Mrs. Janice Norrell had no family history of breast cancer. She had no overt symptoms, and no palpable lump in her breast. When she went to the doctor for a routine check-up, cancer was the last thing that crossed her mind.

After noticing a few skin changes, however, the doctor became concerned. As a precautionary measure, she recommended Mrs. Norrell undergo a diagnostic mammogram.

“I hadn’t really had any symptoms to speak of—I didn’t feel bad, I didn’t have any pain, or anything like that,” Mrs. Norrell said. “But the thing is– and I know I sound like a nut when I say this– The day I left the doctors office, I knew I had cancer. The doctor didn’t say, ‘oh I think you have cancer.’ In fact, she was very skeptical about it. I literally felt like a voice spoke to me and said, ‘you do have cancer, you are going to be all right, but you have a lot to go through.’”

And just as Mrs. Norrell assumed, the diagnostic revealed a tumor smaller than two centimeters in her breast, which categorized under stage one cancer.

“For me, [finding out I had cancer] was honestly just a matter of going to the doctor,” Mrs. Norrell said. “I was very, very fortunate that I found out so soon.”

With this information, Mrs. Norrell scheduled immediate surgery. In the investigative surgical process, the doctors discovered that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, which are interconnected throughout the body via lymphatic vessels.

“When I found out that the cancer had gotten in my lymph nodes, the whole process became a little scary,” Mrs. Norrell said. “I realized the cancer could spread all over my body.”

To her favor, the cancer had not yet expanded to her arms, or even past her breast area.

“I still remember my doctor saying to me after I had all of the surgery, ‘you got what everyone prays for,’” Mrs. Norrell said. “My margins were completely clear, but because the cancer was in my lymph nodes, she said to me, ‘you still could have the lumpectomy, but I really want you to have a mastectomy to be safe.’”

Mrs. Norrell’s surgeon, Dr. Lynn Canavan has been a surgeon for more 15 years and is the head of breast surgery at the Baylor Medical Center.

“She’s extremely good at what she does, and I trusted her,” Mrs. Norrell said. “It’s hard to have faith in yourself if you don’t have a good doctor, so I didn’t hesitate to take her recommendation. I mean it’s not exactly fun to have your body maimed, but I wasn’t terrified.”

The mastectomy was a swift, successful process. Conversely, recovery was more complicated.

“I did really have a terrible [post-op] time in a lot of ways.” Mrs. Norrell said. “I was allergic to chemo, I was unable to finish it. I was sick 24/7. Now, I wasn’t throwing up, but it was almost worse that I wasn’t. I started chemo in January and was nauseated at all times of the day.”

However, for Mrs. Norrell, the nauseating side effects were bearable. The hair loss on the other hand, was not.

“If I had anything, it was some big ‘ol hair,” Mrs. Norrell said. “It was the worst thing of the whole thing for me, being bald, and my hair did fall out. I never really got completely bald like some do, but I might as well have been. It was just a bunch of fringe.”

Despite her hardships, Mrs. Norrell was able to sustain chemotherapy until the fifth treatment, where she broke out in severe hives. The hives spread to her GI Tract (stomach and intestine), where it then plagued her entire body.

“It was extremely painful- My own husband and children told me that they really thought I was going to pass away,” Mrs Norrell said. “I didn’t ever think ‘it’s ok if I die,’ I didn’t feel like that at all. But I thought, ‘you know what, if I die tomorrow, I’ve had a wonderful life compared to a lot of people.’ I mean, how few people can really say that? And it really does matter. I’ve got five wonderful grandchildren, and four great kids, and I’ve been married to the same man since I was 19. Regardless, I didn’t feel like I was ready die. I wanted to be alive, I wanted to be OK.”

The chemotherapy had proven destructive to her body.

“My white count was extremely low- like I was nearly dead,” Mrs. Norrell said. “I turned gray ‘cause my blood circulation wasn’t good, so I had several blood transfusions. And after I went through that, they told me I couldn’t finish chemo and I was like, ‘no kidding!’”

In order to continue the cancer treatment, the doctors instead decided to administer 35 rounds of radiation.

“I went through radiation and had no trouble at all like I did with chemo,” Mrs. Norrell said. “I have light skin, and what they essentially did through that process was sunburn your sunburn. It just flat hurt, but it wasn’t awful like the chemo was. All of my doctors told me ‘your skin is holding up so well, I’m amazed’ and I never suffered any terrible side effects besides the stinging.”

Monday through Friday, Mrs. Norrell underwent treatment. By the time school let out in early June, she had completed her scheduled radiation therapy.

“It took a little bit longer than they thought for me to finish radiation therapy,” Mrs. Norrell said. “As y’all were finishing school, I was finishing radiation. It was kind of ironic.”

Since last spring, Mrs. Norrell has endured several testing procedures to ensure the cancer is gone.

“I felt like I had really good treatment, and I have nothing to complain about.” Mrs. Norrell said. “I’ve had a PET scan, the latest and greatest, state-of-the-art testing techniques to make sure you don’t have cancer, a CAT scan, and MRIs, and they all showed that I’m cancer free. There’s always a possibility that something escaped and is lurking somewhere, but I’m not afraid, I’m just not. I don’t think ill get cancer again. I’ve done it once, though, and I could do it again.”

Only months after completing the grueling cancer treatments, Mrs. Norrell returned to teaching, just as the day she went in for a routine check-up.

“I’m so glad to be back at McKinney High School,” Mrs. Norrell said. “One of the things that dawned on me, my daughter said this to me, ‘Mother, it would do a world of good for those children to see that you’ve been though all of this and that you really are OK.”

By Quinn Murray

Photo by Erica Brown