Joy (Joyce) Atkinson Jones Joyce Atkinson Jones MDS

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.


Joy was first diagnosed with stage 3A endometrial cancer in December of 2012.  She underwent a hysterectomy in January 2013 and chemotherapy  through July of the same year. After nearly four years cancer-free, she received the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome in March 2017 with high risk of development into aggressive leukemia. She began chemotherapy at that time to treat symptoms and increase life expectancy, receiving infusions seven days of each month. To her family’s, friends’ and doctors’ great pleasure—and with our deep thankfulness to God for his mercy and grace—she responded extraordinarily well to treatment and achieved remission by August. In the case of MDS, remission does not mean cure; rather, it shows that chemotherapy is productive for the time. She cannot discontinue therapy without a recurrence of her symptoms and a subsequent worsening into acute leukemia. Since August, she has been working with Vanderbilt to secure a stem cell, or bone marrow, transplant, the only medical cure for her condition. 


God has blessed each step of this difficult journey and Joy is now at the point of physically preparing for her transplant. Vanderbilt has found a 100% match in the national donor registry and begun rigorous medical testing for both Joy and her anonymous donor. The timing is fluid, but we anticipate her transplant around early February of 2018. 


Preparation for transplant through intensive chemotherapy and radiation to essentially eradicate her immune system is both dangerous and debilitating for a time. This is why we’re creating a Caring Bridge site. Having seen the wonderful service and the benefits they provide for families dealing with difficult health situations, we are so thankful to have this resource to communicate with and reach out to you.   Thank you so much for reading Joy’s story and taking the time to care for her!  Please pray for her in her upcoming transplant. We love and appreciate you so much!