Amanda's Drive 2026 | Memorable moments

In the spring of 2018, an unbearable exhaustion quietly settled in. I’d return home from teaching and collapse onto the couch for hours, drained of every ounce of energy. By summer, sitting in my car at my son’s baseball game in South Florida, I realized I couldn't even muster the strength to walk to the bleachers. I loved to watch him play, but for the first time in his life, I couldn’t.

Getting help proved to be its own battle. With months-long waitlists for my regular doctors, a friend pulled strings to get me into a new clinic. The doctor there brushed off my symptoms as a middle-aged thyroid issue and sent me to a surgeon, who examined my neck, reviewed my blood work, and sent me right back to square one: my thyroid was completely fine. Pushing my health aside for my job, I canceled a fall OB/GYN appointment—a mistake that cost me three critical months.

By December, the fatigue had turned into total exhaustion. My stomach had swollen so significantly that I looked pregnant. During a rescheduled visit, my OB/GYN noticed swollen lymph nodes in my neck. An urgent ultrasound, CT scans, and a CA125 blood test followed. Then came the call that changed everything: a large mass had been discovered on my left ovary.  

In January 2019, following a complete hysterectomy and debulking procedure, I was diagnosed with Stage 3C ovarian cancer. One specialist gave me a 40% chance of surviving five years; another claimed it was Stage 4 with a meager 10% survival rate.

What followed was a brutal, years-long war. I endured endless rounds of chemotherapy—including Taxol, Carboplatin, Doxil, and Avastin—which severely damaged my cardiovascular system, requiring three heart stents to keep my arteries open. In late 2025, I spent six weeks in Houston undergoing daily radiation at MD Anderson.

Against every single statistical odd, I reached the five-year mark and hit a point of No Evidence of Disease. I became a walking miracle. Now, seven and a half years into this journey, I am facing my fifth recurrence. As I wait on my medical team to map out our next move, my faith remains intact, and I am ready to fight this monster once again.

Jennifer, Phillip, Drew, Carson and Lilly.  Jennifer (46) is a Gifted Teacher at Roopville Elementary School.  She started her career in education in 1998 and currently teaches gifted education at Roopville Elementary School where she has been for 20 years.  Phillip (53) is employed with DieTech in Carrollton.  Drew (22) is a student at Mississippi State University where he is majoring in Agricultural Science.  Carson (20) is a lineman with MasTec, and Lilly (13) is in 8th grade at Central Middle School.  Lilly is an active teenager who enjoys soccer, membership in the FFA, and has recently served as a missionary in South Dakota.  The family attends Tyus Baptist Church and they enjoy serving in various areas of the church.