More Than Surviving: Janna’s Story of Strength, Support, and Silver Linings
At Be Well Therapy, we believe healing doesn’t end when treatment does. True recovery is layered — physical, emotional, mental, and deeply personal. That’s why we created Silver Lining Stories, a space to share the strength, resilience, and unexpected gifts that can emerge in the face of cancer.
Today, we’re honored to share Janna Jones’ story — a deeply moving reflection on what it means to find light in the darkest places, to rediscover community and joy, and to build a “healing tribe” that lifts you when you can’t lift yourself.
Here is Janna’s silver lining…
My name is Janna Jones and on June 14, 2022 at the age of 47 I was diagnosed with Melanoma Skin Cancer. The most invasive of all the types and at 3mm thick, as well as ulcerated, I faced surgery immediately creating a 3 inch diameter resection on the right side of my stomach then immunotherapy with Keytruda infusions every 3 weeks for 1 year. The fear was real, the action was fast, and that year was hard. The surgery made it difficult to get around at first and as treatments progressed I got weaker making it more challenging to do anything. Most days I just stayed at home. My husband and I have owned an auto repair shop for over 30 years. He is the mechanic and I am the book keeper, so I work from home and though it was nice during my recovery I found myself alone ... .a lot. Not only was I fatigued all the time but I suffered an adverse reaction from treatment making my skin very sensitive to heat and sun exposure. I did not want to go outside, so I didn’t, and then is when my depression started.
One day my husband, Doug, came home with a customer’s number who teaches chair yoga for a nonprofit called Be Well Therapy. They happen to give free yoga classes to cancer survivors to aid in their recovery. It had been 4 months since my surgery and though my 9 inch scar was healed over I didn’t have much strength in my stomach nor could I reach very far with my right arm due to the lymph node removal. Chair yoga sounded gentle and since it was specialized for cancer recovery it felt safe plus there was the added benefit of getting out of my house. I called our customer, Peggy and signed up to start my healing. Little did I know how much of an impact came with that first step. Peggy was the first of my healing tribe, as I like to call it. I learned that I wasn’t alone and that there were places I could go. That knowledge drove me to look for more opportunities as a cancer survivor.
Through my journey I found Anticancer Lifestyle Program, an online 9 week workshop to learn how to eat healthier, learn mindfulness techniques, exercise routines, and how to clean toxins from my environment. Great knowledge came from the course but the most priceless part is the group of women that I still zoom two times a month with. I had joined an AIM at Melanoma community that gathers each year to fundraise at a 5K walk putting the money raised towards finding a cure. The first 2 years I was too weak to finish the walk. However, the 3rd year was my year, I finished the 5K which was a tremendous milestone for me in my cancer journey. It truly wasn’t the task though that was important, it was my friend Marla alongside me that walked at my pace and finished with me that I cherish most.
The YMCA has a Livestrong program that teaches how to modify exercise at the YMCA with all the gym equipment in a 12 week course with 12 cancer survivors. They measured my strength at the beginning then at the end and I was blown away at the strength I gained but that wasn’t the part that mattered most. Do you see a theme here? The first day of the program I cried to the group because I really needed a community, so happens there were 2 other melanoma survivors there. Those people meant so much, that to this day I still meet up with my Livestrong buddies and workout with them once a month at the YMCA. The North County Cancer Fitness (NCCF) group in my area has a variety of fitness classes offered to survivors for free but the extra events is what I enjoy. Meeting up to walk along the beach then going to a cafe after to talk, or seeing Alessandra anywhere…at yoga, at Zumba, or at art class because she is a beam of light that brightens my day always.
These groups that I found I came across because I was looking and needed them. There are so many groups out there on Facebook to join that are cancer specific or treatment specific, you just have to look. Imerman Angels was a really nice help during the days of my deepest depression. They paired me up with a woman about my age, with 3 children like me and 6 years out from the same Melanoma diagnosis and treatment with Keytruda. What a relief it was to imagine myself healed and strong through this angel they sent to me. I also healed through group therapy, another place I met some lasting friendships.
I signed up with many generous organizations out there to help those in need and one day I got a reply from Epic Experience that I and my caregiver were accepted to join their regional survivorship day in Dana Point. We were to set sail with 28 others on an 80ft sail boat for a 2 hour trip for free. I just couldn’t believe the generosity of these people gifting a day like that to people like me. It was something that I would never do for myself but of course love to do. I felt so lucky and enjoyed that day with Doug, sailing on the ocean blue but it wasn’t the sailing that made a difference in my life. The people that made that day possible, the Ferro family are what made a difference. I got to know Nancy, aka “Mama Lou” and decided on that day that I wanted to be just like her, a strong, kind-hearted, loving, caring, giving person that makes others feel happy in their lives again.
It turns out that was just the beginning of my relationship with Epic Experience. The following year I was chosen to go to one of their week-long camps in Colorado. Again I felt lucky yet nervous. I was still very weak and fatigued and suffering from so many side effects but I knew I needed to go to continue my healing journey. I am so glad I went. The whole week was filled with different adventures each day. They cooked all the meals and cleaned up too. They helped to carry my things and even me when I couldn’t make it to the top of the hiking trail. I didn’t have to worry, I was safe and my only job was to be present and have fun. The blessings were being with my fellow campers that were just like me. I got to break down and cry about my cancer and everything that came with it. Colin Ferro, the Director of the program was so silly it was infectious that I too became silly and laughed for the first time in too long. I realized that I lost sight of living after my diagnosis and that was why I was so sad. Being at the camp I decided to live again with joy and happiness.
I strive to “give back” to Epic Experience, Be Well Therapy, NCCF, Livestrong/YMCA, and AIM at Melanoma for being a part of my healing tribe but it doesn’t stop there. I also give to my community, friend groups, neighbors, and passersby too. I try to share my joy and passion for living to everyone I meet, that is what cancer has brought to me, that is the silver lining gift that I received.
Looking back, I was never alone. I had Doug, my best friend whom I learned loved me so much more than I thought possible. My children, Devon, Alex and Brooke, still are helping to care for me and even though we all want it to be like it was, we are more enriched living our lives together now after having this diagnosis. My Mom, Dad, Brother, In-Laws, Aunt and Friends were all there, I was not alone. I was just blinded by cancer. That word has a lot of weight and insights a lot of feelings. There is more to it than just having it, there’s the treating it part, the healing from it part, the not having it part, the living with side effects part, the living with fears of recurrence part, and the survivorship part. In between all those parts are the binding agents that keep you together, the silver linings of cancer, and for me, is my healing tribe.