Author: Michele E. Jones

When I had a little chat with God this morning, I simply told him thanks! Thanks for giving me another year of life, thanks for giving me great family and friends, and thanks for allowing me to heal.

Every Thanksgiving day in my life, I have been blessed with family gatherings that reminded me of our history and the importance of spending time with those you love! Two years ago… that was threatened! So I simply say Thanks to the ONE who is control of my destiny, thanks to the ONE who more than a conqueror and Thanks to the one who has been my provider!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Be Blessed!

On October 14th 2016, I received the call, a call that would change my life, I thought as I took that long walk down the hall.

I was at school doing my usual, teaching my kids to write, not knowing if this call would be routine or if I would have to fight. A battle of many brave women before, would now include myself, the news I would get would make me get my bravery off the shelf.

“Breast cancer you have, and it’s a very aggressive stage 3, you really just need to know, decisions you’ll make within this week to many doctors you’ll have to go.

Chemotherapy, lumpectomy, radiation, your choice but it must be done rather soon. Your prognosis is good, and now at stage 2, you have until tomorrow by noon.  To meet oncology, surgeon, and nurse, to discuss your treatment plan, and learn all of the information, overwhelming information, of which I was not a fan.

My husband was with me through it all, and helped me decide what to do, to tell our son which broke my heart and our family and friends would know too. I received much support and prayers for me, in this battle I must say so far, I’m positive and strong and leaning on God, my faith has been on par.

I’ve gotten through the diagnosis , treatments and surgery with God who showed me grace, I can now walk around, healing inside, with a story and a smile on my face.

The call certainly changed my life, and now I must say it was good, I’m able to help others in their battle like I never knew I would. I’m walking in my purpose as God intended when he sent me down that hall, to begin a new chapter in my life that came from that faithful call.

As we come to October Eve and painting the town Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, I want to bring your attention to the many colors of cancer.  There are many men and women suffering with no support and some with no finances to get the treatment they need.

Breast Cancer Awareness is the most prominent acknowledgment of cancer and most widely known.  Let’s be sure to remember the other cancers that are devastating families and taking lives.  I’m living for my Pink Sisters, but I also remember the many colors of cancer.

Support Choose Hope, an organization that supports cancer research.  You can purchase cancer awareness products whose money goes towards their cause.  Over $970,000 has been raised to date.  As we go Pink, remember the many colors of cancers.

September is Prostate CANcer Awareness Month
1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.  Fortunately, with continuous research and information, more than 2.5 million men who have been diagnosed within their lifetime, are still living. ~The Cleveland

After I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I decided to have genetic testing done. I found there was a gene mutation on my paternal side that put me at higher risk. As I was fighting my battle, little did I know my dad would subsequently have a battle of his own. I believe the genetic testing information made my dad more vigilant and aware of choices he had to make.

Although my dad  had pre-stage prostate cancer, he elected to have surgery to ensure his health. In January of 2018, he successfully won his battle and we have a dad and daughter warrior team!  It’s so important to understand your health and risk factors, make regulator visits to the doctors and be aware of the signs and signals your body is giving you. Unfortunately, there may be no signs or signals.  When there are no signs or signals, regular visits to the doctor will help you understand your body and give you a baseline of what is and looks healthy so you’ll know the difference.  Neither me, nor my dad had any signs or symptoms…doctor visits may have saved our lives!

There was a study done in 2015 that suggested there was a connection between fathers, brothers, and sons prostate cancer and breast cancer.  The results stated that the risk of breast cancer was 14% higher in women who had a father, brother or son diagnosed with prostate cancer. It also stated that the breast cancer risk in these same women was 78% higher than the risk of the average woman if they had a father, brother or son with prostate cancer and any first-degree relative with breast cancer as well.  The following link will take you to the article for further information and research results:

Family History of Prostate Cancer Seems to Increase Breast Cancer Risk

If you have a father who doesn’t like to go to the doctor or a father that puts off what he’s feeling to simply needing rest, here are some tips to ensure your father’s health even when he is defiant😊:

1. Check on Dad often. A simple phone call to ask how he’s doing, could lead to him spilling the beans on his health! You know your Dad and may hear something different in his voice
2. See Dad as often as you can. You may see the signs before him.
3. Share your health with your Dad. This can be a segway to getting him to share about his.
4. Let your Dad know you love him and want him to be around for a while! Daughters need their Daddies💕

These tips are nothing new, not surprising and honestly not that creative. They are just small reminders of the way we need to pay attention to ourselves and our loved ones.

