Hoschton resident Joanne Cure, 78, considers herself very active in her community, volunteering at a children’s hospital, playing pickleball and tending to her vegetable and butterfly gardens. Before retirement, Joanne studied to become a nurse, but decided she did not enjoy the routine nature of the job, pivoting instead to a career as a flight attendant. The transition turned out to be a great fit, and Joanne built an extensive 45-year career as a flight attendant for a major airline.
“What really drew me to work as a flight attendant was the opportunity to meet and interact with different people from all over. I got to visit so many places at such a fast pace, which always made things new and exciting,” Joanne recalled.
At the start of her career, Joanne spent years on planes during the smoking era, when smoking on planes was allowed. As a nonsmoker herself, Joanne described the experience on flights that allowed smoking as “brutal.”
“It felt like you were living in a coffin that just so happened to be flying 35,000 feet in the air. It was a night-and-day difference between my flights where passengers could smoke and where they couldn’t. Airlines allowing passengers to smoke were seen as sophisticated and even glamorous. People weren’t yet aware of the serious medical consequences smoking caused,” Joanne explained.
Joanne’s career as a flight attendant came to an end after she broke her ankle while running. While she was on leave, the airline offered Joanne a buyout — she took it, and her decision ultimately led her to finally explore a deep passion of hers — interior design. She worked for a design firm for five years before retiring with her husband, Michael. For a while, everything seemed fine. Joanne stayed active with her husband, exercising at least three times a week, but despite living a very healthy lifestyle, Joanne soon realized something was wrong. She began experiencing unexplained symptoms, which led her to seek treatment at Northside Hospital.
“I started to get a dry, uncontrollable cough. Each time I coughed, my nose would burn. My skin started to feel strange; my nasal passages and throat were often sore. I knew I needed to see an internist to figure out what was going on,” Joanne said.
She ended up visiting her primary care doctor, Dr. Sharon Tinanoff, who scheduled her for an MRI. After the MRI, Joanne was quickly referred to pulmonologist Dr. Daniel Callahan and a thoracic surgeon who ordered an immediate PET scan. Test results diagnosed Joanne with lung cancer that had spread to her brain.
Her lung cancer diagnosis was particularly shocking, especially because Joanne had never smoked.
Before doctors could begin to address her lung cancer, they decided the brain cancer necessitated urgent treatment: Joanne received gamma knife surgery to remove a brain tumor, followed by four rounds of chemotherapy. Strikingly, chemotherapy eradicated 50% of Joanne’s cancer.
“It was scary, honestly,” she recalled. “Being treated meant I would be staying, for the first time, overnight in a hospital setting. It can get depressing staying in a place like the windowless hospital room I was in because your health is declining.”
Joanne kept fresh flowers, a scented candle and music playing constantly to keep her mind in a good place during treatment,” Joanne stated.
After being discharged, attention turned to treating Joanne’s lung cancer. Northside Hospital oncologist Dr. Ioana Bonta prescribed Joanne 80mg of Tagrisso, an oral medication that targets non-small cell lung cancer in adults. Shortly after taking her prescription, Joanne broke out with sores that were irritated by direct sunlight. The medicine’s side effects affected Joanne’s quality of life (including her outdoor hobbies), but after discussing the impact with Dr. Bonta, Dr. Bonta lowered Joanne’s dosage to 40mg, ultimately improving Joanne’s medication response and minimizing side effects.
“Northside Hospital always found ways to improve my treatment experience, whether trying to prevent aggressive side effects to my medications or keeping me in good spirits while battling cancer,” Joanne said.
When asked about how she stays positive through treatments, Joanne expressed how the support of her family keeps her motivated.
“My husband and daughter inspire me to persevere through my treatments,” she said. “My daughter owns a small business where she creates natural products like oils and beef tallow, and she shares them with me to provide comfort alongside my prescribed medical care. It’s important to surround yourself with upbeat people who encourage you and help you stay positive through challenging times.”
Traveling also keeps Joanne in a positive mindset.
“My trips to Africa have been my absolute favorite so far! I recently got back from a trip to Cabo. Staying active and seeing new places motivates me to endure through treatments and to remember to stay on top of my medication. In sharing my travels with Dr. Bonta, I feel reassured that being active and remaining positive truly helps me handle the treatment better,” Joanne continued.
Surrounded by the support of her attentive doctors at Northside Hospital and her loving family, Joanne remains determined to continue her treatment with strength and prepare for an upcoming trip to Greece, Croatia and Italy this October.
“Cancer is something that happened to me, but it’s not something I dwell on. I am focused on the future and getting to live until I am at least 88,” Joanne declared. “I think my positive mindset has kept me going, and I think that’s why I am doing well and would encourage others to keep their head up during treatment, too.”
Joanne shared her story with Atlanta's FOX 5. Watch here:
Learn more about lung cancer treatment at Northside.
*The health story shared here is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Patients should consult with their own physician before making medical decisions.
