Ellie Ledin (00:01.866)
All right, welcome. Why don’t you introduce yourself and tell the audience a little bit about who you are and what your story is.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (00:12.059)
Well, my name is Joanne Terry Florio. I am a wife of my wonderful husband. His name is Jean Florio. And we have three beautiful children, Pierre, Jaylen, and Kayla.
I worked in accounting and business for over 25 years. I’m an active member at my church. Family and friends, connections, time spent together are some of the most important things to me in my life.
Ellie Ledin (00:48.802)
That’s amazing. I love all of the names of your kids too. That’s so It sounds kind of French. Is it a French influence?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (00:53.873)
Mm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (00:58.245)
Yes, my husband is from Haiti. My maiden name was Moore and I always joke with him that everybody could pronounce my maiden name. And his response is always, you’re welcome. Now I’ve given you something to talk about.
Ellie Ledin (01:06.347)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (01:12.35)
Yes. my gosh, I love that. It’s a nice flair. I also have a last name that sometimes people don’t, most people don’t get right the first time, but yours is so sweet. Yes. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about how illness has been a part of your journey and your family’s journey?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (01:27.217)
Thank you.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (01:39.493)
Yes, illness was a devastating, my diagnosis was a devastating moment in my life. I was 43 years old, the pandemic had started. I knew something was wrong, but it took several months to get to the hospital, to the doctor, just because there was so much going on. you know, so just between,
going back and forth with getting an appointment scheduled. It was the end of 2020 before I went to the doctor. And ultimately it was get an ultrasound. Okay, go get an MRI. Okay, we see that there’s a large mass in your uterus. So we want you to see a gynecological oncologist. She recommended.
hysterectomy which I had in February of 2021 and after the hysterectomy I just assumed that I was going to go in for my follow-up appointment. We talked about how my healing was progressing and I was going to move on with my life and we sat in this small room. It felt like a small walk-in closet, know, just enough space for two chairs. My husband was in the car because again we’re still in
COVID so he couldn’t come up with me and she said, I’m sorry to tell you but you have Lael Myosarcoma. This is a rare and aggressive cancer. And I didn’t even know what to say. I had so many things going through my head at the time. First and foremost was my children as well as my siblings and my husband of course.
what am I supposed to do with a rare and aggressive cancer? You know, we have things to do. That was probably the first thing, like we have so many things to do. And just in terms of my own background, my mom got sick when I was 19 with breast cancer. At the time that she initially got sick, my brother was two years older than me, so he was 21. And my younger sisters were…
Ellie Ledin (03:35.896)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (03:54.705)
10 and 1.
So two years of taking care of her before she passed away. And then the four of us stayed together for a number of years. My brother and I raising my sister, I was by myself with the girls for a few years. And then, you know, a lot of things happened. Life changed a lot for all of us. But ultimately, knowing that my sisters grew up without our mother, you know, the older one, she of course remembers her. My youngest sister does not remember.
mom. So the thought of my children not remembering me or even the thought of history repeating itself was just devastating to me to have this diagnosis. So it was very difficult to deal with that diagnosis but I am utterly grateful for family and friends, my husband and my children.
they were top tier. They took care of me and I had the opportunity to experience love in a whole new way. So like I said, family and friends have always been extremely important to me, but to experience love the way that I did during this process was just amazing. It was God’s love living through people.
I had the opportunity to experience it in such a more beautiful and profound way. And I’m grateful for that. Not that I ever wanted to be sick, but the way that they cared for me was just so beautiful and so loving. And it made me love every last one of them even more.
Ellie Ledin (05:38.156)
Wow, thank you for sharing that. Talk about life being changed in a second. In that walk-in closet, small space, just an unexpected news. And yeah, the first response of, well, we’ve got things to do. We don’t have time for this. This isn’t what we were thinking. This wasn’t the plan.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (05:47.323)
Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (06:03.76)
Not at all.
Not at all. I can tell you honestly, I had even from a financial standpoint, it was, okay, juniors, I call my son Pierre Jr. He’s getting ready for college. So I had this whole plan mapped out. I’m going to save X amount of dollars and I’m gonna start with him. And then as soon as his, you know, I’ve met my goal for his account, then I’m gonna start with the next one. And then all of a sudden, I don’t know whether I’m gonna live.
I don’t know how much time I have left. Time was like the biggest thing that was on my mind because it was not enough time to do all the things that I needed to do specifically with my children because they’re young.
and I want them to be prepared for life. I want them to have the tools and skills that they need in order to be successful in life. I want them to have a relationship with God and know who he is and know that they can depend on God no matter what happens and no matter who’s there and who does or doesn’t show up for them. And it just felt like there wasn’t enough time to do anything.
