By: By Ashley Pauley

HUNTSVILLE — ITZ sits down with a local Breast Cancer Survivor.
Interviewer: Ashley Pauley

    Thank you for taking the time to do this interview and discuss your experience with breast cancer. Can you give us a brief biography of yourself?
    I am Janet King; I am 59 years old.  And when I was 42, I developed breast cancer. I found it myself through self examination and I went to the doctor and they did a lumpectomy. From there they found out it was indeed cancer. And from there I went to John Sealy Hospital in Galveston and they did a modified mastectomy. They got all the cancer and it will be 15 years November the 21st that I will be cancer free. Most important thing that I could tell anyone is to pay attention to your body. You will be the first one to notice it before any doctor will, because they will see what is unusual. Another thing about me is that I have three children and seven grandchildren ages from 3 to almost 16! Two of those are almost 16 so, (I have) a very busy life.
What age do you suggest that women start self-checking?
    That depends if they have family history. They always say about 10 years prior to the diagnosis. I was 42 so at 32 my daughters need to start checking. It’s your body; we have to take charge of our own health.

How did your family cope?
    It was really hard going through the procedure, because of the actual surgery. I opted not to have anything foreign inside my body. I didn’t want to have to go through any more surgeries and I wanted to be sure that my body didn’t reject something foreign. So I opted to have what’s called a tram flap, where they can take apart, or portion, of your body either from your abdomen or shoulder blade, etc. to form a new breast. And so that is what I chose. I chose the tram flap that was in the abdomen and they had to take tissue, blood vessels, etc. and then get it to connect and make sure it has and have blood flowing through it. Well, they didn’t expect it to take as long as it did. So I had a waiting room full of family. I don’t know how many probably 15 or so (family members), so the surgery ended up taking 17 and a half hours, because the first tram flap did not take. And so it was very nerve racking because, on the day shift they (family members) got all the updates, but as the shift changed and became the night shift they were not getting any information. So they were about to lose it on that account.

Would you say they were fearful?
    Well yeah, anytime you get a diagnosis like that and you don’t know how it is going to turn out it is fearful. My mother never left my side. She slept in a chair in my room the whole time I was in there for two weeks (after the surgery).

Seeing how you are now fighting breast cancer, and have been cleared of the cancer do you stay active in the breast cancer community, and if so how?
    Oh, yes, I certainly do.  Seven years ago Jennifer Graves was a co-chair for the Walker County Relay For Life and she invited me to Relay for Life as a survivor. I had up until that point thought of myself as a victim. I was a victim of cancer. I never thought of myself as a survivor. And that different word just totally changes your whole outlook on how you view it. It doesn’t have me; I’m a survivor and I made it. So from that point, I walked in the relay, went to the banquets for the survivors for two years, then they asked me to be the teams chair, which is for Relay for Life, which is an armof the American Cancer Society. So I became the teams chair and then the accounting chair and then the co-chair and then this will be the second year to be the chair. The event chair. I am very active, We’ve got a great group on the committee.  Everybody has their own story as to why they are doing it. Either they have been touched by themselves having cancer or their family or their friends. It is a passion why you do this. I believe in paying it forward. God gave me many years to enjoy. Not only to the two grandbabies that I had at the time but five more. And so I will do anything I can to prevent anyone else from having to go through this.

What advice do you have for both men and women when it comes finding out someone they know have breast cancer or they themselves have breast cancer?
    Just be there for them. There are no words that you can say that is going to take it away. Just sometimes to just actually be there, you don’t even have to say a word, just wrapping your arms around them sometimes just being their support group. Always stay positive because by the way a positive attitude and belief in God is the best tool that you will ever have. When you are faced with something life threatening; any type of cancer or any other life threatening thing.

What kind of technological advances do you see in the future that can help better detect breast cancer?
    There are doing more and more they are doing the digital and the ultrasounds. These are excellent for younger women and girls.  The new drugs that help with it, the radiation, just all the education that we can get.

What were the questions that went through your mind when you heard your diagnosis?
    The first one I guess is whether you are going to live or die. I never thought, why me? I mean why not me? What makes me any more special? Why not me, as opposed to someone else? I just thought, OK what do we have to do? I can remember telling them, let’s just do a mastectomy. I don’t want to go here again. I just want to be sure that you get it all. Because there was a possibility that, you know, they did a lumpectomy but they didn’t check any of the lymph nodes. So they were already going to have to do more surgery to check to see if it had gone past the breasts into the lymph nodes. And I did not want to have to go on to another surgery. So I just said take it. It’s just getting through details. What do I have to do? Lets just get this done and behind us.

Are you scared now about the cancer coming back?
    “Scared” isn’t the word I would use. There’s always that concern, and I was told that there was a 75 percent chance that the type of cancer I had would mirror on the other side on the other breast. In the beginning, I guess you focus on that a little bit more. Now it has been almost 15 years. I don’t focus on it anymore, but if you feel something out of the ordinary that’s usually your first thought. What if?

What were your feelings when you were done with your treatment and you were cancer free?
    There is no feeling like it. Not as spectacular as having a grandbaby but right up there. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Any final thoughts or words to people reading this article?
    Yes. Don’t be afraid to get checked. Check yourself. Do it about the same time every month. But only do it once a month so you will pick up the differences. If you do it more frequently, then it kind of clouds it to whether it is different or not. Go get your mammogram, check with your doctor to see when they would suggest when is the right time for you. It’s not that uncomfortable and only lasts a couple of minutes and you are through with it for a whole year. It is vital that you take charge of your health. You know your body. Check it out if you find something that doesn’t feel right.