‘Superhero Strength’: Jan Teagarden
When you walk through the third floor of Buhl Hall at Waynesburg University and step into Secretary Jan Teagarden’s office for the first time, it looks disorganized. She’ll even tell you as such, saying her office is “cluttered” or “messy.”
Very rarely is anything kept tidy around Teagarden’s desk; the amount of items, which range from papers she needs and her morning coffee to random files and trinkets that fill space, rival that of a mad scientist.
However, instead of being thought of as a villain, Teagarden is the exact opposite. She is a superhero, the knower of all; at the very least she should be up for the multitasker of the year award. If anybody has a query about what is going on in Buhl Hall at Waynesburg University, the students and faculty alike live by one motto: ask Jan.
Everyone in the building – which includes the Department of Communication, along with the English and Psychology departments, to name a few – rely on Teagarden on a daily basis.
The one faculty member in the entire building that doesn’t teach a class holds the answers to the most important questions.
However, nine years ago Teagarden’s role reversed. In May of 2005, suddenly she found herself having to ask those close to her for help, as she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Like her desk, Teagarden’s life can mostly be described as controlled chaos, particularly during her yearlong battle with cancer that started in May 2005. That’s when doctors, Teagarden said, first found what turned out to be a cancerous lump in her breast, along with two cancerous lymph nodes as well.
When the doctors came back with the terrible news, everything came to a standstill for Teagarden.
“To be honest, from when you first hear you have cancer everything just slowed down,” said Teagarden. “It was like life came to a complete stop. It seemed very, very slow in progressing, at least until I got done with the chemo. I guess I did slow down at home, not doing quite as much.”
While she did take it a little easier while at home, as Teagarden puts it, she constantly needed to be around people. No sooner did she go through her first chemotherapy treatment than she found herself back in her office, much to the amazement and confusion of her co-workers.
“I’d start to feel a little better on Monday [after resting over the weekends] and I would come to work and people would say ‘Why would you come to work,” said Teagarden. “Well, if I didn’t come to work, I’d be sitting at home, thinking about it; I’d go crazy. I’d have to come to work. Plus everybody here was so incredible, so I worked through the whole thing as much as I could. I took very little time off.”
It was easy for Teagarden to throw herself into her work. When she was working and surrounding herself with people, its as if she didn’t have cancer at all.
“When I would come to work, all the cancer stuff would go to the back of my mind,” said Teagarden. “I could just concentrate on here; I could just put it out of my mind until I got home or was alone. I like people around me all the time, so it’s good to come here.”
In an effort to be strong for everyone around her, like a superhero from a DC Universe or Marvel comic, Teagarden had somewhat of a secret identity when she came to work every day. She wore her contacts and due to the chemotherapy and radiation, she had to wear a wig.
For Teagarden, it was difficult. Like most heroes, not only did she want to stay strong, but she wanted nothing to do with the spotlight. For her, she said her job is perfect because she is out of the way most of the time.
“When I had the chemo, I lost my hair. Unless you were my husband or my two kids you didn’t see me that way because I had a wig. I guess I’m not one of those people that felt confident letting people see me without any hair,” said Teagarden. “Usually the only time I would do that is when I’d go home cause when I went home the wig would just come off. Even now when I think about having a bad hair day I think to myself, ‘Well you could still have no hair.'”
At home, Teagarden continued to show superhuman strength, but for different reasons. For her husband, seeing his wife go through cancer was one of the toughest things he had to watch. For her two kids, at the time in their teens, it was equally as difficult, no matter how little they made it known to their mother.
“I tried to keep home life as normal as possible because of my kids. Not that they’ve said this, but I know it scared the crap out of them,” said Teagarden. “My husband in particular was very supportive. He tried to make things better. I probably didn’t let them see how it was affecting me, probably more mentally than physically.”
Not only did her family show constant support, but Teagarden’s friends rallied around her as well in various ways. Some friends cooked for her when she didn’t have the energy. Others took the time to drive her places and be there with her during chemotherapy treatments.
Teagarden was accustomed to having people ask things of her while she was at work. Even though she was now the one asking for help, she didn’t feel uncomfortable in doing so.
“If it’s a friend and I need something, I feel comfortable enough asking people for things,” said Teagarden. “That doesn’t bother me, mainly because I know if they need something, I’ll be there for them. Friends do that for friends and family does it for family.”
After eight courses of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation over a span of five years, in 2010 Teagarden’s doctor gave her the thumbs up sign; her cancer was gone.
Although she doesn’t think back to 2005 every day, Teagarden said that when she does have some time to herself, she reminisces about that period of her life.
“Mostly now I think ‘It’s been nine years.’ When it was going on time stopped at a snail’s pace,” said Teagarden. “I do probably think about it a lot. It scared the heck out of me. It does change your outlook on life and makes you appreciate every birthday you have. I try to appreciate things more.”
Teagarden continues to assist other faculty members and students every day in Buhl Hall. She has very few moments to herself; in the span of one hour, four or five professors come in asking her to print or copy a file, and students peek their heads in asking where a certain class is being held, all while trying to answer four different phone calls.
“Sometimes I do get a little frazzled when the phone’s ringing, I have three people wanting to copy something but the copier’s jammed and sometimes I’d like to change my name,” said Teagarden. “It’s like that sometimes at home, too. But then it gets peaceful like this and I take a breather.”
Teagarden does admit that she has been trying to change her desk from looking mad scientist-esque to clean and pristine, but when duty calls, and more often then not it does, this superhero takes her time to juggle 10 different questions and requests all at once, saving the lives of all that occupy Buhl Hall, no matter how difficult things may be.
And all with a smile on her face.