Holy. Cow. If you ask former NHS History teacher Cecilia Burtnett to describe the journey that she has been on for the past year in just a few words, that famous phrase of hers would definitely make the cut.

     Since her retirement in early January last year due to a diagnosis in December with stage 2B Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (ICD), an agressive form of breast cancer, Burtnett has been receiving chemotherapy rigourously every three weeks. Her last treatment was May 28th, and her last targeted cancer drug infusion was January 28th. After this treatment her status was updated as “NED”: no evidence of disease. The obstacles that come along with battling cancer can sometimes beat even the most resilient people into submission but that isn’t the case for Burtnett.

     Sitting down for lunch at The Local, Burtnett or “Mrs. B” as most people know her, is bursting with that same fiery intensity that accompanied her into the classroom every morning. Helping her granddaughter, Lizzie Grace, shrug off her coat, Burtnett does not miss a beat, jumping right into conversation.

     Burtnett excitedly talks about everything that has happened in the past year, from her successful attempt at making better Madeleines than Starbucks, to saving a baby goat which had hypothermia on her farm in Texas. Finally, she arrives at the sometimes difficult conversation of her cancer.

     Burtnett says the chemotherapy was just as tough she could have expected it to be. She talks about how her muscles weakened quickly, and by the time school started again after her diagnosis, she was barely able to walk down the hallways of the school to her class room.

     Finally she was able to leave the school and start her treatment. For her, it was about making it through every day and being realistic about what she could and could not handle at the moment.

     “I’ll tell you what I did,” Burtnett says, “I didn’t try to be a superwoman. I took it easy, and saved myself for when I really needed it.”

     And she would need it, every time the day came for her to go to chemotherapy, Burtnett says that strength that she saved pushed her through. However difficult the endless chemotherapy and radiation proved to be over the last year, Burtnett says she finds joy in the small steps she is able to take now that she has entered remission.

“I had my first haircut since chemo, this week. It was great,” says Burtnet. A smile spreading gently from ear to ear as she adds, “I missed Connie, my hairdresser. I missed her so much, it was awful.”

     Although she has been enjoying her time off in Texas and visiting with her children and grandchildren, Burtnett admits that she feels a draw to her classroom from time to time.

     “Last year, I was too weak to clean out my classroom, but I took some things I wanted. I couldn’t make myself throw any of it away,” Burtnett says. “And now I’m realizing I’m not going to teach anymore.”

     Even with her teaching days behind her, Burtnett says it isn’t as hard to accept as she thought it would be because of the prospect of her future.

     “As you get older, you don’t realize there will be some things you can’t do anymore. I consider myself very lucky because I got to do something I really love doing. What a treasure for me. How lucky can I be?”

     Moving forward, Burtnett says she plans for a permanant move to Texas to become a rancher. With her love of all things animal, Burtnett says that the possibilities of amazing circumstances happening everyday feeds her lively spirit.

     After a long and fufilling career at Noblesville High School, Burtnett says she is ready to find excitement in a new venture in her life.

     “I think I valued every day because I would come to school and something spectacular would happen that day. That’s why I am excited for what I’m going into for the future; the possibility of something special happening each day.”