Action JacksonLast Spring Darlene Jackson watched her good friend Marguerite Spagnuolo, win a women's no limit tournament in Atlantic City. She railed the action for 15 hours just after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and never told Spagnuolo.
Now, one year later, Jackson is at the poker table, cancer free, and Spagnuolo is there to return the favor. "She was a real trooper," says Spagnuolo, "the radiation and chemo knock a lot of people out, but not her."
"If they hadn't told me, I would have never known," said Jackson who discovered a lump during a self-exam. The time line was swift as Jackson had a double mastectomy in May and finished
radiation and chemotherapy in December. In between Jackson, Spagnuolo and a few other Staten Island friends played in Borgata's September Poker Open Women's Event.
While treatment didn't take a toll on Jackson physically, it did take her hair, which has since grown back. She had reconstructive surgery earlier this year and has been given a clean bill of health. Jackson thanks her family, especially her 11-year-old son Matthew and daughter Jianna, age 9, for helping with the recovery.
"I've got to live for my children, she says, "It doesn't matter if I don't have hair or boobs or if they take away an arm. As long as I'm there for my children."
As for poker, Jackson has a healthy chip stack of 85k, which is well ahead of the chip average. And Spagnuolo would love nothing more than to keep supporting Jackson all the way to the final table.
great article! :)
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