Susan G. Komen Survivor Story - Betty Jeter, Sarah Jenkins

Susan G. Komen Tri-Cities Race For The Cure
Survivor Story – Betty Jeter and Sarah Jenkins
By Hank Brown

On Sunday, October 25th in Kingsport, TN Betty Jeter will put on her pink survivor shirt and walk proudly in the Susan G. Komen Tri-Cities Race For The Cure. She’s not ashamed to let people know she is a 14-year survivor of breast cancer, but that was not always the case.

“When I had the surgery, I didn’t want people to know I had cancer,” said Betty. “I didn’t want the attention. I remember when we first did the survivor celebration a few years ago, Sarah (her daughter Sarah Jenkins) wanted me to go. It was hard for me to put the survivor shirt on.”

“Women today are more in tune with their bodies,” continued Betty, who spends her days now keeping up with her two grandchildren. “I see articles about women going to the beach and bearing their chest. Oh my gosh, I would love to do that. It would be so liberating, but the way I was raised, we just didn’t do that. We want to keep it quiet.”

Sarah, a 33-year old clinical trials study coordinator at Johnson City Medical Center, agreed with her mother. “A lot of women won’t go to the survivor celebration. There’s a generation where it’s a private thing. They just don’t want people to know.”

Sarah, a self-proclaimed “volunteer queen,” is now the Assistant Race Chair and Director of Race Operations for the Tri-Cities Race For The Cure. She got her start as a Komen volunteer when she was just a freshman at the University of Tennessee.

“When I was pledging sororities I chose Zeta Tau Alpha because their philanthropy is the Susan G. Komen Race in Knoxville,” said Sarah. “At that time, I did it for my grandmother who got breast cancer a couple of years before Mom did.”

“I’m very proud of her,” Betty said looking over at Sarah. “She does this for my mom and for me. She puts in a lot of time as do all the volunteers. I’m always amazed when I show up at the race all the men there wearing pink shirts.”

Betty is a big proponent of self-examination. She had been having trouble with “bumps and lumps” since she was 21 years old, and went to the doctor every few months for regular checkups, sometimes removing suspicious areas. In July, 1995, at age 49, she found another small lump and immediately went for an exam. The doctor found nothing, and told her she should be fine. Betty asked him if he was sure, and he knew she had found something he hadn’t. So, he requested a mammogram and biopsy just to be safe.

“The lump was a little higher and deeper than normal,” said Betty. “That’s why it was hard to detect. When it came back as cancer, I cried uncontrollably in the doctor’s office. They sent me straight to the hospital for pre-op, and I cried there too.”

Sarah was home from school on summer break when her mom got the news, so along with her sister, her aunts and her uncle, they all pitched in to help.

“They took good care of me,” Betty said. “They cooked, they cleaned. They were all very supportive. But I was glad when school started back. They kind of hovered over me,” she said with a laugh.

“We learned it from you!” Sarah countered, smiling.

Betty and Sarah both agreed that “Aunt Lou” (Betty’s sister) stood out among the support crew. “She was right there with me the entire time,” said Betty. “I remember when they took the bandages off after the surgery, I cried and she cried with me. But you know, that was a good thing. She didn’t tell me, ‘oh, you’re just fine.’ I needed someone to cry with me.”

“When it was time for me to leave the hospital, I was afraid. I knew when I walked out of the hospital I was walking out a different woman than when I walked in. But it’s the first step to being a survivor.”

“It’s like putting on that pink survivor shirt for the first time. When I wear that shirt I’m saying I’m here and I’m a survivor.”

Susan G. Komen Survivor Story - Angie Gilmer

Susan G. Komen Tri-Cities Race For The Cure
Survivor Story – Angie Gilmer
By Hank Brown

Angie Gilmer says it takes a small army to get each patient through breast cancer. She remembers when she was first diagnosed with the disease the tremendous outpouring of support, not only from friends, but also from strangers.

“This disease doesn’t just affect the patient,” said Angie. “It’s the entire family, and that includes relatives and friends. Cancer patients have one job, and that’s to get better. We do that much easier when we focus on that. All our other needs were met by other people. They took my children where they needed to be. They fed us. The meals that came. It was truly unbelievable.”

On Sunday, October 25th an army of thousands will descend upon Memorial Park in Kingsport, TN for the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure. Nearly five years after being diagnosed with cancer, Angie Gilmer will walk the 5 kilometer course, and in so doing, take another step on her journey to fight this disease.

“Komen is the organization who unites us,” said this youth ministry director and mother of three. “We have strength in numbers. Together we will find a cure. My story is a story of hope and I hope it encourages others to fight the battle.”

She admits that her battle did not really start until a friend who was going through chemotherapy herself, told her to wake up and realize she had cancer.

“She said I can either crawl in a ditch and throw water balloons at it, or I can come at it with everything I had. That’s when I understood. That’s when I put on my battle armor and began my fight.”

Angie’s message is a message of self-examination and early detection. Since she was diagnosed, she has lost friends to the disease, and she’s had others who were treated and survived with only minimally invasive surgery. The difference, she preaches, is early detection.

“Some people are afraid of finding out. You cannot wait. You cannot give cancer time.”

