#BraveLikeJana
Name: Jana le Roux
Age: 22
Diagnosis: Ewing Sarcoma
Years of Survivorship: 1 year
Location: South Africa / California
Follow Jana on Instagram.
“You never know how you’re going to feel tomorrow. All you really have is today. So how can you make today the best day ever? Look at each day and moment and appreciate it for what it is.”
Originally from South Africa, Jana le Roux ended up in California for her junior and senior years of college. She attends Biola University in La Mirada, California with an athletic scholarship for cross country and track. Leading up to the summer of 2022, Jana experienced a stress fracture in her hip that put a pause on training and competing.
She turned her focus to weight lifting with a goal of strengthening her upper body, but soon noticed her arm feeling sore and hard to lift up vertically. She didn’t think much about it until at the doctor, she requested the cortisone shot to be administered on the painless arm. She learned her humerus and shoulder bone had completely detached. Her doctor wanted to figure out why the bone had broken so easily. After a series of scans and tests, Jana was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. A four inch tumor was located in her humerus bone and around her bicep.
“It happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to process it or let it sink in how much I went through. I was just focused on what I could do to be alive.”
Ewing sarcoma is a rare bone cancer that occurs most often in adolescents (National Organization for Rare Disorders). Commonly formed in hip bones, rib or long bones (like the femur or humerus), Ewing sarcoma accounts for 2% of all childhood and young adult cancer diagnoses. An early indicator of Ewing sarcoma is pain near the tumor site along with a broken bone.
Thankfully, Jana’s cancer had not metastasized to other places in her body. Once back home in South Africa, she received chemotherapy to shrink the size of the tumor. She recalls the challenges of chemotherapy,
“I was told that I would not be able to be a mom one day, I lost all my hair, I spent several nights on the bathroom floor and I missed my friends. I missed running and I felt so close to giving up on many occasions. But I didn’t. I got through the first 4 months and then had a major surgery.”
During the surgery, her humerus and shoulder was removed, treated with radiation, and placed back into her arm. Today, Jana has a thirteen inch scar running from her chest to her elbow as a reminder of that life-saving surgery.
Eager to return to her normal life in California and on the running team, Jana’s scans came back clear in December 2022, indicating she was cancer free and able to start running again.
Since early January 2023, Jana’s been running 20+ minutes a day. She credits being an athlete prior to her diagnosis with helping her recovery after chemo. She knows how to listen to her body and take care of herself as she had to do when running high mileage during the competition season.
“When I look at my scar, I see endurance. I see prayer, community and survival. It allows me to reflect on my story but it encourages me to look ahead. It makes me grateful for those who carried me when I couldn’t carry myself and proud for the moments that I was able to fight against all odds. My scars are something that are unique to who I am today, and it provides hope to who I can be tomorrow.”
How has running or staying physically active affected your cancer journey?
“On the days I do not have chemo, I bike. I recently started running again and it makes me happy. I appreciate my body for what it can do and not for what it looks like. I know what it's like to lay in a hospital bed for 7 days. Running is my favorite part of the day. It is what I looked forward to when I was sick in bed.”
What advice do you have for people on staying fit throughout their cancer treatment or recovery?
“Being active can make you look ahead to the future, and you can tell yourself, this too shall pass. In times that I am unable to be active, I am still hopeful as I look forward to when I can move.”
“Life’s there to be fully experienced. I am just taking it one day at a time.”
What is one of your proudest accomplishments since being diagnosed with cancer?
“I am most proud of how I have owned up to my baldness and scars. I miss my old self. But my old self wouldn’t have survived in the way I did. I can appreciate my body for what it's done for me–by saving my life–not by what it looks like. It’s important to not look to the world’s standards, but to have your own standards. For the first time in my life I can trust my body. This means not setting any limits for it. ”
How has Gabe's story impacted you or changed the way you view life as a cancer patient/survivor?
“Gabe’s story and professional running career is giving me hope to run at a high level again after my cancer treatment.”
What does being #BraveLikeJana mean to you?
“I was given a lot of other challenges over the past decade. This one was bigger, but that only means that I’ll come out stronger. Every day is one day closer to being healed. This is the only outlook I had. God never failed me and He is not going to fail me in this moment. This is how I beat this thing, one day at a time. You cannot foresee the future, none of us can, so why not just make the most of the present?”
What are you most looking forward to in the near future?
“I’m most looking forward to being reunited with my teammates at Biola University.”