Cecelia Cameron

Cecelia's story

Hello, my name is Cecelia, and I am the daughter of Jessica “Jess” Nopper. She succumbed to her disease of stage IV colon cancer on June 7, 2023 at 4:15pm at Hospice Care Center in Chattanooga, TN. My mom has always been and will forever be a bad ass even up until her last breath.

On May 16, she collapsed at her job and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

A few days later, she was diagnosed with colon cancer, stage unknown. She moved in with me in order for me to care for her and ensure she got to her appointments. Despite our hopefulness that I could heal her with my natural remedies in between her care from medical doctors, her disease progressed in which she was sent to the hospital.

After a couple of days in the ER, she was informed that she had stage IV colon cancer, and she was admitted onto the cancer floor at Erlanger. She was informed of her treatment options in terms of chemo and how high risk the treatment would be on her body.

Nonetheless, she was a fighter and wanted to fight! She received two days of chemo, and unfortunately, the chemo progressed her illness rapidly causing multiple organs to fail. In her last days, I considered hospice but knew, even though she wasn’t really verbal, that she wanted to fight.

I respected her wishes until her team of doctors confirmed it’s time to just keep her comfortable. I then made the decision to allow her body to do the inevitable and placed her in hospice, where she could be as comfortable as possible. It was only a few minutes in her hospice room that she took her last breath, with her one and only pride and joy -- me -- by her side.

In the last three weeks, I watched the strongest and most resilient woman I know slowly deteriorate, despite her fighting to live. Even in her last minutes, she never forgot who I was and how much I meant to her, using all her will to verbalize this to me when I asked.

I have seen how large of a community she has impacted with many people, even from 40 years prior, offer condolences and support. Her family and friends knew how resilient and impressionable she was, she did what she wanted when she wanted, and no one could stop her when her mind was set.

She has even quit jobs that imposed on her long flamboyant nails and spicy hair dyes. NO ONE keeps Jess from expressing herself, and that is why she is so loved. To know she had such an impact on hundreds and hundred of people by just being Jess will allow her spirit to live on!

With that being said, while I process the emotions of losing my mother, I simultaneously have to process the business side of her loss as well. She, unfortunately, had no final expense insurance which means these expenses are my responsibility.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms included stomach cramps/bloating/fullness.

Side effects

Side effects included fatigue, mouth sores, and chemo brain.

Cecelia's advice

Get regular checkups often, and if a doctor is not listening to you, GET ANOTHER ONE! Only you know your body and only YOU can advocate for yourself!

If you are a fighter, then fight! If you are a fighter but have fought all you could, then that is OK, too!