JENKS, Okla. — A Jenks Football family is celebrating a big win this football season after tackling a Cancer diagnosis.
"First and foremost, I'm a mom," says Kinsey Gaylor. She's Addyson and Cason's mom and also a proud football coach's wife. "My husband Adam is the Defensive Coordinator at Jenks High School," adds Kinsey.
And this past year, Kinsey also became a Cancer warrior.
"I have been very consistent with self-breast exams. I noticed something a little different. I didn't think much of it, but I thought I should see a doctor. That happened in the fall. I was 38 at the time. The baseline screening for mammograms starts at 40, so I'd never had a mammogram. On December 19, 2022, I had my first and my very last mammogram. The Radiologist read it, and I had an ultrasound the same day. They said it's probably nothing, but let's do a biopsy just in case," says Kinsey.
The results came back two days before Christmas.
"The Friday before Christmas, it popped up in MyChart. I'm a Nurse, so I opened it immediately. I thought it would show up benign, and it showed the exact opposite of that. I had Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, which is a type of Breast Cancer," says Kinsey.
Days later, the news got tougher. "On December 27, I found out that not only was it Breast Cancer, but it was one of the worst kinds of Breast Cancers you could have: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer," says Kinsey.
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Telling her children was brutal. "My son broke my heart when he told me, Mom, this might be your last Christmas with us. That was a reality that we were facing. And that was really, really hard, and I promised him this will not be my last Christmas with you," says Kinsey.
The treatment plan was aggressive to beat this aggressive Cancer. So, the Gaylors decided to share their story on social media with the community they love.
"At the time, I knew I was going to go through six months of chemotherapy. I'm going to have a double mastectomy, and I'm going to have extensive radiation treatments. It's going to be lengthy, and it's going to be long, and we're going to need all the support we can get. So Adam put a Twitter announcement out stating this is where we were at. And immediately, our phones were flooded with how can we help? What do you need? We're here for you. Every day, there was a gift basket on our porch from football families, the community, and flowers delivered to our house, just an unbelievable outpouring of love and support during the most difficult time of my life," recalls Kinsey.
Coach Adam Gaylor says, "It's a display of toughness I've never seen. Whether in life or on the football field. I've coached college football, guys in the NFL, and there's no one tougher that I've ever met than my wife."
Through it all, Kinsey worked as a nursing instructor and didn't miss a moment of mom life.
"I wanted to be there for them. I didn't care how sick I was. My very first chemo treatment. My daughter was in her first tournament for Jenks High School soccer as a freshman. I wasn't going to miss it. I was so sick, but I was there. I didn't miss a lacrosse game of my son's in the spring. I didn't miss anything," she said.
And as she took her treatments, she kept one significant milestone on her mind: the first football game.
"I knew if I could get to that point in August, the really hard stuff would be behind me, and I would still be fighting about halfway through radiation, but the nasty chemo and the surgery that was behind me. So, during the first football game, we stood on the balcony, and I was crying during the National Anthem. I'm sure the players didn't realize how much I was looking forward to that and what it meant to me to be there to see that. It was very special," says Kinsey.
The team dedicated all of its games in October, Breast Cancer Awareness month, to Kinsey. They wore pink, made her an honorary team captain, and gave her a signed ball. "I just look at it, and I smile because I can see the faces behind the signatures of those kids, and I love them like my own," says Kinsey.
And Kinsey has more to smile about. She just completed her final treatment. "Right now, I don't have Cancer. I am a Cancer survivor," she says.
Nearly a year since it all began, this warrior is taking each day as it comes and taking nothing for granted. With a grateful heart, she looks forward to peace this Christmas.
"We have done this. We have walked this hard battle, so this Christmas, I envision joy, love, and happiness," says Kinsey.
Kinsey encourages everyone to pay attention to their bodies- sharing that 80% of women under 40 find breast cancer themselves, so being proactive can save your life.
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