Even when Jill Gelinas was decked out in pink and marching in the Making Strides walk several years ago, she'd be the first to admit she was something of a passive participant.
Never again.
Gelinas was diagnosed with breast cancer just days before her 47th birthday this spring, and though she's still dueling her way through a bout of chemotherapy, she and her team of nearly 25 walkers will take part in the annual event this week.
It's the kind of diagnosis that understandably changes everything, including Gelinas's outlook on the fundraiser she's was part of already.
“I've walked before, but I didn't really understand what breast cancer was. I just knew I was helping raise money for the cause, I really didn't know anyone with it,” Gelinas said. “(Now) it's surreal to be sitting there saying, 'Oh my God, this is me.' “
It is her, and Gelinas has made it a personal quest to remain the same person throughout the ordeal. A self-admitted jokester, Gelinas has navigated the sea of sickness and surgeries and specialists with her signature flair for sarcasm.
“I've been making a joke of this since Day One. I made a vow to myself – I am not crying one tear for this cancer,” Gelinas said. “My goal when I started, I said whoever brings me to chemotherapy, which has only been my husband, plan on having fun. This is my new adventure, and we are going to have fun doing it. So if you don't want to have fun and laugh and listen to music and sing, don't come with me.”
The diagnosis blindsided Gelinas and her family, coming just days after a normal exam. It was Gelinas who first found a lump and scheduled an appointment, with word on the diagnosis coming March 29. Her birthday is April 3.
But her positive outlook has proven more infectious than any disease. Her family has rallied around her, and she's received endless support from her two jobs, at Century 21 in Epsom and the State Department of Health and Human Services in Concord.
Both jobs have granted her time off for chemotherapy treatments – Gelinas is being treated at Dana Farber in Boston – and have also allowed her to come in late or not at all in the days thereafter, depending on how she's feeling.
She also has been able to continue pitching in at Whoop It Up Bakery in Allenstown, a business started by her aunt that she's been a part of since it opened in 2004. The bakery, coincidentally, was part of her early connection to Making Strides, as it donated hundreds of whoopie pies several years ago.
Her husband, Mark, works for Bestway Disposal, which has also been generous with aid, Gelinas said. The company donated money to her Making Strides fundraising effort, has given her husband time off every week to take her to and from chemotherapy and even created pencil holders in the shape of pink dumpsters to hand out as part of the fundraising effort.
That work inspired the name of Gelinas's team for the walk – Breastway Disposal.
Help has come in many shapes and sizes, some of it stuffed. SomeBunny, a stuffed animal given to Gelinas by her sister, has accompanied her to all of her chemotherapy appointments and often makes appearances on Facebook as Gelinas documents her journey. And Gelinas credits Kathy Crews, a Concord woman and author of Mom, It's Cancer, for “making me believe I was not going to die that first week” after the two, who had never met previously, spoke for two hours one evening.
The journey isn't over, either. She is currently in her second round of chemotherapy – the first was every week for 12 weeks, this one is every other week for eight – and will face six weeks or radiation after that. Then she has a year of “light chemotherapy” and five years of taking a chemo pill at home.
But her tumor shrunk dramatically after just three weeks of the initial treatment and is now “shrunk to nothing,” she says. The remaining treatments are to ensure she remains that way.
“I still feel like even though it's unfortunate to get the cancer, people are dying of this every day. I'm fortunate. I'm cancer-free right now,” Gelinas said. “I feel fortunate, and it's made me more opento really feeling for other people.”
Part of that is the emotion she felt when a handful of friends stopped by with food and other things to keep her going through the treatments, something she said she plans to do for others once she's back to full health. And part of that, in a similar light, is the walk, which will forever be part of her routine going forward.
Being passive? Never again. But being involved?
Always.
“I'm walking, come hell or high water. The walk, from this day forward, is going to have a very big part in my life,” Gelinas said. “We're busy people, and you don't realize. I wasn't hit by it. You don't think about the people everyday having to go through this stuff and how their lives have changed. I've led a pretty busy life and I've always thought I didn't have time to donate more time. But that's the stuff I'm going to be doing more of.” to really feeling for other people.”
Part of that is the emotion she felt when a handful of friends stopped by with food and other things to keep her going through the treatments, something she said she plans to do for others once she's back to full health. And part of that, in a similar light, is the walk, which will forever be part of her routine going forward.
Being passive? Never again. But being involved?
Always.
“I'm walking, come hell or high water. The walk, from this day forward, is going to have a very big part in my life,” Gelinas said. “We're busy people, and you don't realize. I wasn't hit by it. You don't think about the people everyday having to go through this stuff and how their lives have changed. I've led a pretty busy life and I've always thought I didn't have time to donate more time. But that's the stuff I'm going to be doing more of.”
