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Tracy Cupples
RACHEL TOWNSEND
Managing Editor
Native Dyer Countian Tracy Cupples has undergone battles with multiple types of cancer since the early 2000s, experiences which have impacted her life in such a way that have strengthened her resolve and her faith.
“To truly understand my journey, I’m going to have to go back because I've had five different cancers,” said Cupples.
Now 59 years old, her first cancer diagnosis came when she was only 38.
Her cancer journey started in July of 2003, following the discovery of a tumor in her colon.
“It was precancerous at that time,” explained Cupples, “I had it removed and, you know, life as I knew it kept floating along there for just a little while. Well, in 2007, I noticed a knot on my neck when I just happened to be looking in the mirror. I saw this shadow on my neck. It was on the right side of my neck. I said to myself, ‘OK something's not right.’”
At the time, Cupples was employed at the Dyersburg Hospital. Speaking with her primary care physician, she was advised to have an ultrasound performed.
“The ultrasound came back that there was something there,” said Cupples. “I had it biopsied and it came back as sebaceous neoplasm cells, so [they] went on and took it out.”
Cupples said the procedure involved the removal of a portion of her thyroid. Following the procedure, she started taking medications internally to try to treat the other side of her neck which the doctor had left intact.
“He said he felt it was important to not take the entire thyroid,” said Cupples. “I thought I was lucky. They caught the first one when it was just precancerous, and they caught this one in the early stages too.”
In 2011, Cupples faced yet another bout with cancer following a visit with her gynecologist. Suspicious cells were discovered after a biopsy of her uterus lining.
“They had to do a complete hysterectomy— ovaries, everything. It was precancerous so I didn't have to do anything else.”
Then, in 2012, Cupples, having just recovered from cancer, was confronted with even more hardship as her husband, Robert Cupples, suffered from two strokes while working as an educator and coach at Dyersburg Intermediate School.
“I have to tell this because it's pertinent to our story… [Robert] goes to work one day—he’s never been sick or anything … I can still remember the day—he always called me to check on me because of my health. He checked to make sure I was okay, and I didn't get that call that day.”
“Well, in February of 2015 our daughter, Cali, 25 [years old] at the time, had been having some health issues and she was pregnant. She ended up being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. She was diagnosed at 32 weeks [pregnant] and then she has the baby, and she has to go through the first rounds of chemo with me taking care of a newborn while also taking care of [Robert]. I started noticing how tired I was. I didn't really realize why I was so tired. Well, we finally got through her chemo in August of 2015, so she was cancer-free but I was a little tired and getting sick a lot.”
In February of 2016, Cupples was diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia and small-cell lymphoma and began seeing yet another oncologist.
I’m a patient at the West Clinic, so I go see my oncologist and hematologist, which is Doctor Jason Chandler,” explained Cupples. “At the time that's not who I went to, but I’ve changed since seeing him. I was told that if there's a good leukemia to have, I have it. They said I have the best type of leukemia but the worst type to have if it ever goes acute because you can't get a bone marrow.”
Having already been diagnosed with multiple types of cancer, Cupples said she had more tests performed to determine her genetic predisposition for breast cancer as her aunt had also had breast cancer.
“I was negative for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 and I thought, ‘okay,’ I don't have to worry about breast cancer. Little did I know, I did have to worry about breast cancer.”
Cupples says she was having IVIG treatment to keep her immune system up. Each treatment is a six-hour infusion.
“I was getting sick a lot with leukemia. Your immune system’s down so you're going to pick up everything and you have to be really careful. Well, I always scheduled my mammograms at the end of the year… In 2018, I had a mammogram scheduled for the last day of the year, whatever that fell on, but I was sick, and I couldn't go, so I called and rescheduled.
“They rescheduled it for April. Well, April rolled around, and I was sick again. I couldn't go.”
Cupples was finally able to have her mammogram months later in August. On the way home from the procedure, the doctor called to notify her that a spot was found that was possibly cancerous.
“I didn't think I had a risk of breast cancer,” said Cupples. “I go back to Jackson the following day and it's confirmed that I had a 6mm spot right up against my chest wall. 6mm is very small. I'm thinking the whole time, ‘how did this happen?’, you know? Which, when you look at my situation, I probably shouldn't have trusted the BRCA test…I thought this was the cancer that maybe I was going to avoid.”
Cupples says that you can always find God’s goodness in the details if you look hard enough.
“If I had gone for my mammogram in December, would it have even been there? If I had gone in April, would it have been there? I get there in August and it's 6mm and they see it. My doctor told me that the imaging center did a heck of a job to find it up against my chest wall.
A biopsy of the spot revealed Stage 1 breast cancer. Cupples says she begged doctors for a mastectomy, but they would not clear her for the procedure due to her immune system being compromised from leukemia. She was required to undergo a lumpectomy and radiation treatments.
“It's so important to get your mammograms,” advocates Cupples. “I had no early signs of breast cancer.”
Cupples says it’s important for people to know that cancer doesn’t discriminate.
“This is breast cancer month, and everybody should get a mammogram,” she said. “You know, get your mammograms, self-check yourself…the best defense is a good offense. Early detection is important.”
Cupples says her life now looks very different than before her battle with cancer began.
“I've had a white count that's gotten up to 189,900. If you know anything about white counts, you know that’s very high,” said Cupples. “ I got a call in the middle of the night back in May that said I needed to get to the hospital. My hemoglobin was really low, and they thought I might be bleeding somewhere, so this is like 2:30 in the morning.
“Of course, I have to get up and get [Robert] dressed. We didn’t even call the kids or anything. We just headed to Memphis. They finally got me admitted and told me I'd developed a rare hemoglobin anemia because of the leukemia. I'm on chemo pills twice a day for the leukemia for the rest of my life. They also had to start me on five rounds of intravenous chemo. They had to go through five rounds of that and I take it once a month. Every 28 days, I take a six-hour treatment of IVIG to boost my immune system, so I don’t have to live in a bubble. And all of this is in Memphis. Our life revolves around doctor's appointments. Each cancer has its own doctor has its own oncologist, so I have to see multiple oncologists and hematologists.”
Cupples says her battle against cancer has redefined who she is as a person.
“You have a lot of time when you're sitting in that chair for six hours. Who I am today and who I was then, there are two different people. I appreciate each day more and I have more of a grateful heart…you can't have faith and fear at the same time.”
“When I start hearing people's stories and, especially the ones at the clinic for the first time, I know they're scared,” shared Cupples. “When they see me and see how well I'm doing or how I’m handling life, it gives them faith and hope. I wonder if maybe this was my purpose, and I give God glory to do it all.”
“I wished I could sit here and tell you that I'm fearless, but I would be stretching the truth. Anxiety does creep in, but I'm not anxious or scared. I have to remind myself God has a plan for my life, and I have to trust that plan…when you're diagnosed with breast cancer, or any kind of cancer, it puts you on a roller coaster and I want people to know that you can still live a good life. Even with what we've been dealt, we have a good life. You can still find a positive out of every day. What’s truly important to me is to continue to look forward and never look backward unless I'm looking backward to see how far we've come.
Tracy and Robert have shared 37 years of marriage together. They are the proud parents of Dylan (36), Cali (35), and Jonathan (41). They are grandparents to six.