Published: March 17, 2026
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
For nearly two decades, Jodi Gleason stood at the front of classrooms in Salem, Indiana, and later at Borden High School, also in Southern Indiana, guiding students through English lessons, coaching them in speech and cheering them on as the student council sponsor.
She loved watching them grow, helping them find their voices and confidence. Teaching wasn’t just her career — it was her calling. And it created a community she didn’t realize she would one day count on.
In June 2023, just months after turning 50, Jodi’s life changed suddenly. Pain shooting down her left leg had been dismissed as sciatic nerve trouble for nearly two years. Nothing about her symptoms fit the typical signs of colorectal cancer.
But the pain intensified until she could barely sit through a quarter of her daughter‑in‑law’s basketball game. She went to the emergency room assuming she needed a steroid shot. Instead, she spent a week undergoing tests that revealed Stage 4 colorectal cancer that had already spread to her liver, lymph nodes and hip bone.
“I didn’t have any of the usual symptoms,” she said. “It felt like the rug was pulled out from underneath me.”
Her first months of treatment brought even more uncertainty — until she transitioned her care to Norton Cancer Institute and began treatment with Mian F. Mushtaq, M.D., medical oncologist with Norton Cancer Institute, in January 2024.
That’s when she learned she would need chemotherapy for the rest of her life. His honesty, along with the compassionate professionalism of nurse practitioners and infusion nurses, has become one of the most stabilizing forces for her.
“They see me as the whole picture,” Jodi said. “They’re invested in my life, not just the treatment.”
When the care team found out it was her birthday while she was receiving chemotherapy treatment, they surprised her with gourmet cookies. They walked her through complex decisions when the chemotherapy regime needed to be changed, and they managed medication reactions, — calmly guiding her back to alertness following an allergic reaction by talking to her about one of her greatest joys, her granddaughter.
Amid everything, Jodi has found bright spots.
Only months before her diagnosis, Jodi worried she might never live long enough to become a grandmother. But her son and daughter-in-law had a surprise. In March 2024 a baby was born — a miracle the whole family had hoped for.
“Getting to see her light up when we walk into the room is the best feeling,” Jodi said.
The support surrounding her has been just as meaningful. Former students, fellow teachers, and entire school teams rallied around Jodi, organizing fundraisers, dropping off meals and sending messages that reminded her how many lives she had touched in her years as an educator.
“My students were just fabulous,” she said. “The outpouring was incredible.”
There have been challenges along the way, like a recent shingles diagnosis. But there also have been blessings. After Jodi celebrated the birth of her first granddaughter, her son and daughter‑in‑law recently learned they are expecting a baby boy in August: another grandchild Jodi can’t wait to meet.
She now uses her experience to encourage others to prioritize screenings for cancer.
“I had no signs. Nothing. If I’d been screened earlier, maybe things would be different,” she said. “It’s such a simple procedure compared to what I’ve had to go through.”
Through every high and low, Jodi continues to lean on her faith, her family and the community she nurtured as a teacher — and now, the joy of being a grandmother keeps her moving forward.
Colorectal cancer is the deadliest cancer in people under 50 and the second deadliest overall, according to Colorectal Cancer Alliance. Screening for colorectal cancer is the No. 1 way to prevent colon and rectal cancer.
Gastroenterologists and general surgeons at Norton Healthcare are skilled and experienced using screening colonoscopies to find tumors and precancerous polyps, then removing questionable tissue all in the same procedure.
Use this link to schedule your colonoscopy close to your home in Louisville or Southern Indiana, or call (502) 446-9355. Norton Healthcare offers colonoscopies at all of our adult-service hospital locations.