STRUNK —
Joie (Terry) Duncan now knows that blessings can’t truly be appreciated without trials.
The 36-year-old wife and mother of two experienced her first trial two years ago when she found a tiny lump in one of her breasts.
“There is lung cancer on both sides of my family but I had no history for this,” Joie said. “It hit me out of the blue.”
When she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in October 2010, Joie didn’t hesitate to seek out the best treatment available. Undergoing a double mastectomy that December and starting chemotherapy a month later, Joie responded so well that her oncologist at UK’s Markey Cancer Center told her she could stop after four of six planned treatments.
Though she continued to see her oncologist every three months, Joie thought the battle won. When she began to experience a persistent soreness in her ribs last February, she didn’t think it was anything serious.
“I thought it was just from being inactive or getting older,” Joie recalled.
She did question her oncologist but he, too, seemed unconcerned. Shortly thereafter, her father fell ill (passing away in April) but Joie eventually went to an orthopedist in Somerset. It came as a complete shock when he told Joie that her x-ray was abnormal and she should see her oncologist.
Joie tried to schedule an appointment at Markey. While she was waiting for the center to return her calls, a friend urged her to try Central Baptist Hospital. In two days, Joie had been scheduled for PET, CAT and MRI testing.
“By the time Markey called back, I was done with my tests,” Joie said.
Those tests confirmed her biggest fear. What Joie took for everyday aches and pains turned out to be the return of her breast cancer as Stage 4 with the disease having spread to her liver and bones (hips, spine, ribs and shoulder).
Joie’s husband of 15 years, Greg, recalled how the cancer had been described as “triple negative” back in 2010.
“We thought negative was good,” Greg said. “We didn’t know that it was the most aggressive kind.”
The “triple negative” form is resistant to hormonal therapy so Joie’s new oncologist prescribed an bold regimen of weekly chemotherapy (a triple cocktail known as “Red Devil”) and steroids. She also receives a monthly bone injection to combat osteoporosis.
After eight weeks of chemotherapy, Joie got another PET scan to determine how the treatments were working. The night before she was to get her results, Joie began to experience abdominal pain. On her way to the Central Baptist’s Richmond satellite, the pain became such that Greg took her to the emergency room instead. Joie ended up having her appendix removed but even that was something to be thankful for.
“If she hadn’t had that appointment, she would have just taken medicine and lay in bed,” Greg said.
The surgery delayed her PET results by a week but they were worth waiting for. Between May and August, the spots on her liver have gone from “multiple” to two. The spots on her bones, though still widespread, has also dramatically decreased in size and number.
“My doctor was so tickled,” Joie said. “He told me that God’s been good to me so I need to be good to God. To hear a doctor say that meant the world to me.”
She is focusing on the “here and now” and her faith in the Lord. She takes particular comfort in I Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves therefore under the might hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:/Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
“The first time, I was so confident I was over cancer,” Joie said. “I’ve stopped trying to figure out why this happened. I know my purpose is to be a light to other people. The Lord’s given me this opportunity to talk to so many different people. It’s my duty to uplift Him.”
Joie noted that the Lord has blessed her with two good families: the one she was born into and the one she married into. “I rely on family for strength,” she said. “I never wanted to move away from here. This is home.”
The Duncans also have strong ties to their church and school families. In the midst of Joie’s health crisis, Greg’s teaching job was lost due to district budget cuts. The family was able to keep their insurance when he was rehired as literacy coordinator through Pine Knot Intermediate’s Save the Children program. Greg said he appreciates the school’s efforts to help his family while he prays to one day get back in the classroom. Though the Duncans said there are too many to mention by name, they are grateful for all the support they have received from the community.
“We may be a small county but we have good people,” Joie said. “I’ve gotten so many letters and prayers from people that I didn’t know before this happened. I’m here to fight. You have to when you have so much to live for.”
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Greg and Joie Duncan have stood together in her fight against breast cancer. The couple has two children as well as the support of their community. Janie Slaven
Grit and Grace
Duncan fights cancer with unshakable faith
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