and the general growth of her cancer— using metal utensils and cups and steering clear of raw vegetables to avoid getting sick. She went on to have radiation therapy the following year, also taking an estrogen blocker medication from 2010 to 2021. In 2012, she was informed that she was cancer free— that was until 2023.
“ They don’ t want you on [ the estrogen blocker ] all your life, so they took me off of it, and in less than two years, the cancer came back,” she said.“ When [ my doctor ] came in and said that it was definitely cancer, I looked him right in the eyes and said,‘ I’ m going to beat this puppy.’ I’ ve always tried to have an upbeat feeling about it, because I think that if you let yourself get down, your whole body quits trying to help. If you keep yourself upbeat, and always look at tomorrow being a brighter day, I think that mentally and physically puts you in a much better place.”
That strong mentality is a trait that was passed down to her daughter.
“ I was scared, but we had a lot of prayer so you can’ t let fear overtake you,” Molly said of learning her mother’ s diagnosis.“ Her oncologist, Dr. [ Edward ] Romand, said,’ You know, 50 % of this is a mental fight.’ So, you have to stay strong about it.”
In 2023, Judy had skin cancer surgery. She would then go on to have her yearly scan in 2024, which came back as good, but her regular follow up three months later would reveal that she had metastatic breast cancer.
“ We were blindsided because I had just had a complete body scan, and it didn’ t show anything,” Judy said.“ That was the biggest shock— the speed of it.”
“ She saw her family
Judy underwent surgery in 2023 to remove skin cancer. | PHOTO COURTESY OF MOLLY BARNETT
physician in June of 2024 and mentioned that her hip was hurting and, with her age, was concerned about maybe a hip fracture because those happen easily and she’ s had some treatments,” said Molly.“ She has really bad arthritis, then she did an x-ray and the x-ray showed a spot, so then we reached out to her care team at UK and they said,‘ Lets get you in as soon as possible.’ That was a Thursday, then Monday she went in and they came back and said it was cancer in the hip and spine.”
Judy had hip replacement as a result and began a monthly infusion called Zometa to help strengthen the bone.
“ It’ s like the arthritis and cancer just worked together,” she said.“ The cancer has stopped now, but the arthritis is still active. There is a shot they can give to help the arthritis, but I do not take it because the cancer.”
Judy and Molly suspect the arthritis is advanced due to previous chemo and radiation therapy.
The pair shared that it takes a team of professionals to keep Judy afloat. That team now includes Oncologist Mara Chambers and Physician Assistant Caitlyn Price at UK’ s Markey Cancer Center, Family Physician Megan Reynolds at CommonSpirit-Saint Joseph Hospital, and UK’ s Kristen Stakelin for diabetes management and Beth Butcher for lymphedema care.
For lymphedema treatment, Judy must use a machine called Flexitouch Plus that moves her body’ s fluid to different lymph areas to avoid excessive buildup.
“ It starts massaging, and when it starts, it wakes up all your lymph nodes first,” she said.“ When mine starts completely, it starts in the groin area. It’ ll do its thing, and then it’ ll move up just a little bit and goes up the back and around the sides, and then it’ ll go up just a little bit farther. When it does this, each time it cycles, it’ ll go back and bring the bottom one up with it, too.
So when it gets all the way up here, then it’ ll start on the ends of my fingers, and it will do up my fingers and arms … It’ s fascinating how it works,” Judy added.
Now, Judy has a nuclear body scan and CT scan with contrast every three months, as well as Zometa every three months. Due to her high estrogen, she is on a Mediterranean diet. She also tries to stay physically and mentally active through riding her stationary bike, reading, watching C-SPAN each morning, and having discussions of current events at the dinner table.
“ It’ s a mindset,” she said.“ You don’ t let yourself think of,‘ Is this going to happen to me? Is that going to happen to me?’ You look at the upside.”
In her free time, Judy enjoys making loaves, cakes, jellies and jams to sell at the London-Laurel County Farmers Market; exploring nature; visiting independent restaurants; treating herself to the portobello mushroom burger at Berea’ s PapaLeno’ s; and teaching at Bible school. Judy’ s advice to anyone else going through a similar experience as her is simple:“ Don’ t panic, try to think real little, do a lot of praying, and always remember tomorrow can be a brighter day.”
GOOD HEALTH 2026 l 11