DAPHNE, Ala. — Three years ago, Ann and Frank Jones celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary like it was their 50th; they didn’t know if they would be together the golden milestone.

Ann — Daphne resident since 1989 — faced an uncertain future when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in June of 2003.

It all started when the retired teacher developed a cough in May 2003. At Frank’s suggestion, she saw Dr. James Barrett — her doctor of 30 years — who did a complete physical and ordered x-rays, she said.

Barrett sat her down two weeks later and told her, “I hate to tell you this Ann, but you have lung cancer,” she said.

“I was as calm as I could be, but he looked like he was ready to cry,” she said. “It was like he was talking to me, but about somebody else.”

Ann went right into business mode and wanted to know what needed to be done and how soon it could be done, the 71-year-old said.

After a positron emission tomography —PET — Scan in June of 2003, Dr. Gaylord Walker told Jones that she had a sleeve of lymph nodes that had metastasized — including some on her bronchial tube, one in front of her heart one behind it and a tumor on the lower right lung lobe, she said.

A PET scan is an imaging test that helps doctors see how the organs and tissues inside the body are actually functioning, according to the American Cancer Society

For her surgery — which was done at Mobile Infirmary Medical Center — Walker came in from the right shoulder to enter Jones’ lungs, she said. He removed the nodes around the heart, and then removed those from her right lung and bronchial tube as he left the chest cavity.

Ann Jones underwent the four-hour surgery on June 18, 2003. She said the operation was a success and there were no complications.

She didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation after the surgery; also, doctors told her that if the cancer didn’t return within a year, she would be considered in remission.

Eleven months of recovery passed — and then came a problem.

“One month before the year was up, I developed a cough — I knew it was the cancer cough,” she said.

She was treated for bronchitis and doctors took a scraping from her lungs; tests showed a cancerous lymph node on the bronchial tube.

Oncologist Dr. John Russell told her she needed about five radiation treatments, she said.

“He said, ‘I can zero it in on a certain spot and take care of it,’ ” she recalled.

The Joneses went to Birmingham to stay with relatives during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Upon arrival, Jones was so weak that her husband checked her into Shelby Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for double pneumonia, she said.

Jones was hospitalized for six days at Shelby Memorial Hospital and then transferred to the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, where she stayed for 10 days, she said.

Jones learned that her cancer had spread to both lungs.

“It was scattered around and they were unable to give me any more radiation,” she said. “They gave me six months to live.”

Jones saw oncologist Dr. Tad Beeker, who started her on chemotherapy. When she went in for her third treatment, nurses hooked her to an IV so the drugs could enter her system faster, she said.

Beeker performed a CT scan and said, “I hate to tell you that the chemotherapy may not have helped at all because God has already put your cancer in remission,” Jones said.

Beeker told Jones that she would go 10 weeks without chemotherapy and then get a second CT scan.

“The cancer was still in remission” at that point, she said.

In August 2005, after three more months and just before her next CT scan, Jones developed another cough and the cancer showed up again.

“The doctors told me they couldn’t give me any more radiation or chemotherapy,” she said.

That’s when Beeker told Jones about Tarceva, a new drug that controls the cancer, she said.

Tarceva is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer — or NSCLC — after the failure of at least one chemotherapy cycle, according to research gathered by Genentech.

NSCLC defines how cancerous cells look under a microscope. About 85 to 90 percent of lung cancer patients have NSCLC, according to the American Cancer Society.

“It (Tarceva) attacks the cells; it’s not supposed to heal cancer — just stabilize it,” Jones said.

“You don’t live with lung cancer unless God helps heal it. God issued the Tarceva and its healing power and now he’s healing me,” Jones said.

The drug’s downside is its price — a month’s supply of pills is $2,700, according to Jones — and the pill — which must be taken daily — isn’t covered under certain health insurance policies.

Due to income stipulations, Jones qualified to receive Tarceva and began taking it in August 2005. After completing the first bottle — a month’s worth — Jones underwent yet another CT scan.

Doctors said some of the lymph nodes had disappeared and several had shrunk in size, Jones said.

This is the third year that Jones has taken the drug. Her cancer has stabilized for now, she said.

“Each time I have a scan, the results show no new cancerous cells and the existing cells have shrunk in size, if not disappeared completely,” Jones said.

“As soon as I got the medication, I told my husband, ‘Have pill, can travel,’ ” she said, with a laugh. The Joneses have been to Paris, London, Jamaica and across the United States, she said, adding that the couple plans to continue globetrotting.

Jones copes with few side effects — the main one being fatigue, she said. When the couple travels, she often lays down in the back seat during the drive, she said.

She recently began exercising again, walking the neighborhood or working in her flower beds. She’s looking forward to return to singing with the church choir at Jubilee Baptist Church.

Jones said writing and devotions helped her through the rough times. But ultimately, she trusts her health to a higher power.

“I put myself in God’s hands,” she said.

Editor’s Note: November is recognized as Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

A total of 213,380 cases were reported in the United States this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

A total of 160,390 in the U.S. died from the disease this year, according to the NCI. Cigarette smoking is directly responsible for one-third of all lung cancer deaths in the U.S., according to the NCI.

The disease also is caused by second-hand smoke and exposure to asbestos and radon. Family history also may play a role.