Jacksonville, Fl — It was chance meeting at a family dinner that changed Kelly Jones’ life.
The Jacksonville native, who now lives in Gainesville, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2012.
They had results within 24 hours. Everything happened so fast and she wanted to be aggressive, so she chose to have a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy.
During treatment, Kelly was was introduced to the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute during a weekend with her parents in Steinhatchee.
They’re friends with Dr. Nancy Mendenhall, who has nearly 30 years of experience and specializes in the areas of breast cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, lymphomas and pediatric cancers.
Mendenhall encouraged Kelly to see if she qualified for treatment at UF Health Proton Therapy. As it turns out, she did, and started treatment shortly thereafter.
Because the cancer originated in her left breast, the proton therapy was targeted without impacts to her heart and lungs.
She wanted to keep life as normal as possible during proton therapy, which meant driving daily to Jacksonville from Gainesville.
At the end of treatment, Kelly admits feeling sad because she had been with her ‘team’ every day. At that time (2012) the huge Aud’s chimes weren’t yet in the lobby.
But a few years later, she was asked to be in a commercial for the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, and she jumped at the chance.
Kelly describes the chimes as sounding peaceful. She recently celebrated her 14th anniversary cancer-free, and says she is thankful to the entire team at UF Health Proton Therapy Institute for their dedicated efforts on her cancer journey.
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