Breast Cancer Awareness and One Crockett Teacher’s Story
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – It is one thing to help increase awareness for Breast Cancer month – wearing pink ribbons and donating to help fight this terrible disease.
For Crockett Independent School District (CISD) Katie Johnston, no reminding is needed.
Ms. Johnston agreed to meet with me in the school cafeteria and tell her story in order to help others understand how personal and close to home breast cancer can be. By the end of our visit, we both fought tears in our eyes. To see such a young and passionate person have to take on such a struggle, at times with everyone helping and supporting – at times all alone – is one of the most inspiring and difficult stories of this reporter’s career.
I first met Ms. Johnston when writing about the Master Teacher program at Crockett High School. She had mentioned her diagnosis and I remembered to follow up with her and see how she was doing.
It was during the pandemic in 2020 when Johnston first noticed a tiny lump after a self-examination. She was teaching at the junior high school at the time. Friends and family told her not to worry – it could be so many different things.
Johnston thought her age and healthy lifestyle left something like cancer out of the question.
“I felt fine. I felt healthy. I don’t smoke. I eat healthy. I used to run all the time. And I didn’t really drink or anything like that,” Johnston explained. “I would consider myself to be very healthy at that time. So again in July, I felt the lump and I thought, ‘I am 28 – I am not going to pursue this. I’m not going to worry about it right now. I am just going to wait and see what happens. Maybe it will go away.”
However, Johnston, a worrier by nature, noticed the lump had gotten bigger and decided to see the doctor, just to be sure. Getting in to see a doctor at all during the pandemic was no easy feat. It had only been a few months since she first noticed the lump, but by then, it was already bigger and “hard like a rock.”
It was December 2020 when the results from her biopsy came back. She still remembers the call and her determination not to let it ruin her life.
“ I had just come back to Crockett to teach at the junior high. So I was teaching full time, I was pursuing my master’s degree, I was also working on a graduate research assistantship at UT Tyler,” Johnston said. “So I had a lot going on. I was very determined to still continue living my life. I was going to do everything I wanted to do. I wasn’t going to let anyone or anything else dictate my happiness.”
The lump was now officially a stage three cancer – it was because of her youth it was so aggressive since younger cells can replicate more quickly.
Johnston started on aggressive therapy and surgery to battle the cancer. Nausea, depression – along with so many other side effects tore through her life even as doctors worked to save it. After only two weeks, she lost her beautiful hair she had always been so proud of.
“It was long, a beautiful color, texture, everything – it was perfect. And then two weeks after I started ‘chemo’ clumps started coming out,” Johnston said. “I would be brushing my hair and it would just all fall out. I would wash my hair and it would just clump in the shower and become matted. I had to shave it off.”
Johnston took her pain, fury, worry out by writing – documenting her struggles – the wins and losses.
“I would write a lot. I would have journal entries, prose pieces, even poems – things like that,” Johnston said. “I want to compile them and make a book of some sort.”
What followed was a double mastectomy and then radiation.
Johnston’s biggest worry was not being able to be with her junior high students. She is grateful for the support of the people at CISD. She was able to keep her job and teach remotely. At the beginning of this year, she began her new position as a Master Teacher, working with teachers at the high school to improve their skills in the classroom.
The young lady speaking about all this tells her story in a calm way. Her shoulder-length hair looks amazing, and you would never suspect what she has been through. The fight is not quite over – more tests are coming to make sure the cancer does not return.
She has overcome the terrible hopelessness she felt throughout the process. The “Why me?” questions and the worries for the future. Johnston still plans to start a family of her own – that may have been affected by the chemotherapy. Only time will tell.
Johnston is a brave and honest person. It was no doubt difficult to share such personal details with this reporter. Her story is one of determination and how the human spirit can overcome so much.
It is also a warning to women – check yourself and if you think something is not right – go see the doctor. It is a lesson for us all – to value what you have in life because there will always be curves in the road.
Prayers this month for all of those who suffer from breast cancer – those far away – and the beloved souls so close to home.
Johnston has set up a GoFundMe page for anyone interested in helping.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
