Dr. Ebbie Shearer Jackson looks at her life and is satisfied with what she sees and has. As she prepares to celebrate her 60th birthday, she says there is nothing she really wants – other than her health – and decided to do something tangible for others. At the beginning of the year, Jackson, a marathon runner committed to raising a minimum of $60,000 by her milestone November celebration with all funds raised to be shared between two organizations - Sister Sister Breast Cancer Support Group and MD Patient Navigation Organization - groups that provide support and services to patients diagnosed with cancer and those who have survived cancer.
Jackson knows what it's like to be diagnosed with the disease and go through the harsh realities of treatment to get to the other side. She is a 13-year breast cancer "overcomer" who is now six years cancer-free.
She made a commitment to run several major marathons and smaller races this year, all with the goal of raising monies for the two groups. She kept the ways people could participate simple and asked for donations in any sum as long as the donation had the number six in it – $6, $16, $26, $36, $106...$1,0006.
"We can never raise enough money for cancer," said Shearer Jackson who also encourages people who have benefitted from cancer support groups to look to give back.
"Every day a woman is being diagnosed – and that's just breast [cancer]. Colon is rampant. Prostate is rampant. Kidney is becoming rampant. Ovarian is rampant. There are quite a few cancers and for a small population like ours you wonder how they got here," she said.
Shearer Jackson says if 50,000 people gave only one dollar at this point, that she would meet her fundraising goal.
"People don't have money for x-rays. I encourage people who have benefitted from groups like Sister Sister which gives out port-a-caths [the device which provides medical
practitioners with easy access to a patient's veins], to at least give something back if they have benefited."
MD Patient Navigation founder Melissa D. Major is dedicated to improving patient care and providing timely service across the healthcare continuum from prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and supportive end-of-life care.
Major is a young adult survivor of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She developed her skills to become her own health advocate.
Shearer Jackson also has a family history of cancer which she refers to as "deep".
Her mother died from breast cancer. Her father was treated for prostate cancer. Her eldest brother died from brain cancer. Her youngest brother is battling colon cancer.
Shearer Jackson was the first person in her family to test positive for the BRCA gene.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, normally, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes protect a person from getting certain cancers, but some mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes prevent them from working properly, so that if a person inherits one of the mutations, they are more likely to get breast, ovarian, and other cancers.
"Cancer had come and gone but we did not realize we had the gene. Once they tested me and I was BRCA positive, I told my siblings we all have to test. We now as a family know what we have to do. We do our screenings," she said.
Since January, Shearer Jackson has run the Miami Half Marathon, Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon Berlin Marathon, and several smaller races with her $60,000 fundraising goal in mind.
To date Shearer Jackson has received approximately $5,000 in donations, and is pushing to get to her $60,000 goal with her final international run set for November, the North Pole Polar Challenge at which she will run a full marathon on Saturday and a half on the Sunday.
The North Pole Polar Challenge is described as the world's coolest marathon and the running experience of a lifetime.
"I've been pushing and trying my best," she said, especially as Breast Cancer Awareness Month is being observed in October.
She has faith that she will realize her goal.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, awareness of the disease is heightened. And people (women and men) are encouraged to be aware of their breasts.
Shearer Jackson will engage in her arduous, grueling task with just one lung. She lost one of her lungs during her cancer treatment, which luckily for her was not cancerous, but proved to be tuberculosis.
"I tell people when they have two lungs that I have to run with one. I had to rebuild my one lung to become two," said Jackson.
Jackson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. She ran her first marathon two weeks before she took chemo and has been running ever since.
It was In October of that year as she trained for her first half marathon that she said she felt a "bearing down" as she ran. After completing the race and preparing for her first full, she again felt a pressure. She decided she needed to see a doctor. She was given the all-clear.
"Two weeks later I had trouble raising my right hand. When I looked, I saw an enlarged vein. Knowing my family history, I said I hope it's not cancer and just inflammation."
Her mammogram result was normal. She spoke to the radiologist about her family history, the technician requested an ultrasound which she took and showed a large mass in her right breast. She was then asked to do an MRI for a definitive answer. It showed that her entire right breast was a tumor and she needed surgery, but was also told if she had surgery right then that it would have been like "pouring gasoline on a fire."
She tested positive at stage three breast cancer.
"I broke down," Shearer Jackson recalled.
Her situation was grave. She had to see an oncologist, urgently.
She now counts herself among the many breast cancer "overcomers" and looks to assist whenever and wherever she can.
As she runs to raise $60,000, Shearer Jackson said she believes God has a purpose for her. And that she has always been about helping people.
"If you can't help others, then why are we here?"
She does realize that she can't help everybody, but says she does what she can to help those she can.
Because of what her family has gone and is going through, Shearer Jackson also advocates for Bahamian people to become more proactive in terms of their own healthcare.
"When I talk to women, I say diet and exercise is key; monitor stress level and exercise. If you find out something, proceed – get help. A lot of women know something is going on and live in denial. And cancer is taking our people left, right and center."
Treatment is expensive.
Shearer Jackson said she is fortunate to have insurance.
She said she does not know if she would be alive today if she had not had insurance to fight her breast cancer diagnosis.
"My insurance ended up spending close to a half million dollars," she said.
By running to raise funds to help others, she is doing what she can to help and support.
"I am a miracle," said the optometrist. I have had six surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, tuberculosis therapy, and I am still alive."
But she ensures that she does her mammograms, watches her health as best she can and do what she needs to do.
Donations can be made to CIBC FirstCaribbean account number 53368637 in the name of Ebbie Jackson, or at Palmdale Vision Centre, East Avenue, South Centreville.
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