In honor of Jane Smith
Sixth grade teacher Jane Smith wanted nothing to come between her and her math and social studies students at Chaloner Middle School in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Not even a cancer diagnosis. “I didn’t miss a day, even after chemotherapy,” she said. “I did have to miss a few days for the internal radiation treatments, but I wanted to have as normal a life as I could.”
Now retired after 29 years in the classroom, she is undergoing treatment for a recurrence of her uterine cancer, this time in her lungs.
When she was first diagnosed in May 2008, she was shocked, “I had never been sick. I had accumulated a year of sick leave.” She had developed an infection that wasn’t cleared up by antibiotics, and an ultrasound led to a biopsy and a diagnosis of uterine cancer. She underwent a hysterectomy, rigorous chemo and radiation therapies. Scans in early 2009 showed no evidence of disease.
“On June 3, I was out on the playground with my students and fell, breaking my arm. The x-ray showed some spots on my lung. Since my next scan wasn’t due until August, I like to think that God pushed me down. Otherwise we wouldn’t have known about the cancer in my lungs for several months.”
She started in a clinical trial, but the drugs didn’t help, so she and her UNC physician, gynecologic oncologist Dr. Paola Gehrig, are trying a different regimen that is more effective.
Ms. Smith draws inspiration from her mother. “My mother had uterine and breast cancer and died at the age of 75, not from her cancer, but a heart attack. She survived two cancers, and so can I.”
She is passionate about the need for research. She cites the statistics as proof: uterine cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer in women, and each year 40,000 women are diagnosed with the disease. “This disease doesn’t get enough attention in the media and research is a pressing priority.”
She is also passionate about her care at UNC. “They’re like family. It’s a wonderful, caring place. You get a hug when you arrive and when you leave. With the other women in the infusion area, we’re like sisters.”
Typical of her determination to keep her life as normal as possible, she recalls a phone call from a UNC nurse while she and her husband, Wayne, were driving to the mountains in Virginia. “The nurse told me my white cell counts were quite low and that I needed to be very careful of infection and to stay out of crowds. I told her where we were, and she cautioned me to be careful and not eat apples. So I avoided fresh fruit, sat in tucked away corners of restaurants and even had one meal perched on the side of a mountain. We had a wonderful trip.” Her accommodation of both the medical counsel and the pleasure of the trip to the mountains is just Smith’s style.
Smith recently saw a grandchild’s graduation from kindergarten. “I want to see more graduations, “ she says. Jane and Wayne Smith have seven grandchildren. Their son, Brian, lives in Raleigh with his family; daughter Beth Bailey, lives in Durham with hers; and stepdaughter Parris Whitley, lives in Cooleemee, NC with her family.