RASCOE REDISCOVERS VOICE TO HELP COUNTER FIGHT WITH CANCER

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

She was nursing her son when she noticed something wasn’t right. But how could there be a problem? She had just given birth to a healthy baby boy. He was feeding just fine, yet there was something that didn’t belong. 

At first, her medical providers thought it was a blocked milk duct. Then the horrible truth was discovered: Jana Rascoe was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. 

She began her cancer treatment journey and continued to care for her infant son. 

Her treatment plan was invasive and extensive but left her cancer-free for several years. This past spring, she once again was told she had cancer, only this time at stage 4. The cancer had spread to her bones from her skull all the way down through her tailbone. “It’s in my hips and just the top part of my femur bones,”  said Rascoe. 

For most of her life Rascoe had loved to sing. “Jana has always had a song in her heart, when she was little, she sang all the time,” said her mother, Jimmie Rascoe. 

As a teenager, she was part of her middle school and high school choirs. “She loved choir and did quite well in regional and state competitions,” said her mother. 

Jana graduated from the University of Houston Moores School of Music. While in college, she majored in vocal music. For almost a decade she taught music and dance to elementary and middle school children. 

Cancer silenced her song until a friend encouraged her to return to her true passion as a singer. With her family, she attended a Bay Area Chorus performance. Then her heart opened again to her love of singing and she auditioned for the chorus. She was accepted into the BAC and sings as an alto. 

With Jana’s love of singing, she isn’t just excited to be on stage to perform, she is excited to once again sing. “I like the rehearsals as much as the concerts,” said Jana. “I just feel so honored and privileged to be able to sing with so many other talented musicians,” she added. 

The choir rehearses on Monday evenings and Jana drives from Manvel to Houston for her treatments, then down to Nassau Bay to participate in a three-hour rehearsal. 

“She is one tough cookie,” said Janis Paris, president of BAC. 

Jon, her son, is in first grade now and doesn’t require as much of her time as he had in the past, so she has more time to devote to her passion. “I want my son to know that you need to do the things you love the things that you are passionate about,” said Jana, who also explained about what motivates her to work so hard in her home or car practicing her music for the choir. 

Life presented her with some challenging curves to navigate and she has done so with the help of breast cancer support groups and her family. “I don’t know what I’d do without my family. My parents and I share the responsibilities of my son,” said Jana. 

“We’ve gotten really spoiled having her and our grandson live with us,” said her mother. 

“Our family was so proud of her when we went to her first concert last week.  It warms our hearts to hear her sing again.  I feel that Bay Area Chorus has added a new dimension to her life when she needs it the most,” said Jimmie Rascoe. 

When Jana isn’t singing, or getting cancer treatments or raising her son Jon, she helps with her parent’s puppy business. She recently went out on her first date since being diagnosed with cancer. She also enjoys time in the family garden and reading books. 

Jana attributes her singing to helping her live in the present and not worry about the future as she lives her life as fully as possible.