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This is Brave

This is Brave: “I’ll Beat This Again”

By: Julie Weber Smith

So many awesome things have happened since I told my story!

At the end of June 2019, I started working part-time at Warren Chiropractic Center. I work at the front desk and love seeing the improvements of the patients as they get their adjustments. The first day I worked there, I was driving into work and just started crying. I didn’t know if I would ever be working again! As much as we get upset with our jobs for so many reasons, I have thanked God for this job and the owners of this place for giving me a chance. Being employed is just another thing we can take for granted in our lives.

On October 28th, I went in to see my Oncologist to get results from a recent scan. They said a word I wasn’t sure I would ever hear…REMISSION!!! I will never forget the look that my husband and I gave each other. LOL! It was complete shock and happiness. I do need to continue taking target medicine Mekinist and Tafinlar that are designed to shrink and kill cancer cells until my next scan in April. But for now, I’m in remission!!! I get my skin checked every six months by my dermatologist and the most recent check showed that everything is fine. Nothing needed to be removed. Yay!

My energy and strength are getting better and I have been advocating for those fighting cancer. I am highly involved with the American Cancer Society Relay For Life in my community. I mentor and recruit teams as a team coach on our ELT Committee (Event Leadership Team). In the nine years I’ve been working with Relay for Life, I have raised thousands of dollars for cancer research and treatments, rides for patients, Hope Lodges (places to stay for cancer patients and their families while getting their treatments), and have been working on the 24/7 support call line. What I enjoy most is helping these people and their loved ones fight this cancer. Letting them know there is help, and that they are not alone makes such a difference in their battle.

Just recently, an American Cancer Society employee nominated me to be honored at a Coaches vs Cancer event at the University of Notre Dame Men’s basketball game. Nick Djojo, John Mooney and TJ Gibbs surprised me at my work with VIP tickets to the game, along with a few other gifts. I went to the game thinking there would be other cancer survivors walking out with me to the middle of the court and it was just me! They honored me for my work with ACS and in the community. I couldn’t believe it! I received a signed basketball from all of the players and courtside seats. It was so cool and very humbling.

Since working with Coolibar to tell my story, I’ve been able to help even more people going through the same fight as me. I have been sharing what this amazing company and their clothing is doing for everyone in protecting us from the sun, and that they are raising money to make sure that there are treatments and research for Melanoma. I’m grateful to be partnering with them.

I’ve been sharing my story with others since I was first diagnosed with Melanoma in 2013. I want to give some hope to as many people and their families as I can.

March 20, 2020: Taken from a live video feed to friends and family…

I’ve got some news to tell you. I’ve been having some pain on the right side where the cancer was, and I went in and told Dr. Ansari. I talked to Dr. Ansari. I had a CT Scan and I am no longer in remission. I found out yesterday that I have two masses. The mass on the right side is 10.1cm x 6cm. the one on the left is 4.8cm x 4.2cm. Both have fluid in them.

The plan right now is that on Tuesday I’ll go in for a biopsy and they will take the fluid out of the tumors and hopefully, that will relieve some of the pain that I’m having right now. Then on Thursday, I am going to Indianapolis to talk with a surgeon to see if they can operate. If operable, that will be awesome! I go for an MRI on April 2nd and then April 3rd I meet with Dr. Ansari again and we’ll discuss what needs to happen. The treatment we’ve been talking about is immunotherapy again, continuing the target medicine I’m on now, and possibly radiation. It could be all three, or a combination. We’ll see what happens. I’ll know more after April 3rd. Things can change between now and then as we all know. Things happen every day, every hour.

I just want to let you all know that I’m praying for every single one of you. With the coronavirus, we’re all in this together and we’re all effected one way or another. I’ve been praying for you and your families. That’s it.

I don’t feel as stressed as I did the very first time. I feel kind of at ease. I’m still kind of numb to everything. But it will be okay. It will be alright. I’ll beat this again. The cancer bug says it wants to attack me again and I’m telling it, “Not today! You messed with the wrong gal!” We’ll beat this again and do what we can. We’ll get this all taken care of and everything is going to be okay. They say third time is a charm and I’m praying it is.

You know, how I look at it is this…I’m going to be free from this one way or another. I’ve said it before, it’s going to be here on Earth or in the hereafter, and when you think about it either one is not a bad thing. I’m scared and I’m upset. I’m angry because I was doing so good. But I kinda knew. I was doing so good and thought, “I want to keep going! I’m doing great!” so I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to be the one calling my doctor all the time because of this or that and have it turn out to be nothing. Now it’s worse.

