is at home in Pine Bluff, but she’s racing every mile of the way — in high, joyous spirit — in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Cancer survivor Jimmie Le’Nee Jones shares a smile of hope and faith Thursday at her home. Pine Bluff Commercial/Judy Normand

Jones has reason to celebrate. She’s one of the lucky ones.

On the weekend of the 2007 Race for the Cure, Jones got the shock of her life when she was notified that her recent mammogram and biopsy had revealed a malignancy.

“I was shocked. Overwhelmed. There had been no history of cancer in my family at all and I had no symptoms. I was also in my first year teaching in the Pine Bluff School District and I thought, ‘What am I gonna do?’ It was awful,” Jones said.

She is a sixth grade English teacher at Belair Middle School. Jones said, if not for her “wonderful” students, she’d have had a much harder time dealing with the devastating news, treatment and recovery.

Jones received the initial diagnosis at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, but, on the advice of Dr. Josetta Wilkins, breast health advocate for Arkansas, sought a second opinion at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock. There, she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer and her surgery was scheduled for Nov. 15, “10 days after my 43rd birthday,” she said.

The relatively simple, outpatient surgery, Jones said, was deemed successful and the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes. She returned home for a six-week recuperation period.

“After I came home, my oncologist, Dr. Laura Hutchins, told me I’d have to take chemotherapy treatments and that I’d be sick and lose all my hair. Well, I just looked at her and said, ‘No way, I can’t do this!’ I called Dr. Wilkins again and she assured me that my oncologist was the best and that I’d be fine,” Jones said.

The treatments continued once every three weeks at UAMS from Jan. 10 to March 12 of this year. They were scheduled on Thursdays, Jones said, to allow time for rest — an important component of the recovery process — over the weekend before returning to work.

“I was thankful for that schedule and I never missed a day of work,” Jones said.

She also revealed, because she followed her doctor’s orders and took the medication as prescribed, that she was never sick. She was also pleasantly surprised, she said, to have lost only “some” of her hair and wore a wig for only about three months. Mild side-effects from the chemo treatments, she said, included flu-like symptoms, dry mouth and a slight numbness of her hands and feet. The numbness, she said, is still noticeable, but she’s learning to adjust and has been advised that this, too, shall pass.

Jones said that after her chemo regime ended, her oncologist scheduled a six-week series of radiation treatments at the Arkansas Cancer Institute at Pine Bluff. These ended in June and today, Jones says she’s “healed.”

“I got through my treatments with the help of my faith and my family. My church family at Barraque Street Baptist Church was very supportive and my students and my colleagues in the Pine Bluff School District were also extremely kind to me. My mother, who lives with me, was my biggest supporter and attended every appointment and every treatment. She told me that every day would get better and it did!” Jones said.

Her advice and encouragement, which she gives freely to those phoning with questions about a recent diagnosis or treatment, is simple: Early detection is of paramount importance and the treatment, if needed, is “just a break in your routine.”

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