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It has been 25 years since a woman very dear to us here at CBS 11 News found out she was a living cliché. Following in her birth mother's footsteps, she discovered breast cancer on her own. Today she's alive, urging every woman she can reach to do a self-check.
We here at CBS 11 News have come to know Juneil Jones-Flemming's soft, warm greeting.
Some of you may have too.
It is a greeting she naturally perfected as a young flight attendant.
"I just didn't expect anything at age 29," said breast cancer survivor, Juneil Jones-Flemming.
At 29-years-old, Jones-Flemming was doing her breast self-exam. That's when she found a cancerous lump.
"I discovered it myself. And I knew it was different because it was the size of a quarter and the lump was attached," said Jones-Flemming.
- Along with an attached lump, breast cancer's early warning signs include: nipple discharge, retraction and indentions--even the breast size changing. It can also include the breast's skin flattening, indenting, turning red or pitting like an orange's skin. And then there's family history.
Breast cancer killed Jones-Flemming's biological mom when Jones-Flemming was just a toddler.
"She did not do anything. She was hoping that it would go away. I'm
So Jones-Flemming not only had her cancerous breast removed, she also chose to have her other breast removed as a preventative measure. Her gut feeling proved right. Jones-Flemming's doctor also found cancer in that breast.
"It was in the capsule. It had not broken away from the capsule. And that saved my life. Recovery was kind of hard. I was a flight attendant at the time. I thought that I wasn't going to be normal. And it took a while to heal," said Jones-Flemming.
"In the end when I returned back to work, and I kind of got used to wearing a prosthesis, it just seemed OK. I knew I was going to be OK," said Jones-Flemming.
That's when Jones-Flemming took her cause across Alaska -- appearing in the paper, on the radio and right here on CBS 11 News -- urging women to do self-exams.
"When I knew, 'Hey, I was going to be OK,' and it's time to pass the word on so other women can be OK, too," said Jones-Flemming.
In 2002, a Canadian medical journal article started a controversy, saying self-exams did not help reduce breast cancer's mortality rate. Today, American Cancer Society officials disagree.
"It's not that it doesn't work. Women do indeed find their own breast tumors that way. But a mammogram picks up a tumor probably prior to two years what you would find in a self-examination," said Lea Anne McWhorter of the American Cancer Society.
The point is self-exams are only an important part of the overall prevention formula.
- To truly do all you can, American Cancer Society officials say besides performing monthly self-checks, women 40 and over need to have yearly mammograms. And women in their 20s and 30s need to have a doctor's exam every two or three years.
"Breast cancer can attack the rich, the poor--anyone," said
Going into her 26th survival year, Jones-Flemming holds onto an Elizabeth Edward's quote, as she continues to pass her story onto Alaska women, hoping maybe, just maybe, she'll help someone else survive.
"I think that in my situation, that early detection has helped me. Had I not gone to my doctor, I don't think I would be here today," said Jones-Flemming.
CBS 11's Cancer Connection reminds you to call your buddy on the 11th of every month as part of Cancer Check 11.
For women, maybe you want to call your best friend and remind her to do a self breast exam, or men may want to call their buddy and remind him to check for any signs of testicular cancer.
To contact Matthew, call 907-273-3186.