In the same token, I can’t beat myself up for this either. I will just go with what is going on right now. And right now, I’m going to beat this and kick it! Even if I might have to kick a little harder this time.

Anyhow, I hope you all are doing well! I love you all! Keep safe with your family and friends and love on your family! Just let them know that they are loved. I love you guys.

To read Julie’s story from last year’s campaign, visit HERE.

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Skin Diaries

Julie Smith: “I may have Stage IV Melanoma, but it doesn’t have me.”

I was first diagnosed with melanoma on April 11th, 2013. I had a mole on my right shoulder blade that itched and would bleed. My family physician removed the mole, then called to let me know it was melanoma. A surgeon removed the rest of it and I was labeled “cancer-free”. At the time, I was grateful that I didn’t need to remove any lymph nodes or get a CT scan, I simply needed to visit my dermatologist every six months. I felt relief and followed the doctor’s recommendation.  

Then, in December 2017, I was experiencing pain around my stomach and had a hard time breathing. I thought I had pulled a muscle in my back. I visited a chiropractor, but I was still in pain. In March 2018, I contacted my family physician who checked me out and requested a CT Scan. He was initially checking to see if I had a blood clot in my lung, but instead, the results showed a 15cm mass on my right adrenal gland. It was pushing up against my lungs and making it hard for me to breathe.

At this point, my husband and I paused, looked back to my experience in 2013 and completely reconsidered my cancer-free diagnosis. Five years later, after meeting additional oncologists and medical professionals, we knew more and questioned everything that had happened in 2013. Had we been given the opportunity to go back to 2013, we would have taken every additional precautionary test or scan to make sure that the cancer-free diagnosis was accurate. While we had enjoyed five years with a false sense of safety, my cancer had metastasized.

That April, an oncologist biopsied the growth to see what it was and what we’d need to do next. Before the biopsy even happened, I knew I had cancer.  My faith in God has always been very important to me and I’d had a vision where God told me what my diagnosis would be and that I was going to share my story. I could see myself sitting in a room getting chemotherapy while sharing stories with other patients. God was preparing me for my upcoming journey.

I visited my neighbor down the street who was a pastor and asked him to pray with me. He asked me, “If this is cancer, what is your prayer?” I told him that I wanted to pray for the strength and the ability to help others with my story, and vice versa. I wanted to be able to make sure all of us are never alone while we go through this.

On April 9th, my husband and I saw my Oncologist and he gave us the news. He told us that I had Stage IV Melanoma that had metastasized and landed on my right adrenal gland, but it was curable and treatable. Just over a week later, I had surgery to remove the mass. I was cut from the bottom of my sternum to just past my belly button. They didn’t get all the cancer out, so I started immunotherapy and Opdivo and Yervoy at the beginning of May. I ended up in the hospital from mid-July to the beginning of August because the side effects made me severely sick. But, a PET Scan on August 6th showed that the mass that started at 15cm had been reduced by almost 6cm! We were making progress. The side effects continued to the point where I ended up having a hysterectomy in September.

A PET Scan in November showed that the mass, which had reached 6.2cm had stopped shrinking. They put me on oral target medicines called Mekinist and Tafinlar that I take daily. I’m truly blessed to be able to take this as it only works on someone with the BRAF gene. If I didn’t have that gene, I would not be sharing my story right now. By February 2019 the mass had shrunk to 4.5cm and I was officially in “partial remission”. My scan in May 2019 showed a reduction to 2.2 cm. By August of this same year, I received news that it had reduced another 24%! 

Already this year, I have been stronger and doing a lot more. I had previously lost my job because of the cancer, but I’m happy to report that I was able to go back to work in July 2019. I am working part-time and getting stronger day by day.

I have been asked numerous times what keeps me going and how I keep a smile on my face. The answer to that question is this…

Faith. Family. Friends.

We are all put on this earth for a purpose. My story helped me do something dear to my heart… glorify God by helping others along their journey. Without the support of my family and friends and knowing that God is with me always, I don’t know where I would be right now. There have been times when I’ve been so depressed that I’ve told God he could take me anytime. I didn’t want to go through anymore. But He has bigger and brighter plans for me. He’s not done with me and I’m not done fighting.

Every day, I’m amazed at how far I have come. Today, I am working, able to get outside and enjoy some of the many wonderful things God has created and enjoying time with family and friends, which absolutely means the most to me.

I may have stage IV melanoma, but it doesn’t have me.

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