Also, during that particular time, I worked for a very small company as the Director of Business Operations, so I was responsible for all of the accounting, HR, and business functions. And if I didn’t do payroll, nobody got paid.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (07:41.141)
So there was lots of pressure to, not from my job, they were very supportive, but the pressure is still there because I know what my responsibilities are and I know who’s impacted by it. And the one thing that was not gonna happen is that the ball was gonna drop. So there was just lots of pressure all around. Ultimately, after some bounce around,
Ellie Ledin (07:55.192)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (08:00.248)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (08:07.759)
with doctors and hospitals. ended up at Johns Hopkins and I’m still there till today and very happy with the quality of care that I have received from them. But I started chemo. Chemo was extremely rough, lots of symptoms from one day to the next, fatigue.
rashes, hair loss, lots of things that are even hard to explain in terms of how you feel. The part that I wasn’t prepared for was the emotional aspect of how much a diagnosis like this takes a toll on you and how much all the symptoms can weigh on you. But I stopped working.
Ellie Ledin (08:43.47)
Mm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (08:57.965)
At the end of 22, I stayed on just long enough to help transition the individual that took my place at my job. And I’ve been home ever since, just focusing on taking care of myself, trying to stay as healthy as I can, eating well, exercising as much as my body will allow, which is the new norm.
you know, of not being able to function at the same level that you used to, but still being able to see God in everything.
Ellie Ledin (09:34.348)
Yeah, something you said was really interesting to me of when you were talking about the payroll, if I don’t do this, no one’s going to get paid and talking about I don’t want the balls to be dropped. And I feel like that is something I hear very often in the cancer journey is feeling like you have to keep up with things because the world is going to keep going on. The responsibilities are still there, but now you don’t feel well and
You are facing these huge questions that you never really had to be faced with before. How else did you feel like the balls had to be in the air still where you had to keep showing up to things in the midst of your cancer journey?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (10:28.475)
Well, was extremely important to me that even though I was going through this, I did not want cancer to consume the lives of my family. So when birthdays came, we still celebrated. I tried as much as possible for us to still travel and go places. Of course, I had to be mindful of, OK, I can’t walk up.
You know, I’m not going on any hikes. I don’t have the energy or the capacity to do that. At this point, I was not going to be on the plane for long periods of time, but we did road trips, you know, short drives, and we did as much as we can. Sometimes my job was just to plan the trip and sit on the sideline and take photos as opposed to being as actively involved as I used to. So I tried to make sure that their birthdays in particular
because we do like the birthday parties around here. Try to make sure that they were still pretty. Make sure, you know…
as much as I wanted to, you know, to keep dinner on the table the way that I used to. And I just, you know, I could not maintain that. And I’m grateful. You know, my husband never made me feel less than at any point during this. And that I’m extremely, extremely grateful for. He was fine with, okay, we’re gonna do what we have to to make it through this. It’s okay. You don’t have to cook. As long as our credit card works, then we’ll go buy something to eat if we need to.
Ellie Ledin (11:48.814)
Thank you.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (12:04.139)
or I’ll make poppies macaroni macaroni and I would laugh and I’m like I don’t eat that. But the children used to love it when they were younger. But you know we’ll figure it out and so that was an adjustment that I really had to come to as well to say okay delegation that’s all right it can happen.
Ellie Ledin (12:14.766)
you
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (12:26.851)
If it doesn’t happen the way that I would normally do it, that’s okay. We’ll be fine. It’s all right if it’s not perfect. Not that I’m perfect, but it didn’t have to meet this high standard of whatever. Good enough to get by is fine.
But I think work was probably the biggest pressure there because financially, of course, you got to keep a roof over your head. But at some point, I knew that I didn’t want to die at my job. So it was important for me to spend time with my family.
And I knew that at some point that no matter who agreed or disagreed, that was a decision that I was going to make for me. And I was glad that I made the decision. You know, there’s, there’s pressure that even comes with calling out. And when you start chemo in particular, you don’t really have control of your life. There’s a lot that can change at the drop of a dime. You can have an appointment scheduled for Friday morning, but if your numbers aren’t
Ellie Ledin (13:23.95)
Mm-hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (13:36.479)
good, if you don’t meet the minimum requirements for your white blood cell count or any of the other counts that are required for you to be healthy enough to get chemo, then your appointment will be scheduled. It might be replaced with two or three other appointments so that we can figure out what we need to do to get your numbers back up and then put chemo back on the schedule. So learning to be flexible in the midst of all that process was challenging for me in particular because I
I’m very much a planner. I like to know what’s going on when and when it’s gonna end and where we’re gonna go and what do I need to pack in order to prepare. And a lot of that was just out of my control. So I had to learn how to relax and I had to learn how to go with the flow and to be a little bit more flexible in that whole process.
Ellie Ledin (14:08.205)
Hmm.
Ellie Ledin (14:31.822)
Yeah, mean, talk about a lesson in being.
flexible and letting go of some expectations and maneuvering around adjustments and pivoting plans and expectations and it sounds like you did a great job, your family was really supportive in that and and still I feel like it’s human nature to want to have a say in how things are going or if it’s not going well like let’s change something but it’s hard when you’re in a situation where
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (15:02.801)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (15:05.324)
You can’t change it. Like you’re kind of at the mercy of this medicine in your body and it’s making you feel a lot of different ways emotionally, physically, everything. So yeah, that is admirable to just go with kind of at the mercy of this, even when it’s really difficult.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (15:29.615)
Yeah, yeah, that’s definitely a place where your faith is tested and you really learn to just trust God that he has you and your family in the palm of his hands. And it was challenging.
