RED DEER COUNTY – For more than four years Ella Johnson has persevered.
She has bravely beat back breast cancer and in March was one step away from freedom.
“I feel like I am a survivor. This is kind of my silver lining to get my body back,” said the 55-year-old Johnson, who had a double mastectomy on Aug. 30, 2016 after being diagnosed the previous June with Grade 3 aggressive breast cancer.
Johnson was set for final surgery on March 23 at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. She called to confirm on March 17. She was told it was all good but then three hours later she received a call from the hospital.
Her surgery was cancelled.
“It was just a lot to get my head around as I was so ready,” she said. “It was rather disappointing and I don’t when things will open up again.
"I guess I really geared up and got on a health kick and took the month of February to be in Mexico and did lots of walking, eating healthy and really getting my head around this surgery,” added Johnson, who resides in Red Deer County.
“I was really putting it to completion to help me move on to the next chapter.”
The villain for her disappointment was COVID-19, which she thoroughly understands. There is a public health crisis, and she knows decisions are made today for the greater good of everyone to ensure friends, family members, neighbours and co-workers are safe from COVID-19.
“If we all do our part this will pass a lot quicker,” she said, noting the welfare of her elderly mother, who is healthy, is paramount. “Yes, let’s keep everybody healthy and stay calm. If everybody can do the social distancing and use some common sense, it would be quicker to move forward and reopen our province and country.”
Johnson’s final step towards full recovery was to be a 14-hour long tissue flap surgery. It’s a technique in plastic and reconstructive surgery to rebuild the shape of a breast by using skin, fat, and muscle from another part of the body. She said she could have opted to have implants instead but was probably not qualified for that due to the amount of radiation she had during her treatment.
Johnson also noted the surgery was to be performed by Dr. David McDonald, a successful and highly regarded Red Deer plastic and cosmetic surgeon.
“I know of two people who have had it with him, so it will be done right in Red Deer,” said Johnson.
In the meantime, Johnson remains grateful for the success of her recovery since the day almost four years ago she was initially diagnosed. She does concede, however, there have been struggles with anxiety.
“It is a lot to go through. All of a sudden I have learned what anxiety is,” she said. “I haven’t done too much treatment other than trying to find my calm inside me.
“I feel grateful. I feel good,” she added. “It certainly makes a person feel a lot more grateful for the day, other than a little of that anxiety going on where it’s a full-time job just to stay calm inside.”
In the meantime, Johnson will wait for the call to finalize her recovery. But she will also go on living life to the fullest.
She has her mind set to pursue a photography project she had scheduled in hopes of one day doing a book but had cancelled prior to the flap surgery.
“Never be ashamed of the scars. I have two scars across my chest where my breasts were removed,” said Johnson. “I am never ashamed of my scars as they are a reminder that I am stronger than the cancer that tried to kill me.”
