Saundra Smith: Coming to grips with her cancer experience

When her mother tried to register Saundra Smith for school in Port Arthur, Texas, she got a surprising response.

“They said they didn’t have a nursery school, and that she should bring me back next year for kindergarten,” Saundra said.

Old enough to be a first-grader, Saundra’s small stature caused the confusion.

Also very athletic as a child, “I did not have the problems that obese children have,” she said.

THE 'WEIGHT'ING GAME
It’s when Saundra quit being physically active that she began gaining weight.

Saundra Smith

Then, when Saundra was 25, her mother died of cancer. Depression followed.

“I started adding pounds, and I gradually gained more and more through the years,” she said.

While also dealing with high blood pressure and diabetes, Saundra became aware of how others perceived her.

“I worried about whether my family was embarrassed. The truth is that I was embarrassed for them to be seen with me,” she said.

Her son, daughter and husband were concerned about her health, but they remained supportive.

“My husband, Gary, never placed any sort of guilt trip on me,” Saundra said. “He was never critical. He never once said, ‘Do you really need to eat all of that?’ or ‘Maybe you should save some for later.’”

Saundra tried a stomach stapling procedure when she was 40. She expected it to be a magic cure. “But I didn't do my part,” and she continued to gain weight.

At 386 pounds, she finally decided to have a gastric bypass in 2005.

SURPRISE, YOU HAVE CANCER
“When I woke up, I learned that the doctor had found tumors on my stomach, liver and pancreas,” Saundra said. “But I didn’t give myself time to be depressed about the cancer. I was too irate about him not doing the bypass.”

After being released from the hospital and having a battery of tests, it was decided that Saundra would die sooner from being obese and associated medical issues than from her carcinoid cancer.

So they rescheduled the gastric bypass surgery, during which her tumors were seared.

Cancer runs in Saundra's family.

Once Saundra was back on solid food, her doctor began to control the cancer with a monthly injection.

“I started participating in Relay for Life, but felt odd doing so. I almost felt guilty saying I had cancer or that I was a survivor,” she said. “It was like I didn’t have the right to be there since I had no real symptoms of cancer the way others had. All I did was take a shot. I had no radiation. I had no weeks of regular chemo.

“So I just concentrated on being there for my mother and her five siblings who had died of various cancers, and for friends who died or were going through cancer treatment.”

In addition to losing her mother to breast cancer and five aunts and uncles to other forms of cancer, Saundra learned that several members of her grandmother’s family also lost cancer battles.

Still, beyond receiving her monthly shot, the carcinoid cancer didn’t seem to have much of an impact on Saundra’s daily life.

But things changed in 2016. She was up to two injections a month, and then was switched to an oral chemo drug. That’s when drug interaction problems and side effects hit her hard.

“I began to realize that I didn’t have an annoyance. I had cancer. It finally started becoming real,” Saundra said.

She began having physical problems and was dealing with the depression that many cancer patients experience.

While researching carcinoid cancer, Saundra learned about the zebra stripe ribbon that brings awareness to the disease. She was quick to order T-shirts featuring a zebra.

Her house is now full of zebra-themed items, including stuffed animals, pillows and quilts given to her by family and friends.

In the process Saundra has become more vocal about carcinoid cancer, and she is happy to educate others about the disease.

Saundra and her husband, Gary

THE SHOW MUST GO ON
While she deals with mobility and stamina issues, Saundra stays busy with a number of activities. Topping the list is Baytown Little Theater, where she and Gary have been members since 1968.

“Gary is the lights guy and I’m the props mistress,” she said. “I also have directed both youth and adult shows.”

She will hold auditions for the theater’s latest play, “The Lion in Winter,” on April 2-3.

Saundra recently learned from a specialist in Houston that her tumors are significantly reduced.

“I’m coming to grips with the fact that my cancer will never go away. It travels the blood system and the lymph system, and we will continue to deal with the outcrops of tumors. But I’ll take that,” she said.

“Back in 2005 when we started all of this, I was told by one of my doctors that because of my obesity, the cancer and my other health problems, they didn’t really expect me to still be living today. They tell me that I’m a tough old bird. I gladly relate to that.”