Denton County Living Well Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 40

The Serendipitous
Blessings of Cancer
By Jessica Scott Turner as told to Tina Withrow

Group and Dr. Willhelm Lubbe with
North Point Cancer Center in Dallas
and Verity Radiation in Plano.

Manager at Verity
Radiation, Regina
Hargrove, along
with cancer survivor
Jessica Scott Turner
and independent
Cancer Navigator
Tina Withrow.

I

f a cancer survivor had told me
how “blessed” they were in spite
of having cancer when I received
my cancer diagnosis, I might have
rolled my eyes and loudly explained to
them that my stress scale was already off
the charts. I just flat didn’t need, want,
or have time for cancer!
Having grown up in Louisiana most of
my life, I married my high school sweetheart Ernie, and we settled in to raise
our five children who ranged from 5
months to 16 years. Ernie’s job brought
us to Texas, and we felt a sense of belonging in both the Sachse/ Wylie community and our new church family.
I felt a lump under my arm one day
and went to my OB/GYN who thought
it might be an infection. My intuition
had already told me it was cancer.
Three weeks later they told me what I
already knew.
One of the hardest parts for me, besides telling my family about my cancer, was being told that once chemotherapy started, I could no longer
breast-feed my 5-month-old daughter.
My family needed me and I needed
my family in Louisiana! At times, sleep
brought the only comfort I could find.

How was I going to make it happen?
I wanted to get back to the life Ernie
and I had planned! Just thinking about
my family’s schedule could make my
eyes cross, let alone adding chemo,
surgery, and radiation on top of it.
The blessings came in all shapes and
sizes. Our church family surrounded us
and was a constant reminder of what
a faith community is all about. Friends,
family, neighbors, and strangers loved
us through it. They loved our children,
cooked for us, laughed wi