National Cancer Survivors Day: Survivor & Supporter

Joni Cook greets patients at QMG Can­cer Insti­tute with a warmth that comes from a deep place of under­stand­ing. She’s not just a friend­ly face; she’s a fel­low can­cer sur­vivor who can relate to their strug­gles on a per­son­al level.

In 2022, Joni’s life took an unex­pect­ed turn when she was diag­nosed with lung can­cer. It start­ed sub­tly that spring with dif­fi­cul­ty breath­ing, wors­en­ing through­out the summer.

“Just walk­ing across the street, I had to stop and catch my breath,” she recalled. ​“It got to the point where I couldn’t breathe well at all.”

Short­ly after diag­no­sis, Joni began chemother­a­py and radi­a­tion ther­a­py, com­plet­ing her treat­ment in Decem­ber 2022. Now, with reg­u­lar check-ups, she hopes to extend the inter­val between appoint­ments to every six months.

Dur­ing her treat­ment, Joni tran­si­tioned to a new role at QMG Can­cer Insti­tute. This move wasn’t just a change of scenery; it was an oppor­tu­ni­ty to use her expe­ri­ence to sup­port oth­er patients.

“I know it’s not a place peo­ple want to be,” Cook said. ​“But I try to make peo­ple feel as good as pos­si­ble. A smile can go a long way. When I’m not here, patients miss that.”

Cook’s per­son­al jour­ney gives her a unique per­spec­tive on her role. ​“Those who haven’t had can­cer can’t ful­ly under­stand what patients are going through,” she shared. ​“That’s why I try to calm their nerves. And it’s reward­ing to hear them say, ​‘You make me feel so much bet­ter.’ Get­ting to know these patients has been so spe­cial to me.”

Her own out­look on life has been pro­found­ly impact­ed by her expe­ri­ence. It’s instilled in her a new­found appre­ci­a­tion for each day and a deter­mi­na­tion to live life to the fullest.

“Can­cer gave me a buck­et list,” Cook said. ​“Before my diag­no­sis, I was more of a home­body. But now, I’m ven­tur­ing out and explor­ing new places. Recent­ly, I even took a train to Chica­go for the first time! I’ve been to Utah a cou­ple of times as well. This expe­ri­ence has made me real­ize that I don’t want to let life pass by me any longer.”

Join us on Sun­day, June 2 from 1 – 3 p.m. at the QMG Can­cer Insti­tute, 3301 Broad­way St., for our Nation­al Sur­vivors Day event — Hope Grows Here.