Impact Report: Joan's Story
““I Had A Rock And Roll Life” ”
By nature, Joan Allen is an artist. She is also a romantic with a life story meant for the big screen. Upon completing her 6-year degree in art history and restoration she had the incredible opportunity to restore frescos in Florence, Italy. However, she met a remarkable man and fell madly in love. She confidently chose love over her career and the rest is history.
Together, they cultivated a life full of adventure and gratitude. They split their time between Manhattan and LA. 16 years later, they had their first and only son. In July 2011 Joan visited her doctor for her routine physical. On this day she described herself as vibrant, healthy and “quick as a racehorse.” In a matter of minutes, this vision of herself came to a crashing halt. “This may be very serious,” she heard her doctor say as he voiced concern over discovering a lump in her right breast.
“It was like my whole world in one second of smiles and ‘hello how are you’ went to ‘I need to get a PET scan immediately.’ At that moment, I didn’t cry. I wasn’t scared. But I was definitely, totally surprised.”
Joan underwent a PET scan that confirmed she was in an extremely serious situation. The concern grew even greater after her doctor performed a lumpectomy. She was faced with the decision of saving her breast or going for the “full deal” - a mastectomy on her right side. She chose the mastectomy.
Unfortunately, cancer does not just affect the patient - it touches the entire family. During this time Joan was most concerned for her son, now 20 years old. However, it was her husband that could not cope with the thought of losing her. While Joan, 22 years his junior, was on the operating table, her husband suffered a heart attack and passed away.
“There I was, a widow. I lost the love of my life. Fighting cancer. My son and I were strong, arm in arm, but it was very, very difficult to get through that time.”
For 8 years Joan was in remission. In 2019 the cancer came back. She is now in stage 4 of metastasized breast cancer. “It is not a death sentence anymore. I’ve re-emerged in a chrysalis like a butterfly - again. It’s another chance.”
This past May Joan traveled across the country to participate in a groundbreaking study at Duke Cancer Institute. She stayed at Caring House for 8 weeks. “My experience here has been so healing. Caring House is a beautiful facility - the gardens are nothing like I’ve ever seen being from California. It’s all very romantic to me.”
At the time, Joan was the first patient to receive the experimental medication as an injection into her bone. She knows this study could be life-saving and continues to remain hopeful for the future. She keeps her thoughts clean and her heart full.
“Caring House continues to instill peace and serenity. I’m not sad or scared. I’m just hopeful.”