‘Not giving up’ Local breast cancer patient starts up support group for any woman with any form of cancer

PALMER— Lynn Nordland was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer last December and started off the new year with chemotherapy. She still has a many more treatments ahead of her and aims to help as many Mat-Su Valley women with cancer as she can with her new cancer support group called Just Us Girls Support, or simply JUGS.

“I don’t think any woman should be turned away,” Nordland said.

She saw a dire need for female cancer patients needing support and a fun break from their chemo or radiation therapies. She said for such a large area, the Valley was still lacking on resources.

“It just hit me in the gut,” she said.

JUGS hosted its first event, a scarf tying class last month. They gave out free scarves and showed women how to tie their own scarf around their head without having to buy an expensive, pre-tied garment. She said that she was appalled by how expensive official scarves were, upward of $30 or $40 per scarf. Her best friend, Deborah Price, agreed and was one of the first people to rally behind her group, back when it was just an idea.

“There’s women in the Valley who don’t have that kind of money. We couldn’t find any other resources,” Price said.

Nordland and Price regularly go through thrift stores picking up scarves that on average cost about $2 or $3.

All the classes are free and open to any women with any form of cancer. Nordland wants each guest to leave with gift bags, a new skill, a new friend and a new hope that fun is still possible.

“I think cancer is cancer,” she said.

She said that her “huge vision” is to hold a Sweetheart Dance where the women and their partners can dance the night away, celebrating the love, the support and the journey. The goal is to hold the event on Feb. 9 at the Grand View Inn.

“It’s to show our loved ones how much they mean to us. You don’t get a lot of date nights when you’re sick,” she said.

Nordland recalled the day she discovered a lump on her right breast and that first moment of terror.

“It was very frightening. I felt it and knew what I immediately knew what it was,” she said.

She called Price right away and the already inseparable duo became even closer. The two talk over the phone every day. Price regularly drives Nordland to her appointments.

“All summer, that’s all I did,” Price said with a laugh.

After Nordland started chemo, her energy was zapped. She said that she now limits her driving because of her overall achiness and lethargy and since her “chemo brain” making her renders her fuzzy.

“I feel like toddler sometimes, stumbling for words,” she said.

“She has her good days and her bad days,” Price said.

Nordland said that she picks her “good days” to drive, shop, visit with friends or family or whatever else she is normally too tired to do.

“Her journey has been amazing. Every day she dresses nice, she does her makeup…” Price said. “If I got cancer I would hope that I could handle the way she’s doing it, to handle it with the grace and courage she that she has.”

Price and Nordland talked heavily on what to call the group. Nordland ran several names past Price who in turn shut down every name that didn’t have an acronym she liked. Finally, Nordland put a name together that made sense — JUGS.

“I’m an acronym person,” she laughed.

Like many cancer patients, she found herself going to countless appointments across the Valley and having to make trips to Anchorage for a particular specialist like her surgeon, Dr. Judith Whitcomb, who is 74 years old but remains very active in the cancer community.

“She is a fascinating physician,” Nordland said. “She takes the greatest care of me.”

Nordland now has a team filled with doctors, teachers, receptionists, friends all dedicated to turning JUGS into an official non-profit organization, pooling together their skills, resources and most perhaps most importantly, their time.

“It’s really blossoming. This is her thing. This is what she was meant to do. Her heart is really there,” Price said.

In a little over a month, she will begin intensive radiation therapy, Monday through Friday with the weekends off. She said that the treatment requires 47 consecutive sessions.

“You can’t miss one,” she said.

Her biggest concern is not the frequency but the very nature of the treatment, saying the she will soon be inside an “oven.”

“I don’t know what else to call it,” she said.

Nordland said that in spite of her fears, she is holding onto life and going to fight no matter what. She credited much of her sanity and momentum to the support of the family, friends and various medical professionals and other community members.

“Cancer’s not gonna’ kill me. I ain’t giving up,” Nordland said.

The next JUGS event is Oct. 27, from 12 to 2 p.m. Nordland and her daughter will lead a free Sign Creating Party at Teeland Middle School. There are 10 spots available and to RSVP, text Nordland at 907-631-8810.