Paulette Cooner, a 68-year old Kingsland resident, says she had never been
good about self-breast exams, but one Sunday morning in November 2011,
she was taking a shower and God told her she should check her breasts.
When she did, she found a very large, hard lump. Paulette was surprised
since her mammogram had come back normal only five months earlier. "My
heart was racing but I didn't tell anyone until after church, and
then I asked my husband if he would check my breast and he found it immediately," she says.
Paulette was able to get in with her gynecologist, Carl Dohn Jr., M.D.,
immediately, and within weeks she was diagnosed with cancer. She started
chemotherapy treatments the week after Thanksgiving under the direction
of Duane Moores, M.D., of Southeast Georgia Physician Associates-Hematology
& Oncology, a strategic affiliate of Southeast Georgia Health System.
In early 2012, Paulette had a mastectomy and then she started radiation
therapy under the direction of Timothy Jamieson, M.D., of Southeast Georgia
Physician Associates-Radiation Oncology, also a strategic affiliate of
the Health System.
Paulette was thankful that she was able to get her cancer treatments at
the newly opened Cancer Care Center at the Southeast Georgia Health System
Camden Campus. "I am especially thankful that the Cancer Care Center
opened in St. Marys because I was really dreading the drive to Brunswick
every day for radiation therapy," Paulette says. "I've had
several friends with cancer that had to make that drive every day for
a 10-minute treatment and it is very frustrating."
In addition to the convenience, she was extremely pleased with the staff
at the Cancer Care Center. "Everyone was just so upbeat and friendly.
Mary Parrot, the receptionist is as sweet as can be. The radiation therapists
Brent Higgins and Jason Yates were superb. They always made me feel very
comfortable. When I finished my treatments, it was almost like leaving
friends because they made you feel so special and did such a good job."
Paulette completed her treatments in September 2012. "It wasn't
really a scary time. It was just something I had to go through,"
she said. "Everyone at the Cancer Care Center put me at ease and
being a Christian, I knew that God was in control so I wasn't afraid.
I am happy to have my family around me, and I know that the future is
in my Heavenly Father's hands."