Sometimes, life’s biggest blessings happen when least expected.

Last December, Joy Kizer of Booneville accompanied her husband to an appointment with Dr. Clayton Parker at Dermatology Consultants. While she was only there “for moral support,” Dr. Parker noticed something unusual on her cheek and politely asked if he could take a closer look.

A Doctor’s Keen Eye

“I thought it was absolutely nothing, a little sunspot,” Joy recalled. But Dr. Parker’s intuition told him otherwise.

“He took a picture of it with his special camera,” she said. “After he looked at it, he said, ‘I really think we need to get that. When I finish with Billy, we’ll do a biopsy on it.’”

Joy was struck by Dr. Parker’s willingness to act, even though she wasn’t supposed to be the patient. “Not too many physicians would offer to do anything like that without having an appointment,” she said.

An Unexpected Diagnosis

During the biopsy, Joy asked Dr. Parker, “How could you be a good doctor if you saw something and you didn’t say anything?”

“Well, I can’t,” Dr. Parker replied. “That’s the reason I did.”

The biopsy revealed melanoma— “the bad boy of skin cancers,” Joy said.

“From that day, the week and a half before Christmas, they had me rushing around trying to get in with the different doctors to get everything lined up,” Joy remembered.

A Second Surprise

Pre-op lab work revealed another surprise: Joy was diagnosed with adult-onset Type 2 diabetes. While neither of her parents had diabetes, her two older brothers do. “It was a blessing that we found it because they would’ve probably postponed my surgery if we had not gotten it under control,” Joy said.

Teamwork in the OR

The size and depth of the tumor required a sentinel lymph node biopsy to check for spread. Ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Robert Yarber performed the procedure Jan. 13 at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

At the same time, plastic surgeon Dr. Benjamin Googe performed reconstructive surgery or, as Joy says, “put my face back together.”

Good News

Waiting for the results from the sentinel node biopsy was the toughest part—but the news was good. “The fact that I had a completely clear biopsy report from the lymph node meant no chemo, no treatments of any kind,” she said.

Joy was off work for four weeks to heal from surgery but then returned to her job as a Registered Dental Hygienist with Young Dentistry with no restrictions.

A Thankful Heart

Joy is extremely grateful to all who played a part in her Christmas miracle, and especially for Dr. Parker’s keen eye and compassion.

“God had me in the right place at the right time and had a sweet, conscientious doctor who was willing to go out of his way, even though I didn’t have an appointment, to see me and check something that he obviously thought needed to be seen about,” she said. “Dr. Clayton Parker saved my life.”