It was definitely challenging, but I can say that coming, not that I’m completely on the other side. You know, one of the things that I did was at some point I asked for a break from chemo because the symptoms were so devastating.
After I took that break, know, it takes a couple of weeks for your body to start feeling better Because you don’t have that chemo in your system and the more I felt better the less I wanted to be on chemo So at some point I told the doctor that I didn’t want to go back on it and she said well Do you mean now or never? So then she made me nervous because she asked me if I had ever heard of palliative care. Well, I had
but it was usually it was at the time of death for another family member, so I Did get in touch with the palliative care doctor, but ultimately I was glad that I had that conversation Because she went back to the table to see well what else can we do to support? To support me in this journey without chemo, and so we switched to hormone therapy
And when comparing the symptoms that come with chemo versus the symptoms and the results of having the hormone therapy, hormone therapy is fine. I have had some increases in the nodules. So ultimately, after I had the hysterectomy,
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (17:28.325)
the end of 2021 there were nodules that had spread to my lungs and I did chemo for about a year and a half and then I switched to hormone therapy say January of 2023.
and I’ve had some increases in the nodules in my lungs, but overall my experience has been so much better. And although the bar is different, you know, I’m not at the capacity that I was pre LMS, but I’m able to function, you know. These past few weeks I have been dealing with some significant pain in my back, so I have some appointments scheduled to try and address that. But overall,
Ellie Ledin (18:01.656)
Mm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (18:16.275)
it’s still not as bad as what I was dealing with when I was on chemo.
Ellie Ledin (18:21.486)
That’s so good to hear and even if it meant having a conversation that you didn’t really want to have, especially when the word palliative is thrown in there, that kind of has a lot of anxiety around it or a lot of fear and unknown. But ultimately it sounded like it that was a good conversation to kind of take a look at what’s happening and what are other options to pursue.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (18:51.215)
Yes, well worth it. It was the best decision for me. And I cried. I was sitting on video call when she told me about palliative care. And she said, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to die. It doesn’t mean that’s not where we are with the conversation. She said palliative care is an additional tool and resource that can be used for any serious illness. And so that allowed me to relax and say, OK,
Ellie Ledin (18:53.431)
Mmm.
Ellie Ledin (19:04.066)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (19:21.159)
This is just a, you know, when I first met Dr. Joseph, he said, we are part of your wellness team. We are here to support you in whatever decision you make. And that was important to me. And it was very comforting to know that I had a medical team that was in place that would help me make the right decisions and would put the medications in place that would support me in whatever I decided. And that was important, extremely important because I
Ellie Ledin (19:28.462)
Hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (19:51.031)
have no control over LMS. I have no control over how fast it grows or where it goes and things of that nature. But I can control my life and the quality of my life is what’s most important to me and helping to develop memories for my children and my family and my husband.
Ellie Ledin (19:53.954)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (20:11.95)
Yeah, well it kind of reminds me of something you said earlier in this conversation where this illness, it seems like it almost increased your capacity to give and receive love and experience, family and friendship and even perception of time and what a gift it is so much differently.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (20:37.669)
Yes, it’s interesting. My husband and I have had conversations. We celebrated our 20th anniversary this past December in 2024. And thank you. My sister had asked, well, what was the most poignant thing in your life? And it was so interesting that we both said the same moment. That moment for both of us was I was in the hospital and
Ellie Ledin (20:48.536)
Congratulations!
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (21:07.409)
you
I had been in the hospital for four days. It was right after Christmas and then it was New Year’s Eve and we were talking. And he said, I know this may sound selfish, but I’m really ready for you to come home. Whatever you need, I’ll take care of you. I’m just ready for you to come home. And my husband is a pretty independent guy. Like whatever you can do, he can do. He’ll make it happen. Don’t worry about it. I got it. You know, like the world’s not gonna stop cause you don’t show up.
Ellie Ledin (21:32.27)
Thank
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (21:37.779)
That’s the type of person he is. So the fact that he said, I’m ready for you to come home, it just made me think, okay, what do I have to do to get out of here?
Ellie Ledin (21:47.298)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (21:47.621)
Well, I’m talking to the doctor in the morning. They’re calling him. We’re going back and forth. And then ultimately they said, OK, here are the instructions. We’re going to release you. They called him and told him I was going to be released. We live about 35, 45 minutes away. And I’m serious. He showed up at that hospital in less than 20 minutes. I don’t know how many laws he broke to get there, but he was ready. And for the next two weeks,
Ellie Ledin (22:07.468)
No.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (22:16.085)
Everything I needed was handed to me. Every meal.
