Page 2C • Saturday, October 22, 2011
The Daily Citizen
Think Pink
Staley: Fighting cancer
Continued from Page 1C
Jon Newby with his late wife, Lori and children Griffin and Ally enjoy a fall afternoon in 2009. Contributed photo
Harding Academy coach, family look for ‘bright days’
Husband discusses losing his wife to breast cancer
By Molly M. Fleming mfleming@thedailycitizen.com The 2010 football season was one that Harding Academy Coach Jon Newby will never forget. It’s not because his team played better than ever, or one of his players made a memorable play. That was the Searcian Jon season that he took Newby lost his some time off from wife of 15 years the game he loves to breast cancer. in order to support He credits the his biggest fan, his city and his family for their supwife Lori. Lori was diag- port during the nosed with breast tough time. cancer a few years earlier, but as the cancer began to take its hold on her life in 2010, Jon had to be by her side, even if that meant leaving his team and school behind. “Everyone here just told me to go,” Newby said. “It was unbelievable. [High school principal] Coach Darren Matthews said he would cover my classes. They didn’t even ask me to write lesson plans. They just told me to leave and be with her.” That time away from school would be the last few days that Newby would get to spend with his wife of 15 years. She died on Nov. 11, 2010 at the age of 40. He was back on the field coaching a week later — not because he wanted to, but because he had to. “If you knew [Lori], she would have been kicking me in the tail if I didn’t go back and do my job,” he said. “People weren’t surprised by it. I had missed some ball games to be with her and she said she felt bad about making me miss the games. Then, we talked about football and how silly it is in the big scheme of things.” Newby wasn’t the only one affected by the loss of Lori. The couple has two
Jon Newby
Harding Academy assistant football coach Jon Newby talks to Tyler Curtis during a 2008 Wildcats game. Contributed photo children — a son, Griffin in third grade ish their homework after school or Gigi and a daughter, Ally in eighth grade. Ally comes and picks them up and takes helped keep her mom looking her best by them to Sonic,” he said, “She spoils helping her pick out wigs. them, of course.” Newby said his wife went through This time of the year, Newby can chemotherapy rather quickly once she either be found in the classroom or on was diagnosed, so the children saw her the football field, and soon he said he’ll getting sick and losing her hair. However, be helping on the basketball court. His she still kept up with the busy family as children are also busy with athletics. much as she could. He said the family keeps busy as they “Until the last three months, she was search for the ‘bright days.’ so energetic,” he said. “She put on a good “There are a lot of bright days, but front for the kids. She would go until she there are a lot of sad ones too,” he said. couldn’t go anymore. Then, she’d take a “The people that I have talked to who nap and get right back at it again.” have been through something like this Once Newby returned to coaching, he say there are more bright days to come. soon learned how much he and his family So we just stay busy and keep working meant to the community. for the brighter says.” “When Harding Academy played Newby commended the community Riverview High School later that week, for their support since the loss of his wife. Riverview had a ‘pink out’ and they He said there are still casseroles showing charged money to walk laps around the up at his front door from unknown donors track and gave that money to us,” he to this day. He said he hopes anyone said, “The community support has been going through a similar situation lives in unbelievable.” a community like Searcy. Not only has the community support “It’s a difficult situation, but I would been great, Newby said he gets a lot of hope and pray that [anyone going help from Lori’s sister, Kim, who teaches through this] would be surrounded by at Harding Academy and Lori’s parents. people like I was,” he said. “It would “The kids go to Kim’s room to fin- be difficult to do that alone.”
