My Addiction Started with My First Cigarette, One Local Woman’s Crusade to Save Lives

Becki Jones of Pleasanton, CA remembers smoking her very first cigarette. Forty-five years and a stage IV lung cancer diagnosis later, the 62-year-old Tri-Valley local also recalls smoking her last. Just before her birthday last summer, Jones became one of the 110,000 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. “I found a lump in my abdomen and one in my breast,” said Jones. “I had surgery to remove them. To our complete surprise, it turned out to be metastatic lung cancer. Three days later, the doctors told me the cancer had spread to my brain.”

 The diagnosis came as a shock. “I never thought it would happen to me. But, I knew right then I had to stop smoking, because there was no point in undergoing treatment otherwise,” said Jones. According to Gautam Prasad, M.D., Ph.D., cigarettes contain nearly 70 ingredients known to cause cancer. Prasad is one of Jones’ doctors and a radiation oncologist at Epic Care’s Dublin location. “Just one cigarette is enough to get you addicted for life. Kicking the habit before you’re 30 can cut your chance of dying of a smoking-related illness by up to 90 percent,” said Dr. Prasad. Because Jones’ cancer was so advanced, her oncologists at Epic Care had to work carefully and quickly not only to contain the current tumors, but also to stop future growth.

“We had to take my treatment in stages. My radiation therapy tackled the lung cancer in my brain,” said Jones. “I trusted I was in good hands with Dr. Prasad.” To treat the metastasized tumor in her brain, Dr. Prasad opted for a state-of-the-art radiation treatment method called stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), which uses an advanced linear accelerator-based platform with on-line 3-dimensional image guidance. “This treatment allows us to zero-in on the tumor and spare the rest of the brain from unnecessary irradiation. A fundamental consideration was the fact we were able to treat Becki in a single SRS session so she could immediately start chemotherapy,” explained Dr. Prasad. The end of March marked Jones’ last chemotherapy treatment. She and her partner of 20 years, Mike, have been taking it day-by-day.

“The battle may not be over. I may have to go back on chemotherapy and keep fighting, but right now, we’re just trying to stay positive,” said Jones. This June, Proposition 29, or the Tobacco Tax for Cancer Research Act, will be introduced on the California ballots. The proposition enacts an additional one-dollar sales tax on each cigarette pack purchased. All money will be dedicated directly towards cancer research and smoking prevention / cessation measures. Research funding facilitates important treatment advances, such as SRS advanced radiation therapy and more targeted chemotherapy agents.

In additiona, the sales tax will be used to deter cigarette use, especially among teenagers. “If this gets even one person to stop smoking, it’s worth it,” said Dr. Prasad. “Epic Care supports the measure because it has the potential to save lives.” Jones is doing her own work to get others to stop smoking. “I’ll go up to people at the supermarket and tell them not to buy cigarettes. We all think it can’t happen to us,” said Jones. “My advice to the next generation,” Jones says, “is to never pick up that first cigarette at all. Quit before you get to this point.”