Neighbors: Jean Ruff

Four years ago, Jean Ruff’s life changed dramatically when a routine visit to the doctor revealed that she had breast cancer.

“At first, I thought there was some kind of mistake,” Ruff said. “I’m healthy. I work out. I feel great. There’s no way I have cancer.”

The diagnosis left her shocked and feeling alone. Over the next year, Ruff, then living in Cincinnati, endured chemotherapy and bouts of radiation therapy that left her exhausted and ill. She found that even with the support of her family and friends, there were a lot of things they simply couldn’t understand, and her doctors just didn’t have the time to explain every detail and symptom she would face.

“You just feel completely helpless,” said her husband, John Ruff. “You want to help, but all you can do is sit there and watch them disintegrate — literally.”

She found that talking to other cancer survivors made a big difference in knowing what to expect.

“They could tell me about all the little things the doctors never could,” Ruff said. “The doctors never would have told me that I would get sores in my mouth or that food would taste like metal. Knowing that kind of thing just helps you feel in control.”

With the help of the Cancer Support Community, Ruff started Cancer Companion, which pairs recently diagnosed patients with survivors who have been out of treatment for at least a year. The program matches patients based on cancer type, and she believes the program, which also provides support to family members and other caregivers, is a great resource for anyone affected by cancer.

Ruff also found relief in a new hobby. Always a nature enthusiast, she had experimented with flower arranging before and decided to pursue the activity more seriously to help cope with the effects of her chemotherapy.

“It makes you really sick,” she said. “You don’t feel like eating or doing much of anything, but there was something about touching the flowers. Smelling them and feeling them really brought my senses to life. Knowing that I could make something pretty made me feel good.”

Today, Ruff has made a full recovery, but her hobby has become a passion. When she and her husband moved five weeks ago to Sarasota, she quickly joined the Garden Club and hopes to enter floral design competitions in the near future. She also hopes to start a Cancer Companion program here in Sarasota, and she has plans to talk to Sarasota Memorial Hospital to propose its implementation.

“My goal is to have it go national,” Ruff said. “It’s just such a great thing to be able to talk to someone who has been through a similar experience who can tell you everything is going to be OK.”