Local teacher moves past cancer diagnosis with optimism, hope and humor

Noreen Hyslop photo A trace of very light hair appears to be making a comeback for Janet Bell, a Dexter second grade teacher who has recently faced the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. Bell is about to conclude a series of chemotherapy treatments and will begin radiation in the coming days. She is one of several area cancer survivors who plans to attend the August 1-2 Stoddard County Relay for Life event in Dexter.

Bell, with a strong history of cancer in her family, takes relatively good care of herself. She is a diabetic and as such, is ever-conscious of changes in her system. But the symptoms that appeared in December, she thought initially, were not serious. There was a secretion, a "leakage" of sorts, involving the left breast.

"I knew it wasn't normal," Bell now recalls, "but there was so much going on and I put off having it seen about for a couple of weeks."

When a visit was finally paid to her gynecologist, it became quickly clear that there was, indeed, a problem. Bell had invasive ductile carcinoma of the left breast. She was referred to Dr. Ray Silliman, a general surgeon at Cape Girardeau who is a native of Dexter and a DHS graduate.

"He became my greatest gift," Bell now recalls. "He was thorough and compassionate and dealt with both the emotional and the physical aspect of the cancer diagnosis."

Within days of her initial visit with Silliman, Janet was wheeled into surgery at a Cape hospital,

"Dr. Silliman had presented a few options, including a lumpectomy, before taking me into surgery, but I let him know from the start that I would prefer that he perform a mastectomy (removal of the entire breast)."

"I wanted the cancer out and I wanted it all out with the least chance of it returning," Bell explains. "He explained that he would take the most appropriate measure and he did."

The breast was removed, along with 37 lymph nodes, including the sentinel node. Less than two days later, she was sent home to recuperate with two drainage tubes in her chest.

"The mastectomy surgery itself," Janet attests, "was not bad and not nearly as painful as the lymph node removals. The procedure to remove them was much more invasive to me than the breast removal."

Bell's husband of years, Steve, was by her side throughout her ordeal and held her hand as the two were given the news at the follow-up visit. The sentinel node, along with 21 other lymph nodes, were found to contain cancer cells.

"It was like a bombshell learning that almost all of the lymph nodes removed were cancerous, but Steve was my angel and my strength and we faced the challenges that come with cancer together," Janet says.

A plan of attack was outlined during that follow-up visit shortly after surgery. An aggressive form of chemotherapy, involving three separate drugs, was administered every three weeks for a period of six weeks. Janet first had to reach a degree of recovery, however, that deemed her strong enough to tolerate the drugs.

"I tolerated the chemo extremely well," Janet says, "except for the second series."

Bell's final chemo treatment will be administered next week, and although it seems odd that only the second series had ill effects, doctors say that is not unusual.

"I have been so blessed," the ever-optimistic Janet Bell explains, "in tolerating the chemo well."

While few would find blessings in dealing with cancer and chemotherapy, Bell is certainly an exception. Looking back at the sequence of events that surrounded her ordeal, she feels that a Higher Power had a hand in bringing her through the challenges that cancer delivers.

"A substitute was found to take over my class following my surgery who was just fantastic. I was placed in the hands of Dr. Silliman and he could not have provided me with better care and now I'm under the watchful eye of a wonderful oncologist who is overseeing my treatment."

It's that degree of optimism that has brought the Bell family through the perils of cancer and humor, as well, has been instrumental in her recovery process.

Bell returned to her second grade classroom in the spring, first in small increments, and eventually full-time. Having lost her hair after her second chemo treatment, she elected to wear a wig to school that closely resembled her former hairstyle. During a particularly trying day, when spring fever was very much in the air, she jokingly told her students that they were about to cause her to pull all her hair out. With that, she reached up and yanked off her wig, exposing her shining dome, much to the dismay of 22 seven-year-olds, who then delighted in the moment.

"I told teachers down the hall that if they wanted something to get their students' attention, I'd be glad to accommodate!"

Getting attention was not at all a priority with Janet Bell, but she stood to gain plenty of it following her surgery and through her treatment process.

"I just had no idea how many people cared about me," she tearfully admits. "We had food brought in for months and I'm still on prayer lists all over the area and that is just such a humbling experience."

The history of cancer in Janet's lineage is such that she has made the decision to have a mastectomy of the right breast late this year.

"I just want to lessen the chances of the cancer reoccurring as much as I can," she says. "I haven't decided right now if I want to have reconstruction surgery later or not."

"Right now," she confirms, "it's just not on my priority list."

In the meantime, Bell will face radiation treatments that will ensue as soon as she completes her chemotherapy session next week. Her radiation treatments will be given every weekday for three consecutive weeks and she will remain on one of the three chemo prescriptions indefinitely, since her cancer was protein-based.

Janet Bell will be among those celebrating life at this year's Stoddard County Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society sposored event that raises funds for cancer research, slated to take place at Dexter's West City Park on August 1-2. She will proudly walk the initial lap of the evening, designated to honor those who have survived the disease.