Ellie Ledin (22:18.659)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (22:21.317)
He would say, sit down at the table. Food was placed in front of me. I was in the office, I think doing payroll that day. I said, okay, I just need a couple minutes. If I can get one hour, I can get payroll done. And I went in the office and then I was sitting here and I was like, man, I think I’m getting hungry. I look up and he’s walking right in the room with a plate of food. Now I know I’m talking about food a lot, but that’s like a big deal for me. Like I turn hangry if I don’t eat. Like we eat in this house.
Ellie Ledin (22:28.802)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (22:47.586)
Yeah, yes.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (22:51.291)
Hahaha!
So he really did. He took good care of me. I couldn’t go up and down the stairs when I first got home, so they put an air mattress in the family room and between the four of them, somebody slept with me every night to make sure that if I needed help, if I needed medicine, no matter what I needed, they gave it to me. But the fact that that moment was probably the most poignant one for us, for both of us, I thought was
Ellie Ledin (22:56.023)
Mm.
Ellie Ledin (23:09.539)
Hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (23:23.115)
just beautiful. But again to experience love from him like that I wouldn’t have needed it because I would have fixed my own plate and I would have cooked dinner you know and it would have been no big deal because that was my responsibility and I love it. So it’s okay but I had the opportunity to experience love in just a completely different and beautiful way.
Ellie Ledin (23:33.046)
Yeah. Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (23:41.325)
Mm.
Ellie Ledin (23:50.892)
that and almost kind of being put on the sidelines, if you want to call it that, in a way where you can’t be an active player in the game in the same way that you used to, but like almost being forced to step out of those roles allowed other people to come in and show you love in that way and food is such a love language, right? Like that is an act of service, it’s a way to show love and care so.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (24:19.266)
Yes.
Ellie Ledin (24:20.768)
I totally get that and just really sweet where…
just in a situation that you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself, probably in a million years, you still got to experience love and like this tenderness that you might not have ever experienced. And it reminds me of something we say often in the inheritance of hope world, which is, jaro, joy and sorrow. Have you heard that before? Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (24:29.425)
Right? Right?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (24:49.925)
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Ellie Ledin (24:55.64)
Yes, how have you experienced joy and sorrow?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (25:00.605)
Those are just two examples that I just gave. But another one is when my brother and his wife, David and Talisa, they said, well, what do you need? And at the time, I was having difficulty walking and getting around. So they had a wheelchair that also had the handlebars at the end that you could also push. So they brought that over along with a humidifier. And I was able to use that as a part of my healing process.
My friend who is more like a sister than anything, she brought food over. Now when she brought food, I mean she brought like two meals that lasted, food that lasted the whole week.
Ellie Ledin (25:45.74)
Wow.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (25:46.885)
mean, just beautiful meals, salmon, curry chicken, rice, watermelon, cupcakes. I mean, she brought a full spread. It was beautiful. My other friend that would come over and walk with me as I was getting better. My other friend that had to make all sorts of arrangements in order to take me to a doctor’s appointment because she runs her own business. But to make sure that her office had coverage. I mean, the things that she went through,
Ellie Ledin (25:51.758)
Wow.
Ellie Ledin (25:56.014)
So.
Ellie Ledin (26:12.461)
Mm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (26:16.849)
just so so appreciative of everything that she did to make make a way to get me there. I mean God really has showed up in so so many people. My sister who did the Children’s Hear from Me at at different points or would come over and you know I’d be like okay can you just take it out and she said Joanne I gotta go I said but I have cancer. She said no you didn’t!
Ellie Ledin (26:27.811)
Mm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (26:46.299)
We laughed about it that time, but it was funny. And of course she did, she’s done their hair many times for me just to give me a break or, you know, sometimes I’m just not able to do it. So just the love, the love has been overwhelming and inheritance of hope. You know, when my mother passed away in 1998 and I had done research during the time of her sickness about anybody that could help.
I had trouble finding. So to have Inheritance of Hope be here, that we could go on a legacy retreat, which we did in St. Louis, Missouri. It was our first time ever going to Missouri.
Ellie Ledin (27:18.936)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (27:32.049)
and we got to experience the love that is inheritance of hope. It was especially important for my family to be involved in that process because they’re very much a part of what is happening to me, right? So for the children to have their own sessions and their own place where they could write down the things that were bothering them and throw an egg as a way of expressing
Ellie Ledin (27:36.93)
Hmm.
Ellie Ledin (27:47.702)
Mm-hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (28:01.843)
you know, their frustration or anger or tears or hurt. And for them to have their own sessions to discuss everything that is going on with them. For my husband, who is very much, I’m not gonna cry because you do enough, you don’t need to have to worry about supporting me as well. For him to have a space to be able to talk with other caregivers about their experience was extremely.
Ellie Ledin (28:03.33)
Mm-hmm.
Ellie Ledin (28:18.03)
Thank
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (28:31.883)
helpful. So I love that this organization exists and that this platform is available for people to be able to get support in a very holistic way.
