Jessie’s Story of Hope
I had been working hard at my job and was saving up to buy a home when everything seemed to fall apart. I really enjoy working and being active. My daughters often tell me to just take a moment and sit down!
In June of 2024, I was outside washing my car and realized I was having a hard time swallowing. I took a drink of water to help relieve my swallowing, but instead, it completely closed my throat. I went into the house, but no one was there. I tried to spit in the sink, but nothing changed. After coughing, my throat opened up, and then I went to the ER. After some testing, I was told I had esophageal cancer.
I felt devastated at hearing this news. I had been working so hard to purchase my own home, but now all my savings were going to my cancer treatment. I went through radiation and chemo at the same time to fight this cancer. Radiation was every day for three months, and I had chemo treatments one time a week on Wednesdays.
I remember my uncle having esophageal cancer and passing away back in 1997. At the time, I never understood why all he could eat was ice cream. I now know why.
Because of chemo and radiation, there were days when I couldn’t breathe, walk, or talk. I wanted to give up. One day I saw an email come through inviting me to attend a Cancer Care Services spiritual care event. I had doubts about attending the event because I didn’t see how anyone could know what I was going through.
After speaking with Jamie [a Cancer Care social worker], I decided to attend my first event with my niece. This event was a big eye-opener for me. There was a lady who came up and talked to me the entire time. After speaking for many minutes, she told me why she was there and why her husband wasn’t. It was because he was going through the same cancer I had and wasn’t feeling good enough to attend that night. There was also another woman in the room who I overheard speaking, and she had a rough voice like I do. Without even speaking to her, I knew that she was going through the same cancer I had.
I attended a second Spiritual Care event with my daughter, Maria. She was thrilled to see me happy and connecting with others. She also brought her own passion to the event after recently having two young friends pass from their own cancer diagnoses. My daughter Maria is going to volunteer to help with these events. After attending the spiritual care events and connecting with 3-4 people with my same diagnosis, I went home knowing that someone else was going through it like me, and I was able to pray for them and hope that I see them again.
During this time, my truck broke down, and I was receiving transportation assistance from another organization, but their rides ran out. Jamie was able to help me pick up where they left off with Lyft rides. Thinking back, the chemo and radiation were making it where I could barely walk, even with my walker. Even if my truck had been working, I don’t think I could have driven physically. After getting my truck working and more able to drive, Cancer Care was able to assist me with gas cards to get to and from my appointments.
I believe if more people would attend these events and get involved, it would be helpful for them to break the cycle of loneliness and negative thoughts by being able to connect with others.
I’m not sure how I got on Jamie’s email list. It just popped up one day. But throughout my cancer journey, I feel things have fallen into place when needed. Cancer Care Services came to me at exactly the time I needed it.