that breast cancer might be the least of my worries.” Staley said the doctors were worried the cancer may have spread to her lungs and other organs, as well. “That’s where the PET scan came in to play,” she said. “That’s also where my first bit of good news came. The scan confirmed that the cancer was contained within my right breast and lymph nodes on the right side. I got this news at the end of August. “I’ve told so many people that I never thought I would say ‘I’m glad I have breast cancer.’ The surgeon really thought it could be more. But now I know that breast cancer is all we’re dealing with, and we can start formulating a game plan.” The next step was for the doctors to take a closer look at the specific features of the cancer. Staley had a biopsy the Wednesday before Labor Day. “I got to spend the weekend worrying about my biopsy results,” she said wryly. “On Tuesday after Labor Day, I got a phone call from my doctor, who said, ‘I have bad news.’ My heart sank. The doctor continued, ‘We didn’t get enough tissue sample from the first biopsy. You’ll have to come back as soon as possible to have another one.’ “Talk about a ‘Whew!’ kind of moment.” The results of this second biopsy confirmed her cancer had both invasive and noninvasive (DCIS) elements. “Next, we needed to find out what was going on in my lymph nodes,” she said. “There isn’t a surgeon in Little Rock, where I was going for tests, who can do a needle biopsy of lymph nodes. Only a surgical biopsy of my lymph nodes was available. I wasn’t excited about that. “Phil and Judy Hoggard are personal friends with Dr. Ed Clifford from Baylor in Dallas. Judy came to me and said, ‘If I were in your shoes, I would consult with Dr. Clifford. Breast cancer is his specialty. If you want a second opinion about the biopsy, that’s where you should go.’ “Now, Dana Abraham of Abraham Breast Clinic in Little Rock was my doctor. She’s wonderful, and I have nothing but praises to sing for her, but I just learned that there are advancements in other places not available to us here. “So, I contacted Dr. Clifford, and he told me he felt it was not the right thing to have the surgical biopsy. He has done thousands of needle biopsies, and he can get all the information from a needle biopsy that a surgeon could get from a surgical one.” On Oct. 5, Staley drove to Dallas to her lymph nodes biopsied. “The trip was very successful,” she said. “I can never thank Judy Hoggard or Dr. Clifford enough. I didn’t get good news from the biopsy, but we go the last piece of the puzzle we needed so I could move ahead with treatment and fighting cancer.” According to Staley, her cancer situation is complicated by another medical situation. In April, he shad coronary artery stents because she had a 99 percent blockage of her left main artery.
“I can’t just be a normal case,” she said with a laugh. “I had to see a cardiologist to make sure my heart was ready to go for chemotherapy. I got a good report, and I’m ready to go.” Staley has chosen to do chemotherapy in Searcy at the Cancer Center of Excellence. “What a blessing to have that facility here,” she said. “I have had, professionally speaking, the most incredible support from Dr. Cheryl Payne. When I have to have radiation, she will be my radiation oncologist. She’s been available to hold my hand and guide me through the process. Dr. McCord at the Cancer Center will be my chemo oncologist. She’s a brilliant woman; I adore her. I went to her with four pages of typed questions, and I didn’t leave her office until they were all answered. She never seemed in a hurry, and she was very thorough.” This week, Staley had a port placed directly in her vein in preparation for her chemotherapy, which began Wednesday. Last week, Staley said “Wednesday is the day the fight begins. That’s the date the battle really begins to rage. Cancer has picked on the wrong person. I’m meaner than it is. But I still have a long way to go.” Staley wears a pink ribbon lapel pin with the RE/MAX logo on it. “I’ve worked at RE/MAX for 15 years,” she said. “While the company still partners with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, in recent years it has also partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.” Today, Staley is attending Race for the Cure with her daughter, Jenna, who flew in from Dallas to see her mom and accompany her wig shopping. Staley also has a son, Jordan, and a fiancé, Robert Cargile. Also, ever since her mother died, her father has been living with her family. “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I plan to be at Race for the Cure,” Staley said last week. “They may be pushing me in a wheelchair, but I plan to be there." Staley emphasized the necessity of having a support system when dealing with such a hardship. “I don’t know how women make it through without support from people,” she said. “Anyone going through this needs to have support.” Staley said she wants to help other women, whether she knows them or not. “So many women go to their first visits with doctors and don’t have any idea what’s going on or what all of these terms mean that the doctors are using,” she said. “I want to be there to help them.” In addition, Staley has been doing what she can to encourage early diagnosis of cancer. “I have been asking every woman I know, ‘Have you had your mammies grammed recently?’,” she said. “I know of at least eight women who have gone to get their mammograms after I told them to. “I’m no Susan G. Komen, but I am trying to help every woman I can to fight breast cancer.”
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E SAG STLE S E A M A CA One-in-eight women will be diagnosed with breast ND ealtor OM LI cancer in her lifetime. Each year, nearly 200,000 R Your
women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s why creating an early detection plan is the best way to fight. The five-year survival rate of a stage-one breast cancer diagnosis is 98 percent. I have so many wonderful girls in my life! My daughters, my granddaughter, sister, nieces, co-workers & friends.
So for all my girls, I support the cause and the cure and I hope you do too! o!
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