Ellie Ledin (28:45.366)
Yeah. How old were your kids when you all went on the legacy retreat?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (28:51.633)
So that was two years ago. So 11, 14, and 16. Mm-hmm.
Ellie Ledin (29:01.582)
And that age range is probably a lot of things happening anyways, just developmentally, like a lot happening internally. So then to add, you know, a diagnosis to the family, I’m sure just really had a huge impact on them.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (29:24.997)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (29:25.942)
So yeah, what was it like seeing them on the retreat and almost getting to process some of these things? Was it something that you had talked a lot about as a family beforehand or was it surprising to see them on the retreat in the way that they were processing things?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (29:47.594)
my, would say…
My youngest was the most expressive emotionally regarding my illness. The older two, not as much, but they have their own moments or personalities where different things may come up. So seeing them on the retreat itself and that space where they were just happy. So we didn’t have to worry about cancer. And because inheritance
Hope also had people there to support me. They didn’t have to do as much of, well we have to help mommy get up or help mommy out the wheelchair or do this or do that. There were these wonderful and beautiful people that were there to help take care of me and make sure that they were good and so they could just be happy. So even when I look back at the pictures and I see their smiles, that’s the thing that makes my
heart happiest. You know they and I don’t know how much my children actually expressed even in their sessions about what they were thinking or feeling.
don’t know how it showed up for them, whether it was tears or just the statements or just statements of what they were feeling or if they just listened to other people talk about what they were feeling. But it was a joy for me as a mother to see them happy. And it was a joy to be in a space where they didn’t have to worry about me. Their focus could be on where are we going next? Or when we went to the aquarium, it was digital.
Ellie Ledin (31:10.382)
Okay.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (31:33.277)
you see the turtles? And did you see, you know, did you see the fish? And there’s a penguin over there or whatever it is that they saw. You know, it was a time for us to just enjoy ourselves and just take our minds off of, you know, this very massive elephant that’s in the room.
Ellie Ledin (31:53.678)
Right, I think it’s so normal for people to want a sense of normalcy. Especially when a diagnosis is involved and normal looks completely different from how it used to. And so to experience a trip like that where the main concern is, yeah, what are we doing next? Or you can just experience memory making.
as a family and you can feel normal, which is so sweet. And even if it wasn’t a time for them to go all out and be the most expressive people ever, they could still hear other people in their age range expressing the same things and hearing other people who get it. You know, especially if at that age I feel like being different.
or having a different story is huge and that’s a really isolating thing. So to be able for them to step in and hear other kids saying, yeah, my mom is sick too, or this is my family’s experience. Wow, I would imagine that would be just a really healing experience.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (33:03.792)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (33:12.379)
Yeah, and it was, they looked forward to it. It was the first time we had flown in a number of years. So that was nice as well, but it was just, was such a huge relief. And then Inheritance of Hope is just a very special and thoughtful organization. So the fact that so many things were provided.
Ellie Ledin (33:18.156)
Mmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (33:38.757)
that just made it extra special and extra nice, just made it for a very fulfilling event and a great opportunity for us to legitimately build memories. I still have my photo up on my counter in the family room now, so I look at it and I see it every day and I smile every time because I love that we have those memories documented for us.
Ellie Ledin (34:06.574)
Yeah, and I love just the pictures, like the family portraits that you get are just so stunning and such a probably great snapshot into a great week or a weekend and man, such good memories I’m sure. And yeah, so how else are you plugged in to the inheritance of Hope World?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (34:22.459)
Yeah.
Yes, indeed.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (34:34.129)
So on Tuesdays I participate in the public reading of scripture, which for me is extremely important, you know, of all the things that are going on in life and the hecticness of everything.
I knew that when I retired, when I went on medical retirement from my job, there were a couple of things that I wanted to make sure that I accomplished, that I wanted to be a part of my weekly regimen.
Of course taking better care of my health, eating better, walking. And I just walk around the house. I’m not able to get out, you know, like I want to. But most times I’ll just walk around the house. But I also wanted to be able to touch base with God on a more regular basis. So listening to the scriptures on a weekly basis, we basically just check in for a couple of minutes to see how everybody is doing. And then Matreya plays the scriptures.
and we typically go through, you know, two chapters from the Old Testament, one chapter from the New Testament, and one chapter from the Book of Psalms, and we do that once a week until we go through the whole Bible. And I enjoy it. You listen to this very animated version of Bible telling of the stories, and you have this opportunity to
pray when I read the scripture, God what are you trying to tell me and how does this apply to me right now? Sometimes you have questions and you go back and you do research afterwards like well I’m not familiar with this word or what does that mean and it just gives you a great opportunity just to touch base with the Lord. The other
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (36:30.065)
Opportunity that I participate with Inheritance of hope is on Friday mornings. We have the Friday gatherings where we read a Bible plan every week and then we discuss it on Fridays and Again, you just have this opportunity where you read this devotion through the Bible plan and then you read the scriptures that support it and you talk about the things that are most poignant to you and Sometimes you realize hold up. I didn’t
I didn’t see that part or I missed that and you’re like, yes, that does apply to me and sometimes you’re you’re telling stories or you’re talking about where you are or you’re talking about the lives of these individuals in the Bible and what God intends for us to take away from it and it’s just this other great opportunity to touch base with other individuals that love the Lord and I mean when you tell them if they say well, what’s going on with you? Is there anybody else or anything else?
