22 Mar 2010 ‘Graced out’
Under the care of hospice, Jo Beth occasionally needs oxygen and pain medication but she is quick to add that she is not in constant pain. She considers herself fortunate when compared to others she has known who have suffered from cancer.
Jo Beth is very appreciative of the friendship and support she has received from Roses Among Thorns, a cancer support group for women. In fact, an auction is planned 1 p.m. Saturday, May 1, at the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center at the University of Central Arkansas to sell Jo Beth’s Barbie
Doll collection, which numbers more than 600. Half of the proceeds will be used to cover her medical expenses and half will be donated to the cancer program.
The late Suzy Ward contacted Jo Beth about Roses Among Thorns when the group was forming but she did not take her up on the invitation to join. A few years later, Jo Beth met Linda Dickey, founder of the program, when Linda was a labor and delivery nurse and Jo Beth’s grandchild was born. Linda encouraged her to attend one session to try it.
“I love it,” said Jo Beth. “They treat us like queens. It is so uplifting….Roses is good for me. I have such good friends. “
Jo Beth – who sold Avon products for nearly 22 years – began collecting Barbie Dolls in 1981. Over the years, the collection grew through purchases as well as gifts. “I also had the first one my daddy gave me,” she said. “We never had ‘pretties’ growing up, so I collected turtles and Barbies.”
In 2002, Jo Beth discovered a lump in her chest that had not shown up during her regular mammograms. It was cancer. She underwent numerous chemotherapy and radiation treatments but some of the cancer cells had migrated to her heart. In 2008, a brain tumor was discovered.
In 2009, Jo Beth was hospitalized for 10 days and many tests were run. She was told that there were “spots” on her lungs. She was sent home with the test results. When her husband reviewed them, they discovered the true extent of damage to the lungs, lymph nodes and heart.
“They didn’t tell me I was dying,” she said. “My doctor sent my husband home to look it up and figure it out.”
Since that realization, Jo Beth has sought out opportunities to create memories with her young grand-daughters. She has filled two cedar chests for them with special mementos, including (of course) a few Barbie dolls, and family heirlooms representing six generations. She has also written a special letter to each one.
“It’s been a good eight years. I’ve had an opportunity to go to Hawaii, to see my grandbabies…God has graced me out so I can testify to other people.”
Roses Among Thorns is planning a spring retreat for the ladies, and Jo Beth hopes that she will be well enough to attend. She would also like to live long enough to be at the Barbie Doll auction and perhaps make one last trip to Blanchard Springs.
“There are a lot of things I’d like to do, but I’m ready when it’s my time,” she said, admitting that she still gets teary-eyed. “I’m just going to go to bed with my morphine and my three wiener dogs. I’m going to miss my dogs and my grandbabies….In my mind, I can tell it’s not going to be long.”
