It has been about four weeks since you have seen Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Jamie Jarosik.
On June 22, she underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer this spring. 2 News Today Anchor Lauren Wood had the chance to catch up with her the other day.
Jamie wanted to give an update on how she’s doing. “I’m doing really good,” Jamie said. “Taking it one day at a time. But trying to have a positive attitude to get through the rest of the journey.”
Jamie’s journey with breast cancer started with a routine mammogram back in the spring. A biopsy revealed cancer in SITU. At that point, it was believed to be stage 0/1. Since her mastectomy, things have changed a bit.
“Surgery wasn’t exactly what we expected,” Jamie said. “It did take a lot longer. It was supposed to take six hours but it ended up being closer to 9 and a half hours. That was basically because the doctor was really trying to be careful in getting the entire mass out.”
It’s been upgraded to stage 1 and she will have to undergo further treatment including chemo and radiation.
“The radiation is because the margins were not totally clear,” Jamie recalled. “It was very very close margin and for her to go in and take out any other tissue would be actually removing skin, which is not very doable.”
Testing also revealed her cancer is HER2-positive. It’s a more aggressive form of breast cancer that grows rapidly. Because of that, she also needs chemotherapy. It begins this week.
“It’ll be three months of pretty intense chemotherapy. The typical side effects. Fatigue. Nausea. Hair loss,” said Jamie. “Then after those three months, it’ll go to a less intense, specific drug, that will target the HER2 protein. It will go for a year, unfortunately.”
But Jamie is staying positive.
“I’m feeling good that this is a way to make sure every single cancer cell is out of my body,” Jamie said.
She says support from family, friends, and the community has made the entire journey easier.
“We have received a lot of flowers. A lot of cards,” said Jamie. “It’s been so nice to read everybody’s messages on Facebook. On the Jamie’s Journey page. And my Meteorologist page. And a lot of food. I feel like the whole family is very thankful for a lot of treats and meals. So just really appreciative of the community support we have.”
And, she says… you’ll probably see her back on air in a few weeks.
“I’m going to get a couple weeks of chemo in and see how that makes me feel. I definitely plan to work through it,” Jamie said. “I just kind of want to see which day after chemo I’m going to feel bad and try to plan my schedule around that.”
You can follow along for more updates on the “Jamie’s Journey” Facebook page.