Ellie Ledin (37:01.518)
Mmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (37:29.969)
we need to add to the prayer list. The people that are there are just so wonderful and so beautiful. I know for sure that someone has written my name down and that my name has legitimately gone up before God that week. And that is a beautiful and loving thing for people to do, especially when you’re going through so much. I mean, I’m grateful that God has given me this time.
Ellie Ledin (37:39.586)
Mm.
Ellie Ledin (37:49.592)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (37:56.129)
One of the most challenging things that I had to address with the fact that LMS is a rare and aggressive cancer is the survival rates. there’s a 50 % survival rate, five-year survival rate for LMS. But if it has metastasized, that rate drops to 13%.
Ellie Ledin (38:07.8)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (38:22.051)
So I remember having the discussion with my doctor about what exactly does that mean to me? Now know I read this on Google, but what does that mean to me? And she said, it does apply to you.
Ellie Ledin (38:29.698)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (38:36.098)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (38:37.463)
So it makes you look at time completely different, completely differently. So when I ask God for more time, I believe that I have a responsibility to use any time that I have wisely. So I do my best to make sure that I’m reading and praying and that I’m pouring into my family as much as I can. Because one day, regardless of when that date comes, I’m not going to be here and I want them to have God.
Ellie Ledin (39:10.478)
I love that. And I love, there’s just something so impactful about, yeah, being in the Word, being in scripture and prayer, but with others.
just brings it to a whole new level, especially when you know that you are growing alongside other people. When you are reading a text and you get one thing out of it, but when you hear from five other people, five things that you hadn’t thought about, it just deepens not only the relationship with each other, but also with God and knowing that people are praying for you, especially as you’re navigating hardship.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (39:39.654)
Yep.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (39:50.981)
Yes.
Ellie Ledin (39:53.92)
there is such blessing in that. And so I love that you are in those two Hope at Home groups and you can show up weekly to these contexts where you know people are, they care about you deeply and they’re checking in on you. They’re praying for you when you’re not together and they’re praying for you when you are. Wow. That’s so sweet.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (40:08.645)
Yes.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (40:15.365)
Yes.
It’s a beautiful space. It really is. It’s a beautiful space. I’m just, I’m immensely grateful for Inheritance of Hope. I’m immensely grateful for this space where people understand my journey along with that added element and the most important element of being God in the picture. Like whatever my life, God has taught me to say that it is well.
Ellie Ledin (40:40.942)
Thank
Ellie Ledin (40:47.0)
Mmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (40:47.213)
and it allows me to see God in everything, which is that jarro, know, joy and sorrow. I don’t want to be in this place, but I’m still grateful because God is still keeping me. When I stopped working, my biggest concern was, I don’t know exactly how the mortgage is going to get paid, but we’re going to figure it out. And God is blessed. God really has blessed and he’s provided every step of the way. And so I really can’t complain.
Ellie Ledin (40:52.215)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (41:00.216)
Mm.
Ellie Ledin (41:17.006)
Yeah, and it feels very…
biblical to look at it through the lens of joy in trials and not joy when I get out of trials. Like when I get on the other side of this, then I will feel gratitude or joy. It’s like, how do we wrestle with that? that in the midst of this story that I would not have chosen for myself, but was given to me, how do I experience joy and intimacy with the Lord? Even here, even now? even now
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (41:50.107)
Yeah. And it’s also, okay, so if I think about just the things that you, you know, the big things that you wanted, right? Like, I was like, okay, yeah, I would love to not have to work.
Ellie Ledin (41:51.148)
Hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (42:03.953)
It is stressful at times. You know, I like the independence that comes with it just as a woman, right? But you know, I got enough stuff going on with the children and friends that I don’t really need to. Okay, so I figured if that ever came, either my husband had to hit the lottery and then he’d be like, all right, babe, just stay home. Or he was gonna, you know, make it real big in what he was doing. And then he’d be like, all right, babe, just stay home. Nope, that’s
Ellie Ledin (42:04.142)
Mm.
Ellie Ledin (42:23.393)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (42:33.907)
how it happened. But that’s okay because he still works really hard to make sure that we’re provided for. So, so much love and respect for the man that he is and his, just the person that he is that he would always work to make sure that we were provided for. He would do whatever he had to to make sure that we were taken care of. But I’m not working.
Ellie Ledin (42:35.214)
No.
All right.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (43:02.329)
and I do have more time to pray and read and I do have more time with my children. It comes with a few aches and pains, sometimes a lot more than a few. But it’s the point is I can either focus on everything that is bad or I can acknowledge that God is still with me even though I have this diagnosis. And the truth is he’s never left me.
