With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s more common than ever for people to put their health on the back burner, but as one area resident found, the consequences of doing so can be dyer and now she is sharing her story in an effort to raise awareness.

Returning to the doctor after many years of focusing on raising a family and starting a career, Ralston resident Amanda Roan-Covert, who has been married for 22 years and has two college aged daughters, never had any idea her Pap smear would show abnormalities.

“I had some inklings that perhaps something was going on, but my gut was telling me it was changes in my body due to my age and hitting the age where I’m going to start menopause, those kinds of things, and I was completely wrong,” she said.

Receiving her Pap smear in the late spring of 2023, the test came back positive for cancer, after which Geisinger Gynecology Muncy referred her to Scott Purinton, Division Chief of Gynecologic Oncology, who diagnosed Roan-Covert with stage three cervical cancer.

Purinton was both honest and supportive in explaining the road ahead of Roan-Covert.

“The first thing he said to me was, “you’ll handle the treatments okay. They’re going to suck, but you’re going to handle them,” according to Roan-Covert, who agrees that the worst part was traveling to Danville each day for treatment.

Roan-Covert’s treatment consisted of 25 rounds of chemotherapy, followed by radiation, immunotherapy and hydration.

“That was an all day extravaganza, every day, Monday through Friday,” Roan-Covert explained.

“Following the external radiation, I had the five internals, and they were spread out by about two to three days apart,” she said.

“The internal radiations were also an all day extravaganza. I would have to be there seven in the morning, and the bulk of the day was the radiation team planning the treatment for that day to make sure that they are pinpointing the cancer only,” Roan-Covert continued.

“The internal radiation would last maybe five to seven minutes, and then I was finally allowed to go home, but towards the end, the internal radiation is rough,” she said.

After completing the radiation, Roan-Covert would receive immunotherapy treatments every four to six weeks.

The nonstop treatment left Roan-Covert feeling disparaged at times, though her determination never wavered.

“The hardest part is you do get down, you do get depressed. You get tired of that being your life. But another thing Dr. Purinton said to me when I first met him was, ‘You don’t look like somebody that’s gonna run away from this,” she said.

“I didn’t understand that at first, but after going through it, I can see how people get down and depressed and want to give up, and mine was nothing compared to a lot of other people who have it much worse,” Roan-Covert said.

“But you really can’t. You just have to keep going forward,” she stressed.

Roan-Covert is now fully in remission and will continue immunotherapy through August and unless symptoms return, she is not expected to need any additional scans for the disease.

“I should be fine, as long as I’m not experiencing anything out of the ordinary, and so far so good. I feel great. My energy is back. I don’t have any concerns,” she said.

Roan-Covert gives credit for her recovery to the full team from Geisinger that was responsible for her treatment.

“God’s hand led me to Dr. Purinton and everybody that had a hand in my care. I knew I was in the right place, the right time, the right hands, and everything that Dr. Purinton had told me from the start is exactly how it went,” she said.

“He made me feel very comfortable, and everybody at Geisinger became part of my support system,” she said, adding that she also had an incredible support system made up of family, friends, neighbors and even clients and customers.

Roan-Covert is the fourth generation owner of her family business, Roan Inc. Auctioneers & Appraisers, which will celebrate its 80th year of operation later this year.

Normally a private person, Roan-Covert is now making her journey not only to raise awareness, but also to be a source of support for others who have been diagnosed with the disease.

“One thing was I put it out there publicly through my Facebook platform. I want to be that support system for someone that’s going through a similar situation, that maybe doesn’t have what I was lucky enough to have,” she said.

Roan-Covert’s goal is to get others to stop ignoring even what they might consider trivial symptoms.

“I think it’s pretty common among women — especially women that are mothers, that you put other people ahead of yourself. Hopefully this will touch some of them to realize you’re important too,” she said.

“Don’t deny your own health. You’re no good to anybody else if you’re not taking care of yourself first. Talk to your doctor,” she said.

Along with Pap smears and other measures, Roan-Covert also stresses the important role the HPV vaccine can play in keeping cancer at bay.

“I missed it due to my age, but the HPV vaccine, get it, get it for your daughters, get it for your sons,” she urged.

“Talk to your doctor, have them explain the benefits of it. Everything that I went through could have been avoided if I was at the age where I could have gotten the HPV vaccine,” she said.

“Get vaccinated. Protect yourself, protect your children, protect your mom, your sister,” Roan-Covert stressed.

“When I found out about my cancer, one of my oldest daughter’s first questions was, ‘Is this genetic? am I going to get it?'” Roan-Covert said.

“Thank God, no. They have the vaccine that they were both given at the appropriate age, so they’re protected,” she said.

“It’s important to get the word out, to raise awareness and hopefully reach those people that are on the fence about whether or not to vaccinate their children and whether or not to vaccinate themselves,” Roan-Covert said.