[Rozebud]

Dear friends of Jojo…..I hate to bring this news, but I received this email from Jojo’s husband this morning:

Joanne "JoJo" d'Almeida was suffering with Breast Cancer for 4 and half years. She passed away on Dec 28th, 2007 around 3:40pm. We miss her.
Jo's Husband, David

I don’t have any other details than that. I was blessed to “know” Jojo. I first met her on this message board, in June 2004. I remember we started emailing immediately, both stage IIIC and on herceptin. Then, within 2 weeks of me “knowing” her – she recurred, to a neck node and to her brain. I thought often of how lonely it must be to be both living with metastatic cancer and to be deaf. I know it brought her a level of peace and understanding I’ll never know….but I also know it was very isolating for her. She was in so much pain over the past several years….in and out of the hospital….so God has finally freed her from her pain.


My girls have a whole set of Jojo’s Circus toys thanks to her J . I remember how excited she was to go to the Summer 2004 Olympics in Greece. She was always asking about other people on the boards and praying for them. And she was using a pager and small technical gadgets WAY before me!!

I’m going to miss Jo. I wanted to share some excerpts from emails over the years. God bless all of you – Rose






When asked how she responds to people saying she’s brave (7/07):
But while at it, I actually become rather speechless, or just mumble a response in modesty, whenever people tell me that I am being strong for dealing with such an ordeal. Honestly, I don't really know if I DO have that kind of strength. I guess I just can't see myself, not a good & clear way... maybe I show a stoic personality?? Just guessing!


Thoughts of Survival and God (8/05):

Remember I told you a while ago about my so-called mantra? Well, I was watching a TV documentary on cancer patients. Some people don't make it, others do. I only remember the lucky guy in the show. He was actually an atheist & like Lance Armstrong, he refused to credit his survivorship to God or anything else beyond "earth life". I forgot which cancer he had, but it was pretty advanced. I think his sheer willpower made a difference, just like Lance's. Anyway, the guy said in the show that he did see some survival data, but he arbitrarily decided that numbers don't matter at all and that we could survive.
That was his own mantra. So, this show kinda got me thinking about my own persective on survival data.... Just ignore it & really believe that I could survive. Of course, with my faith, I ask God to agree with me. :-) Like I said, God is the big boss here!

I know this has been said over & over & over all the time, but truly "time does pass & things get easier." It's always the hardest at newly diagnosed, but we eventually get used to it. I'm feeling a bit more 'normal' now than before. Oh, of course I have my 'scared' days every now & then, BUT I do also have 'best' days!!!


After I had a clean PET scan (summer 05):
I just stopped, then praised God on your scan. Whenever I feel anything negative about my cancer (sad, pessimistic, etc), I would try to catch myself in time & remind myself that it ALREADY happened & there is NO way for me to turn back the clock & I gotta DEAL with it NOW, but just hope for anything better in the near future.

Of course, every now & then I would whine to God that I was not brave enough & how I could do about it? I'm only human....
I probably would have felt more jealous [of being cancer-free], if I were hearing, only because I would be so used to taking everything for granted. So, if I wanted to have a better perspective, I could just say that that's one advantage of being deaf. :-)


A Prayer Jojo wrote (10/04):
Dear God,
Cancer is unbelievably hard on us ladies, but it must be 200 times harder on husbands/wives, partners, boy/girlfriends, parents and children as they witness us ladies fight against cancer. May our Dear Lord give them the strength, peace, bravery, grace, mercy and the light (understanding) as they watch our continuous fight. Help them have an easier time to remain on our sidelines and be strong enough to
stand by us consistently, as we ladies need to rely on their love.

Please God, try to cease their guilt "what can I do? I feel so helpless for them" because that can be an unhealthy consumption of their mind & soul. Cancer or not, we still adore them. Cancer just happened & we can't turn back time, but gently lead our loved ones get closer us throughout our difficult ordeal. In the name of our Father, of our Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.