DELPHOS — Cancer survivors are known as models of triumphant determination. In a community with an abundance of such inspirational heroes, those who receive their uplifting message make appreciation an annual event.
Lima resident JoAnn DeHaven was the Delphos Relay for Life Committee’s guest speaker for the group’s annual Survivor Dinner held Tuesday evening. The 59-year-old mother of five has persevered through the disease on two occasions.
“In 1998, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, then again in 2004. So, I’m coming up on my 10th and 4th anniversaries,” she said.
DeHaven had never been sick in her life and had never had a mammogram despite having friends stricken with the disease.
“I was just 49 and thought I was invincible. I was in the shower one morning and felt a lump,” she explained. “I was shocked. In fact, I didn’t even tell my husband for about a day.
“I had a friend who worked at St. Rita’s and she helped me schedule a mammogram. I went in and the doctors diagnosed it as cancer.”
A friend who survived the disease the prior year was treated by a doctor at the Indiana University hospital in Indianapolis. DeHaven followed her friend’s recommendations and traveled across the state line for treatment.
“I went with a surgery that was out of the ordinary at the time. Most women go ahead and have a mastectomy but I opted to have body fat taken from my abdomen and transplanted to my breast. It was tough — I had never been through an 11-hour surgery before but it was successful,” she recalled.
DeHaven underwent chemotherapy treatments afterward and says her husband, Tim, was by her side through each phase of the ordeal.
After the dust had settled, she resumed her life as normal for six years. She visited her doctor annually and in 2004 was told a tumor lurked beneath her other breast.
“There are different breast cancers and different stages. This one was an earlier stage but was more aggressive. The first one was a later stage but less aggressive. So I wasn’t lucky on either count,” she said.
Fortunately, DeHaven didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy during her second fight and was treated locally at St. Rita’s Medical Center. As is true with many cancer survivors, they are not defined by what they go through but by their attitude.
“You go through the disbelief, the shock, anger and fear. Then, you have two options: you can continue with that and stop or you can go on to hope,” she said.
Patients find various things to pour themselves in to as coping tools. DeHaven focused on her diet as fuel for her determination. She was also driven by setting a goal — she wanted to see her children graduate from high school and college.
“I think it’s about attitude. You can give in or go down fighting. I ‘never say die’ and will do my best one way or another,” she said.
DeHaven has prepared herself for a third bout with cancer but whether it returns or not, she looks to medical research as the key to the disease’s defeat.
She also points to fundraising efforts in communities like Delphos that hold a Relay for Life each year.
“If they didn’t have good research, I wouldn’t be here. That’s why they have relays,” she added.