Prostate cancer does not have to keep our Dads from a fine quality of life. It’s only a reminder of how precious the bond is between or first loves. Take care of your Dads as they took care of you!!

My CANcer Wisdom to you: Build a healthy relationship with your Dad… literally!

I got up this morning.

Thanked God for my life.

Looked at my pretty blouse.

Had a lumpectomy April 2017.

Looked at my pretty blouse.

Breast has minimal scarring, lopsided though.

Looked at my pretty blouse.

Looked at my pretty blouse.

Looked at my pretty bra.

Looked at my pretty blouse.

Looked at my pretty bra…

Put on my pretty blouse…

Without my pretty bra!

I still feel pretty.

I now feel free!

STAYCATIONING and VACATIONING!!! That is what I have been doing for the last 45 weekdays, 10 weekends and 2 months and some days. Just to clarify, I did attend some professional learning classes, for those that still believe teachers have summers “off”! It’s been a very reflective summer and a very emotional summer in a good way. I was able to spend an enormous amount of time with my husband and son, visit family, travel and network with other warriors in this CANcer struggle. With this summer behind me, I have realized a couple of things: I am not alone, I needed the rest, I am ready to move forward, and I ate quite a bit!!!

Today was the 1st day of year 24 in education. I have had an incredible journey in education and look forward to coming down from the top of this waterslide…6 more twists and turns to go, until I splash into the wave pool of retirement! As you can tell summer is still on my mind!

Today, our school and cluster schools had a wonderful opportunity to kick off he school year with a pep-rally. We do this every year, and it really energizes us. During football season, there is a pep-rally every Friday to energize the team, hoping to get them to win and enter the play-offs and ultimately win a championship. Well for us, we want our students to win so it is us who need to be energized.

Each year, our school system has a motivational speaker to come and share a message with us. We’ve had former students, retired educators, military and a pastor. This year, we had the pleasure of receiving a message from Aimee Copeland, a young woman from Georgia who lost her hands, a leg, and a foot in a freak accident in a river. She encountered flesh-eating bacteria that took over her body when simply using a “homemade” zipline that snapped. She fell into a river and the rest is history. She attended our cluster schools as a young person and remains an inspiration to our students. Not only did she energize us, but she made us all think, really think about our own challenges in and outside of the classroom.

As I listened to Aimee Copeland speak, I thought of my own challenges with breast CANcer and Lynch Syndrome. I thought about all the barriers and obstacles that I faced with the diagnosis and that I continue to face through my remission. She said something that was so profound, so meaningful, so powerful, I changed my entire “blog” thought. Aimee “Schooled Me”!

Suffering is relative. If you are alive, there are going to be those who suffer more than you. You may think you are at your lowest, but if you live, there are lower places where you can be. “…in the bed next to me was a woman who could only move her face. She wanted her limbs to be cut off, so she could have prosthesis and be able to move like me. She wished she was me. I realized then, I had to work through my circumstances and have the will to move. I will walk I tell myself and I will. It may take a long time, but I will, and in my way!”
                                                                                                              ~Aimee Copeland

Aimee Copeland “Schooled Me”! I thought about myself and my CANcer network. Over the summer, 5 women loss their battle. It’s awfully tough, but the warriors that are left, must go on. There is guilt that comes with that, but then you think about the difference you can make for those who are still here. Aimee is such an example of strength and will, I have no choice but to live in my truth and stay positive. She said, “We can’t control what happens to us, we can only control how we respond”. I’ve heard that many times before, but in this context and today, she is so right.

This year back to school is very special. This is the first year since my diagnosis in October of 2016 that I enter the school year without any pending surgeries, no monthly doctor appointments, no treatments, no special diets, no tingly feet (…well just a little tingly…) and no fatigue (…other than getting used to being up at the crack…)! I am so excited about regaining my focus on my family and building relationships with my students. Now don’t get me wrong, I continue to focus on my health, that will never change, but I get to take a closer step to “normal” …whatever that is!

