BY LISA ELLISON
Connie Johns, a single mom, is battling leiomyosarcoma.
Following a hysterectomy over the summer, Johns continued to have pain. Her cousin, Alexis Buzzo and Buzzo’s mom, a retired nurse, were alarmed at the symptoms and the lab results Johns had shared.
However, no one expected it to be such a catastrophic diagnosis.
“An ER visit with imaging tests found the tumor in October 2022,” Buzzo said, adding, “the oncologists at Ruby have been amazing.”
Buzzo, her grandmother and another cousin have stepped in to help Johns as much as they can.
Buzzo, Sandra Hetrick and Johns are cousins, while Kathy Switzer is grandmother to Buzzo. They have a spaghetti dinner planned for Sunday with all proceeds going to Johns.
They have arranged the fundraiser for Johns to help with medical costs and daily living expenses.
The spaghetti dinner will be from noon-6 p.m. Sunday at Brookhaven VFD. Cost is $10 per person with dine-in or carry-out options. Coffee has been donated by Sheetz, and adult beverages from Benny’s Bar in Fairmont were given for a raffle.
Area businesses donating include Bath and Body Works, Bass Pro Shops, WVU Campus Bookstore, along with The Bakery in Fairmont.
There will also be baked goods for sale.
Those who are unable to attend the fundraiser, may donate to Connie Johns through GoFundMe: gofund.me/8f981849
Johns has had intense chemotherapy, which is three-weeks inpatient followed by one week off the regimen, for three rounds now.
A recent scan showed that the “tumor had not grown, but it had not shrunk.” Buzzo said Johns has to have three more rounds of the chemotherapy regimen, adding that she “cannot imagine how expensive it is.”
According to Mayo Clinic, leiomyoscarcoma, or LMS is a rare cancer that grows in the smooth muscles of the body’s hollow organs such as the intestines, stomach, bladder, blood vessels and uterus. Though this cancer is aggressive, roughly 95% of those diagnosed will survive for five years afterwards. Signs and symptoms of LMS depend on where the cancer starts in the body, and might include pain, weight-loss and a growing lump or swelling that can be felt through the skin.
LMS can go into remission, and follow-up care is important.
Whether during treatment or following treatment, medical expenses can be high.
Johns and her 14-year-old daughter share a home with Johns’ mother, and Johns is the main income source. She has been unable to work but hopes she can return to working at St. Francis School after her next round of chemo, or maybe the next school year.
This diagnosis follows Johns’ loss of two brothers since June 2020.
Buzzo said Johns “misses the kids at school so much. The biggest thing about her being stuck at home is that she worries about the kids at school.”
Buzzo said Johns has a positive outlook and a fighting spirit.
“In my whole life of 27 years, I have never seen her yell or raise her voice at anyone,” Buzzo said. “Today, first thing, she asked me about how I was doing.”
She “has definitely been more emotional, but not angry throughout this process. She had a strong faith in God before, but it has been more important in her life since her diagnosis.”
Both Switzer and Johns work at St. Francis.
Buzzo said Johns enjoys “taking care of everybody’s kids. She is the type of person that, if I called her needing something, she would make sure it happened. She is genuinely the best person I have ever met.”
Buzzo said Johns drives her youngest child to and from school every day.