Ellie Ledin (43:13.486)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (43:24.674)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (43:31.513)
On my worst day, he never left me. And so that I can be grateful for. And I’m not gonna lie, especially when I first got my diagnosis, I cried all over the state of Maryland. I saw so many doctors and sometimes it would be a month before you could get an appointment. A lot of times you would have these tests done and you’re not sure exactly what that means until you meet with doctors.
Ellie Ledin (43:43.406)
Mm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (44:01.377)
you read things which I do think it’s important to read. Yes, you have to be careful with WebMD because they’ll kill you off the common cold, I understand, but you still, you know, it does allow you to make informed questions. So it’s necessary, but God is still good and he was still there in the midst of it. And I’m glad that he’s blessed me to be at a better place.
Ellie Ledin (44:07.042)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (44:27.637)
And one of the lessons that I had to learn or things that I had to come to understand is that, you know, when this whole thing first started, I just wanted, okay, I’m going to go get my test and God is going to give me a miracle and my test is going to say completely clear, no more cancer, nothing to worry about. You can keep on living your life. And that didn’t happen.
Ellie Ledin (44:42.093)
Okay.
Ellie Ledin (44:50.028)
Mm-hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (44:50.543)
So part of me was like, hold up, you didn’t give me what I wanted. And I had to learn that, you know, God does whatever he wants the way he wants to. And sometimes that means that you don’t get the answer that you were looking for, but you still get what you need. So God is still good. And if I had one message to give to anybody, it would be, on a good day, God is good. And on a bad day, God is still good.
Ellie Ledin (44:55.352)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (45:00.76)
Mm-hmm.
Ellie Ledin (45:07.414)
Yeah.
Mm.
Ellie Ledin (45:18.392)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (45:18.971)
He’s still good. You just have to acknowledge the good that is there. You have to open your eyes to see that he’s still there. It’s not always easy, and it might not come on the first day or the second day, but he’s still there.
Ellie Ledin (45:33.375)
Yeah, and it might not always feel obvious. Like you might have to do some searching to actually like see where God is in the midst of… yes. But ultimately like He is there. He is near. Especially on those hard days when those comforts and the things you can control are stripped from you. It sometimes leaves you with…
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (45:39.124)
yeah. Sometimes you gotta dig deep.
Ellie Ledin (45:59.086)
in more obvious view of his nearness. And sometimes it doesn’t feel like he’s near at all, but you just have to dig a little bit more. Yeah. I love your testimony and your mindset. I’m sure that was a hard earned mindset that came at the expense of a lot of pain and tears, but it’s beautiful.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (46:03.941)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (46:08.901)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (46:12.827)
day.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (46:22.787)
It did. It did. But yes, God is still good. God is still good. I’m still immensely grateful. And I guess one of my prayers, even from the beginning, was, God, please bless me to go through this gracefully. I didn’t want to turn to that honoring individual that nobody wants to go see, not that you don’t understand. Because when you’re in pain, it’s hard.
It’s hard to smile. It’s hard to be everything to everyone in those points, but God has blessed me. And so I’m grateful even though so much of this is very difficult.
Ellie Ledin (47:06.498)
Yeah, and it sounds like Inheritance of Hope has been a great resource for you and your family and for someone who is hesitant about trying Inheritance of Hope, whether as a family to be served, as a volunteer, as a donor. Like, what would you want that person to know?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (47:28.101)
want that person to know that inheritance of hope has individuals that support the whole person and the whole family. So if at any point you realize that you have a need, they will work diligently to help you with those needs and they have
these different platforms in ways that you can build memories and legacy for your family. And that’s worth it. As a volunteer, I can only imagine the gratitude that they felt.
know for Haley and for Janae that supported us as a volunteer just just for that part of the legacy retreat not to mention all of the other volunteers and individuals and staff members that pull things together to make sure that all of these programs work but the love is real.
It is not manufactured. It is very real. And you feel it in everything that they do. And the genuineness that is there just makes you want to do more. And it makes you realize that people really do need this type of service. so.
I’m one of those people that’s just extremely grateful that inheritance of hope exists and that the types of programs that they do really speak to the needs of my heart and things that I want to leave my family. I really, I don’t want to be forgotten.
Ellie Ledin (49:09.166)
Thank
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (49:10.177)
and Inheritance of Hope has given me several ways through the Legacy Retreat as well as the Legacy Video to allow me to leave things with my family that they can cherish forever.
Ellie Ledin (49:25.486)
That’s beautiful. And the reality of it is every single one of us is leaving a legacy whether we’re aware of it or not. So I love that you’ve been intentional with your legacy and how you want to be remembered making a legacy video to share your wisdom and your stories with your family.
Yeah, and one question we always want to ask at the end of every podcast episode is who has impacted you? Like whose legacy has stuck with you, whether in their life, in their death, or just in general?