In her case, cancer had more time than it should have. She initially became concerned when she discovered a small lump “about the size of a kernel of popcorn” under her arm on her rib cage. The doctors dismissed it because of the location and because of her age. She continued to check it, and over the next few months, it became sore, and continued to grow. 11 months later, it had grown to the size of an almond and was extremely painful.

She went back to the doctor and was diagnosed, just one day prior to her 39th birthday, with ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer - so named because it can hide in the milk ducts of the breast. Because of the length of time to make the diagnosis, she had to go through two rounds of chemotherapy before surgery. She decided to have a bi-lateral mastectomy… a very difficult decision she admits, but one she felt she needed to do. She reasoned if it could hide in one breast, it could hide in another.

“Self-examination is the key,” Angie emphasized. “Women need to know what a change in their breast feels like. I remember the key chains that were passed out at the race last year which showed tumor sizes. Most tumors are about the size of a half dollar before they are detected, so it can be a very large tumor before you feel it in the breast tissue.”

Despite her difficult journey, Angie remains upbeat and determined to spread her message. Cancer is not a journey she would wish on anyone, but for the things she’s learned and the truth she understands today, she says she would not trade her journey.

“You don’t choose to get cancer, but you do choose how you respond. Cancer is a disease that takes. It will rob you of everything that you will give it. Do NOT let it take anymore than it must have. I will not let it rob me of my spirit.”

“You can get bitter or get better. I choose to get better.”

Susan G. Komen Survivor Story - Gretchen George

Susan G. Komen Tri-Cities Race For The Cure
Survivor Story – Gretchen George
By Hank Brown


Excuse Gretchen George if she has a few more butterflies than normal when she steps to the line for the Susan G. Komen Tri-Cities Race For The Cure on October 25th in Kingsport. It’s certainly not because she is running a 5K race. For someone who runs marathons, completing the 5K distance is not a big deal. The “big deal” is what this race stands for - finding a cure for breast cancer, promoting early detection, and celebrating life.

“Oh yeah, this race means a lot to me,” said Gretchen. “So many people were there for me when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, so now I want to be there for others.”

At just 33 years old, this pretty pre-school teacher looks like she could be a model on the cover of Runner’s World magazine. She certainly does not look the part of a cancer survivor, especially one who was diagnosed less than a year ago. But Gretchen is not one of those people who will let things get her down. Running has always been her outlet, even after a double mastectomy in January, followed up with difficult chemo treatments.

“There were times I was really sick from the chemo, losing my hair and all that, and I would still go out and run. People would ask me how I did it. Staying healthy is the key. If I hadn’t been healthy already, the chemo would have been really hard.”

Gretchen has always been an active person. She ran track in middle school and high school, and kept running in college for fitness. A few years ago, when she was going through a separation and fighting a nasty custody battle, she used running as an outlet.

“I ran a lot of miles,” she admitted. “It was good therapy. I got rid of my anger out on the road.”

Then a friend got her into running half marathons, which eventually led to her first marathon, the Myrtle Beach Marathon in 2006. She also got her twin sister, Gretta, into running marathons, signing her up for the Walt Disney Marathon the next year. She got hooked, and admitted that it turned into an obsession, running a total of 7 marathons over the course of about two years.

About this time last year, while training for the Marine Corps Marathon, she started feeling a pain in the side of her breast. She noticed her running was inconsistent, some good runs, but lots of bad ones. She has always been anemic, so she thought maybe her blood was low. She didn’t think much of it, but her boyfriend, Scott convinced her to go to the doctor.

“Because of my family history, my doctor wanted me to get a mammogram and ultrasound. I went for the tests on December 19th and got the results right after Christmas.”

The tests confirmed her worst nightmare - she had breast cancer. She was only 33 years old, the picture of health, a marathon runner, and she had cancer.

When she was only 2 years old, she had been diagnosed with adrenal gland cancer, so this was her second time with cancer. Her mom convinced her to have a genetic test for the cancer gene, TP-53, and that also came back positive. This gene makes you more likely to get other types of cancer. Her father had died of cancer when she was only 17. Several others on her father’s side of the family had also died of cancer.

“When I found out I had the cancer gene, it made it real. I was only 33 and I had this cancer gene. But I knew I had to get through it. I have a daughter to live for. And I’m so thankful for Scott. I would have never gotten it checked if he had not stayed after me. We were lucky we caught the breast cancer early. It was only in stage 2, but the cancer was a stage 3, aggressive cancer.”

If Gretchen had breast cancer, and she had the genetic cancer gene, it seemed likely that her twin sister could also get cancer. She convinced Gretta to get checked, and the tests came back positive for both breast cancer and the cancer gene.

Luckily, Gretta’s cancer was found very early. She will go for a mastectomy in October, but not until after she runs the Chicago Marathon. Gretchen will be there as a cheerleader.

Gretchen’s doctor has now cleared her to train again, and she already has her sights on her next marathon – the Run For Donna on February 21st in Jacksonville. Why this marathon? The proceeds go to breast cancer research.

But before Jacksonville, Gretchen George has a very important engagement at the Tri-Cities Race For The Cure.

“This race means so much to me and so many other survivors,” said Gretchen. “It shows you can come back. Running to me meant life. It means you can beat cancer.”