Cutting toxic relationships out of one’s life, focusing on self-care and healthy lifestyle changes, as well as seeking support from other cancer survivors are crucial for a successful recovery.
But the key, says Janis Simmons, a Sundre resident who was diagnosed on March 17, 2010 with breast cancer after inadvertently discovering a lump, is early detection.
At the time living in Calgary working in the bakery of a grocery store, Simmons did not waste time scheduling an appointment to see a doctor.
Before very long, she went in for an ultrasound, followed later that same day by a mammogram and then a biopsy, all one after the other, she said, adding such tests are typically spread out over a longer time span.
“I was in the office for hours,” she said. “To me, that was a red flag. They wouldn’t do that unless it was serious. I knew then that it wasn’t good news.”
Doctors determined Simmons had triple-negative breast cancer, a form that grows fast, she said. From the first time she met with a specialist to just before treatment started, the tumour, which was initially fairly small, had tripled in size, she said.
Following a regimen of eight rounds of chemotherapy at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre to get the growth under control and even reduce its size, Simmons then underwent a double mastectomy.
Leading up to the treatment, she had been growing out her hair with the intent of donating it for cancer patients, but had not planned on outright shaving her locks completely.
However, hair cannot be donated after treatment has already started, and since Simmons had no desire to deal with messy clumps of hair upon waking up in the morning, she asked a friend to just shave it off and donate it.
“I figured out of this whole situation, this is the one thing I could control, it was my choice. So I decided to shave my head in preparation for losing my hair anyway.”
Diagnosis to treatment all occurred over a matter of months in 2010. Although it was technically fairly fast at the time, it actually felt like an eternity, she said, adding medicine has continued to advance in such a short while.
“It changes constantly. What wasn’t available to me, was available to new friends I made a year and half after my diagnosis.”
Although the health-care system is not perfect, it can and does work in many cases, she said.
But compared with the difficult task of piecing her life back together, she said the treatment was relatively easy.
“The aftermath of treatment, for me, was the hardest part.”
Removing bad relationships from one’s life, eating healthier and exercising more as well as finding a peaceful place to call home might sound simple, “but it is a lot of work,” she said.
“Recovering from anything is a lot of work, but it is so important to take care of yourself and get that balance and peace of mind.”
Looking back at how drastically her life changed after being diagnosed almost 10 years ago, Simmons said, “I celebrate March 17 as my rebirth day. The reason I do that is once you are given that cancer diagnosis, your life as you know it no longer exists. There’s life then on. Your whole world is turned upside down.”
“A new life begins once you get that diagnosis.”
She lost many friends along the way, most of whom did not know how to handle the difficult situation. But she also made new friends who were supportive and helpful in plotting out a new course in life, she said.
Wellspring in Calgary offered a crucial support network where other cancer survivors who understood what she was going through provided important perspective, she said.
“It was the first time someone actually understood what it was that I was going through.”
That was important because up to that point she had felt alone, she said, adding family and friends are amazing but cannot relate.
“Reaching out for emotional support is the most important thing,” she said, recalling the Wellspring motto, “Nobody has to face cancer alone.”
She was initially upset with her surgeon for some time due to issues dealing with pain after the surgery, but other survivors gave Simmons another way to look at the situation and reminded her that the doctor did precisely what he had to do.
“He did his job and he did it well,” she said.
“I’m still here!”
To pay it forward, Simmons said she has endeavoured to help raise funds for Wellspring to ensure the organization and its “many amazing programs” are still around to help others in the future.
Since her condition was not hereditary, she said developing cancer also acted as a kind of lightning bolt awakening. Simmons said she realized that whatever she was doing in life which led to her becoming sick, needed to change.
That prompted serious lifestyle changes, including her outlook and way of thinking, she said.
“I wasn’t taking proper care of myself,” she said, adding she was no longer eating as healthily or exercising as much as she once had.
Additionally, working two jobs at the time and trying to renovate a house with her then-boyfriend pushed stress levels beyond their limits, she said, adding she feared suffering from a heart attack before long.
“Cancer makes or breaks a relationship,” she said, adding they eventually broke up.
The one place she did find solace from stress was at the bakery, and she found herself escaping from the stress of treatment and life by going to work as a break from the reality she was faced with.
“I didn’t have the best coping mechanisms then. I wouldn’t recommend working through chemo,” she said, adding she has since learned to reprioritize taking better care of herself.
That involved moving away from the city to slow down. As much as she loves Calgary, where many friends who have become as close as family remain, Simmons came up with a list of services and amenities — such as a hospital and grocery store — that she wanted in a small town.
Sundre was the first that came up during her search, and after visiting the community she decided this was where she wanted to live, and relocated last year.
“Sundre crossed everything off of my list,” she said, adding her past experience working in a bakery helped transition to getting a job at the local IGA.
With the job offer and finding a new home with a mortgage approved all within the span of basically one day, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to be falling into place like fate, she said.
“If things come together easily, then it’s meant to be,” she said, expressing no regrets on deciding to settle in Sundre.
“It’s peaceful out here, and lovely — plus the people are awesome,” she said, adding, “it doesn’t take over an hour to get from one end of town to the other.”
The end result is having more time to focus on self-care, she said.
Although reluctant to use the words “remission” or “cancer-free,” Simmons said she has been on the road to recovery since 2010, which remains an ongoing daily effort.
Throughout the interview, she candidly and without hesitation recollected her experiences and said that being diagnosed with cancer is not an easy thing for anyone to go through, and can often lead to despair.
“So if I can help just one person, even to just get an exam and get checked out,” sharing such a personal story is worthwhile, she said, expressing confidence that if she was able to get through the ordeal, others can as well.