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (50:09.69)
would say the person that has been most impactful to me is my mother. My mother was a single mother of four children and one of the things that she said to me during her time of illness was, I’ve done just about all that I can with my life. Everything that I do now is for my children. That degree of sacrifice and love
for people that she brought into the world. Like she really took that responsibility seriously. And that’s definitely how I feel about my children as well. What I leave them and what I give them, what I impart to them, information and love.
how to live, how to know God and be in God. Those are the most important things I can give them because they can have that for the rest of their lives. But the main thing was just, she was such a loving person. Like even if you did her wrong, she could tell you off, but she did it in such a loving way that you didn’t even realize it. You were kind of like, wait a minute, what did she just say?
Ellie Ledin (51:18.126)
You
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (51:24.261)
But she had a way with words that was just beautiful. And she had a kindness in her and this love in her that was just amazing. I love how she loved us. When I think back over my childhood, sometimes the things that I took for granted, I realized how much of a sacrifice it was for her.
Ellie Ledin (51:28.28)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (51:36.686)
Thank you.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (51:46.225)
Things that we may take for granted now. I remember my mother getting her hair done twice in my entire life only twice But one time she was so cute about it. We were we were living in an apartment in Silver Springs She had went and got her hair done and her hair was real long and it was she had it all curled up So she knocked on the door instead of just walking in and when I looked through the peephole All I see is her swinging that hair
Ellie Ledin (51:53.932)
Wow.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (52:16.189)
back and forth. All of those curls was just going. I loved it. That moment, she was fun. You know, she was everything. You know, I remember at one point she wasn’t working and when we were living in DC and David and I came home for lunch. We could go home for lunch where we were. And she had a sandwich and it was a fun-sized Snickers bar and it was Welch’s grape juice.
Ellie Ledin (52:20.178)
yes.
Hmm.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (52:45.853)
Yes, I’m 47 and I still remember what my mama made me in elementary school. It was a rare treat, but it was beautiful to me and I know that it was made with love. acting in love, know, doing in love.
Ellie Ledin (52:47.854)
you
Ellie Ledin (52:57.016)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (53:03.375)
Being genuine with the love that you give, showing the love of God to those that are in need and to your family, that’s what she gave me. But if I had to pick a second person, it would be my husband.
And I would say him because he’s always encouraged me to be my absolute best. He’s funny. So, he’s funny. So just always learning to laugh, you know, because life does get hard and things do get difficult. But sometimes you got to laugh to keep from crying and he will make me laugh on a hard day anytime. Anytime he’ll do it.
Ellie Ledin (53:36.366)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (53:43.291)
perseverance, working and pushing, no matter what obstacles come your way, no matter what it is, push through it. You can make it. So that perseverance and that drive and still enjoying life and still having fun, having goals and aspirations. Yeah, I would say my mom and then my husband.
Ellie Ledin (53:52.558)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (54:06.062)
Well it sounds like you carry on your mom’s legacy so well in how you
care yourself and you present yourself, but how you show up as a mom so intentionally and then navigating this season of life that’s difficult with someone who loves you so well and can bring the humor in has also impacted you and I see that in how you tell stories and how you show up to the difficulties with joy and humor still.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (54:28.849)
Yeah.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (54:39.695)
Yeah.
Ellie Ledin (54:42.902)
So yeah, it’s clear that their legacy has not only impacted you, but like infiltrated you and is kind of going out through you too.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (54:51.599)
Yeah, yeah. And for anybody who’s ever struggling with the Bible, trust me, there’s all kinds of stuff that happens in there. It’s a good read. Like you just got to take the time. There’s a lot of stuff in there. Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes you’re like, what? Yes. And then other times you’re like, that’s an area of growth for me. So Lord help.
Ellie Ledin (55:01.844)
Mm-hmm.
Ellie Ledin (55:08.206)
Yeah, right? That’s in there?
Ellie Ledin (55:18.764)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (55:19.697)
So it’s, everything is there too. know, God intended for us to be happy.
Ellie Ledin (55:23.703)
Hmm.
Ellie Ledin (55:27.404)
Yeah, and that’s a great open invitation if anyone is listening to this and wants to join either of the Hope at Home groups that Joanne is part of, the public reading of scripture and the Friday gatherings that is open to you and you’re more than welcome to come learn alongside each other and be a part of a group that really cares about you.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (55:50.501)
Yes. Yes.
Ellie Ledin (55:52.918)
Well, this was such a joy to spend some time together and hear your story. Really appreciate your wisdom, your insight and yeah, your perspective. I feel like a lot of people listening to this will deeply resonate with what you talked about and hopefully walk away really inspired by how you are moving through this, the trials with joy currently.
Jauwaun Terri Fleuriot (56:20.273)
Yes, thank you so much for having me. I’m very grateful for this opportunity to be able to share my story and hope that it is an inspiration to someone else to either participate with Inheritance of Hope, to join or to donate.
Ellie Ledin (56:36.75)
Mm.
Joy In Sorrow Amidst Rare Cancer Diagnosis: Jauwaun’s Story.txt
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