At times, being a warrior, survivor, pink sister, all those titles, is difficult. People assume because you act, talk, and move in a positive light, you’re good. For the most part, I am, however, I still struggle with guilt. Guilt for what my family has endured, guilt of survival, guilt of the financial strain of treatments, etc. CANcer guilt is a real thing. It doesn’t last long, however, it is a real feeling. I’ve been better lately and back to Aimee, she really made it ok to have ALL the feelings I have, but I should never stay in that place and accept blame, fault or guilt for my condition. I’m able to move, I’m able to teach, so I’m able to make a difference in a child’s life. If I’m going into the classroom, I owe it to them to be present and be available.

Aimee Copeland is such an inspiration and such a testimony to true grit. She told us we shouldn’t be afraid to fail because we can use that as a stepping stone to success. Even in disease or illness, we can take that advice. You may not have a choice in your circumstance, but you can control how you handle it and what you do to keep positivity in your life.

As I begin pre-planning for another school year, Aimee’s words stay with me. I can apply them to me and I can apply them to my students. I will share her story of perseverance and model for them what it takes to use your will to make things happen.

My CANcer Wisdom to You: You cannot control what happens, but you can control how you respond to it.

ABC Aimee Copeland Story

Have you ever flown in an airplane and dared to look out of the window?  Do you look up or do you look down? Looking down brings fear…at least to me it does! If only for a minute, I think about how high we are, how there is no net, everything looks small and meaningless. Of course, that’s the time I pray! 🙏🏽

Then I quickly look up. I see us rising above the clouds, the blue skies, bright sun, the bumpy clouds that bring turbulence but we rise above it, Almost Up in Heaven!

Beautiful it is, peaceful, brings about a different feeling. A feeling of joy, contentment…wonder. The majestic sky and ocean seemingly meeting in one place, no division, no separation, just blue. God is somewhere there watching, waiting, His plan coming together like the skies and the ocean. 

My son asks, “Is that Heaven over there?” To him I reply, “Not quite but we’re close enough!” Heaven is a special place that God doesn’t want us to see just yet.”😊 “But you know the feeling you have when you go someplace you love, when we spend time with family, eat a most delicious meal…that’s Heaven. Heaven is with you every day in your heart.”

My CANcer Wisdom to You: No matter your struggles, rise above the clouds, God is watching, getting you through the turbulence. Keep your head up, don’t look down, and keep Heaven in your heart💗❤️💜🧡💛💚💙

On your mark, get set, GO….my routine season of doctor visits. Last Friday, the radiologist, next week the surgeon and gynecologist, and a week after that, the oncologist! I really appreciate these professionals and I am so thankful for my wonderful team, but these visits bring about memories, poking and prodding, machines, x-rays and forms, money and money! Don’t get me wrong, I have great insurance, but the gas, parking, medicines, medical bracelet, sleeves for my lymphedema, medical mani/pedis, special bras, no hair, hair appointments, healthier habits, organic, natural, wholistic remedies, you name it, I’ve spent it!

So Friday, was my one year follow up to radiation appointment. I have the pleasure of seeing this doctor only annually. The receptionist and nurse remembered me. It’s amazing how you impact others without knowing it. My positive attitude and smile despite my storm was memorable.

I’ve been told that I have an “interesting “way of looking at life. “I don’t know how you stay so calm…”, “You have the patience of Job…”, “You’re a better one than me…”, just a few phrases that have marked others’ understanding of me. The only way for me to explain it, is that I’ve been given what I can handle and I need to go and handle it!

Last summer this time I was receiving radiation treatments everyday during the summer and finishing my CANcer infusions. I was fatigued, in pain, weak and not enjoying my summer at all. I was being tested by this diagnosis; I couldn’t travel or even enjoy my pool or the outdoors! My body was on standby and my taste buds were periodically on leave. Instead of thinking about the upcoming school year (…teachers are always thinking about school and students and learning and teaching…📚📚📚), I was debating a major surgery that in the long run, could save my life. What a bummer summer! But, I was alive!

