"Stay strong. Pray like you've never prayed before," advises Kathy Barber Jones of Dexter, when talking about her battle with breast cancer. "I drew such strength from prayer, and this experience totally changed my relationship with God."
"In fact," she adds thoughtfully, "I came to know God in a completely different way because of it."
Jones, who is an operations service representative at Sterling Bank North in Poplar Bluff, says her breast cancer went undiagnosed for two years.
"I felt a knot, but my doctor was not concerned, so I wasn't either," she says. "In fact, the next year I did not even go for my yearly exam--big mistake--and then by the following year it was suspicious."
A second mammogram was scheduled as a follow-up, and then a biopsy.
"I received the call at work that it was cancer, and I started crying. I went into my office and my boss came in and prayed with me. The peace that came over me at that moment was so calming," she says.
Because of family history with breast cancer, Jones opted for a double mastectomy.
"That surgery took care of the cancer nodes and I did not need chemo nor radiation," she says.
What happened next, though, began a nightmare of events that were played out over the course of the next year.
Jones's cancer was diagnosed in March 2013 and her surgery was in May. Following the mastectomy, reconstructive surgery was immediately begun.
"Whether or not to have reconstructive surgery is a very personal decision," Jones observes. "My advice to women who find themselves in that situation is to do whatever is right for you, and not to worry about what anyone else is going to think.
"For me, I just wanted to feel normal. It wasn't about vanity, it was about what I needed to feel like me."
Jones says her problems were not typical for breast reconstruction patients.
"Many women go through this and experience few, if any, difficulties. Mine just happened to be a series of unfortunate events," she explains.
The first sign that something was amiss occurred just two weeks after her first surgery to place expanders.
"I began swelling on one side, and was getting physically weak. I called my plastic surgeon in St. Louis who said some swelling was normal and that he would see me at my scheduled appointment.
"Long story short," she says, "a stitch had come loose and I had internal bleeding in my breast. The blood had blocked the drain inserted after the expander was put in, and blood was pooling in my breast."
Jones was with Kim Essner, a certified physician assistant when the drain came out. The surgeon, not realizing the full extent of the situation, advised Essner to pack the area. He said he would see Jones at her appointment.
"When I saw him several days later at my regular appointment, he was shocked at what he found. I was immediately scheduled for surgery the next morning to drain the blood," Jones says.
Jones was able to keep her optimism throughout that ordeal because of the good news she received prior to her meeting with the surgeon.
"My first appointment that day was with my oncologist, who gave me the wonderful news that I was cancer free. I felt so blessed, and when I left her office and saw the faces of the women who were in the waiting room, I was humbled because I knew some of them would not have a report like mine," she recalls.
Jones says her overnight stay turned into a slumber party.
"My dear friend Sheila Blunt had taken me to St. Louis, with no idea we would be spending the night. She went shopping and bought us cute pajamas and we made the best of our evening at the Barnes Hilton," she says laughingly.
"After all, what good does it do to focus on the negative?" she asks. "I could have lain in that hospital room complaining about poor me, and why did this happen, and a hundred other negative things. Instead, we put on cute pajamas, enjoyed our unplanned evening together, and now have a sweet memory that will last us the rest of our lives."
The next day, surgery day, was also her birthday. After forcing herself to walk the length of the corridor -- to prove to the doctor that she could -- Jones was allowed to leave.
"It was a joyous celebration at home with my family," she happily recalls.
After that setback, things continued without incident in the reconstruction process until just before her final surgery to put in the implants.
"Ten days prior to the surgery I had to begin giving myself Lovenox injections to prevent blood clotting. These have to be administered in the abdomen, and the area can become tender. A couple of days before my surgery was scheduled, I moved the injection site over just a tad because my stomach was sore. I hit a vein with that needle and I felt a burning pain like I've never felt before," Jones says.
The needle had ruptured a vein and blood was leaking under her skin.
"My stomach began to swell up and I was in horrible agony as veins kept bursting," she recalls. "I endured it for a day or so, but finally I could no longer stand the pain. My stomach looked like I was seven months pregnant, and I just wanted someone to knock me in the head and put me out to end that pain.
"That excruciating burning sensation is what I think Hell must feel like. I can't imagine that it could be any more painful."
At the emergency room she was "bound up" in wrappings, and immediately felt better.
"I had to have surgery to cauterize the vein and drain the blood, so my final surgery was again delayed six weeks," Jones says.
Her final implant surgery, which should have taken place in October was completed in late December, just days after Christmas. By the time all the final touches were added to the reconstruction, it was the end of May. The process that was supposed to take five months, had taken a year, but Jones says that through it all her faith kept her grounded.
"I don't know how people go through something like this without leaning on God," she says. "Of course, my family, friends and co-workers were a strong support system, and I depended on them for strength and encouragement.
"That peace and comfort, though, that come from knowing that God is standing beside you each step of the way -- that is the real support system. When you have that assurance, you can face anything."
Jones is a 1982 graduate of Richland High School and attended Three Rivers College.