SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- People affected by cancer are supporting one another at the Cancer Community Center.
Sandra Jones has always been diligent about her own breast health. She often had complicated mammograms, so she got one every month, and when necessary, followed up with an ultrasound. Then, a little over a year ago, Sandra started feeling a pain in her left breast. Those tests she counted on so much came back normal, but Sandra knew something was wrong. So she listened to her body, and had an MRI.
"To tell the truth, I never thought I would get breast cancer," Jones said. "That that was the one cancer I would never get because I was so diligent about doing what you're supposed to do."
Sandra had a six and a half centimeter tumor in her left breast. Doctors discovered she had a rare form of cancer called triple negative, meaning they would not be able to treat it with hormone therapies. She had a mastectomy, nine weeks of chemotherapy, and sixteen weeks of radiation. During that treatment, Sandra wanted a place where she could go for support. She found it at the Cancer Community Center.
"They are so wonderful," Jones said. "They are just there for you. They are there answering your questions and they'll listen to what's going on."
The Center provides free classes and support groups for anyone affected by cancer. On her worst days, Sandra Jones can always find someone at the Center who's been there.
"My husband of 42 years tries to understand what I feel like," Jones said. "How some days I'll wake up and feel sad. And he's just like, 'Sandy, you're fine, the doc said your fine.' You come to talk to the people here and they understand why you feel like that. You really don't understand that unless you're going through cancer. How you can sometimes just have days that you're just like, why me, why did this happen to me?"
For Sandra, it's not about finding the answers. The comfort comes from knowing there are other people asking the same questions.
"The people that have gone through it are really the ones that really get it."