This summer, I am strong, can visit my pool and enjoy ALL of the outdoors! I can eat any and everything and I unapologetically do! This is my summer of strength, my mind, my body and my soul. I feel as though I’m in the next chapter of healing which is rebuilding and re-establishing my health. As a CANcer patient, I have realized I never want to have things back the way they were, I want things to be better. I want to have healthier habits, spend more time with family and friends and live every moment with purpose.

This summer I feel empowered and ready to take on any challenges that are forthcoming. I know what I’ve been through and I now know where I’m going!  I look forward to these appointments as I claim the goodness!

This summer is my Summer of Strength…

My CANcer Wisdom to You: Every season has a reason. Your summer is for movement after the rebirth of spring. Use this time to strengthen your mind. Be positive, smile, and live!

I wear purple today in honor of the Late Robert L. Johnson, my Granddaddy, he had Alzheimer’s Disease.  In June 1986, my family made a decision that would change our lives.  Little did we know it would be a change forever.  My granddaddy lived in Baltimore, Maryland, 11 hours away from where we live in Georgia.  He was a man of God, minister of a church, and worked hard in his community.  Even when his community began to change, and it was evident that there were others who struggled around him, he was always there to help.  Making the decision to move him to Georgia with us was not difficult for my parents, but it was very difficult for my Granddaddy as he felt his life was being controlled by something he was unaware of.

As we moved him to Georgia, there were so many challenges.  My parents had to convince my Granddaddy that leaving everything he knew, his church family, his home, his community, was the best thing for him.  At 83, my Granddaddy was still working, still driving, and still living alone.  Although, he was managing, his friends noticed that it would soon become unsafe and let my parents know his new reality.  His health deteriorated quickly and my family had to make a move.

My family endured some interesting events as they traveled with my Granddaddy and as he became a part of our household.  While driving from Maryland to Georgia, my parents made a stop at a rest area to give my Granddaddy a break from riding and to use the restrooms.  As they were taking this break, my Granddaddy forgot who he was traveling with and alerted the state patrol that he was being kidnapped and “these people” stole his money.  By the grace of God, the officer came to investigate and understood exactly what was going on;  he too was dealing with a parent with Alzheimer’s and he was able to calm my Granddaddy and get him back in the car.

Over the time he was with us, he forgot where he was and tried to go to work, he left the house with his briefcase and my parents had to get him back home, he baptized me, my sister and my friend in the bathtub (which I guess we needed!) and he started a fire in the garbage can because he was cold!  We were blessed that he never was hurt or hurt anyone.  Even though he eventually forgot who we were, he was thankful we took care of him, I know.  Alzheimer’s took his memory, his ability to take care of himself and his hope towards the end.  But Alzheimer’s Disease never took his faith.

On December 24th, my Granddaddy and I did what we always did at 4pm, watched The Oprah Winfrey Show.  I thought this was so funny that of all things, he made sure he watched Oprah!  This particular show had the entire Winan Family for a Christmas special.  My Granddaddy enjoyed the singing the most.  My mom was baking cookies, my sister was playing and my dad was preparing the fireplace, traditional Christmas Eve bustle.  At a point, my Granddaddy sat up in his chair and asked me to get him a glass of orange juice.  I thought this a weird request, as he never really asked for anything.  I went to get his juice and when I came back, he was quietly asleep in his chair, head hung over…maybe he was praying…when I called to him and tried to give him his juice, I knew why he sent me for orange juice.  I believe he needed a moment alone where he bowed his head and had a talk with God to let him know he was ready to come home.  To which God responded with open arms.

There are so many more stories I could tell and so many more memories to share.  My Granddaddy was a great man and taught me so much in the time he was with us.  I believe that he stays with me, and my spirituality and reliance on scripture during my battle with breast CANcer is my Granddaddy.  If he were here in the flesh, he would remind me that God has the final say and that I should be obedient to him.  He would also tell me I have an obligation to fulfill his purpose and help those who are not able.  I pray I am doing that and have accepted that God used CANcer to use me.

Visit alz.org for more information and ways you can help bring awareness to this disease.

Robert L. Johnsoon

Sunrise August 11, 1903 Sunset December 24, 1987