“I feel like the threat of dying opens your eyes,” says Jess Newport, remarking on her experience battling a number of medical issues throughout her life.
Born with cystic fibrosis, Newport traveled to North Carolina for a double lung transplant before returning home to Florida. After later developing chronic pancreatitis, she moved permanently to North Carolina, where she began to feel isolated as she lived with her chronic illness. Eventually, though, she discovered dragon boating. Years after picking up the sport, she now captains a team in Raleigh.
Newport serves as one of the captains of the Chemo-Kazes, one of the Raleigh Dragon Boat Club’s two teams. The Kazes is made up of survivors of cancer and other illnesses, cutting across generations and identities. One of the perks, she says, is being able to get out onto the water with people she cares about.
She sees herself as more than any one thing, however; more than a paddler, and more than someone who lives with chronic illness.
Jess powers through a paddle during a practice on Lake Wheeler on October 9, 2022. Though she acts like a coach for the rest of the team during many of their practices, some days are spent taking it easy, opting instead to paddle together out on the water. Cystic fibrosis ravaged Jess’ lungs until she was able to receive a double lung transplant in 2010, 23 years after she was born with the condition. A pair of tattoos on her forearms represents this part of her identity. When children mispronounce “cystic fibrosis,” she says, it often comes out as “65 Roses,” hence the Roman numerals and image of a rose. Jess shows a scrapbook she keeps at her house on September 28, 2022. While she was a student at the University of South Florida, sickness disrupted her studies. At 23, she traveled to Durham, N.C., to receive a double lung transplant. She says that in transplant cases like hers, doctors will notify two patients and their families to prepare to make the journey in case one set of organs is incompatible or any other number of complications.Jess works on needle-felting the stem of a craft pumpkin on September 28, 2022. One of the ways she keeps herself occupied is by working on arts and crafts, even setting aside a room in her home to work on them laden with boxes of materials and bundles of wool. While she mostly does it for herself, she’s been known to take commissions from people that she knows. The Chemo-Kazes haul their dragon boat out onto the water at Lake Wheeler ahead of a practice on October 9, 2022. The Kazes will practice until it gets too cold for the team to show out. Jess jokes around with Cynthia Fistler (left), another of the team’s coaches during their October 9 practice. One of the team’s mottos, says Fistler, is to leave your troubles on the dock. (From left) Fellow Kazes, Michael, Cynthia and Jeremy, sit with Jess at an unplanned dinner at a local Thai restaurant that Michael and Cynthia recommended after their September 25, 2022, practice was cancelled due to high winds. The Kazes often spend time together outside of their practices.Jess exits her Durham pain clinic after an appointment on September 25, 2022. Pain management has been one of her difficulties. Her different doctors, communicating across their specialities, have been engaged in determining the right dose of fentanyl patches to stem her chronic pain. At times, the pain from her pancreatitis becomes unbearable enough to hospitalize her. A nurse draws Jess’ blood at a clinic in Raleigh on October 6, 2022. Her physicians order samples semi-regularly. Just two days earlier, she’d been given a new insulin pump and was also dealing with that. “Slowly becoming a cyborg,” she says. “Organic lungs and man-made pancreas at work!”Jess pets her dog Smith after getting back from the clinic on October 6. Living alone, her older dog offers company and companionship most days. He becomes anxious when she’s away. Jess likes to take Smith for short walks around the neighborhood a number of times a week. Whenever she has to go to the hospital, one of her top priorities is finding somebody who can feed and care for Smith while she’s gone. Jess prepares her supplies to flush out an IV port on her chest just beneath her skin in her bathroom on October 6, 2022. The port is helpful, she says, because her veins are poor and it offers easier access when it’s needed.Jess preps the connection to her IV port in her bathroom. Healthcare providers are trained to perform the process, but early on Jess wanted to get the training so she could do it herself. The supplies, including a saline solution, needed to clean her port lay on her bathroom counter. While she’s meant to do it more often, she does it when she feels like it’s needed. This usually means sitting around for about an hour waiting for the saline to empty and run its course.Jess shows a collection of some of her medications she keeps in a basket in her home on September 28, 2022. Over time, she says, she’s gotten used to managing her long list of meds, some of which counteract the side effects of other medications. Jess addresses the Chemo-Kazes ahead of a race at Asia Fest at an amphitheatre in Raleigh on September 17, 2022. “I believe in you,” she said. “For a lot of you — my cancer and illness survivors — this is easy in comparison.”Jess leads the Kazes in a team huddle and cheer before a day of competing alongside the Relentess, the Club’s other team, in a set of three heats. Jess, dressed in a tutu with a skeleton dragon on her shoulder, scales, and a biohazard symbol on her backpack, calls out commands to the Kaze paddlers as they cut through the water during their heat at Asia Fest. The costume is meant to represent her as a “radioactive” paddler. The Kazes pull their boat ashore after a practice on September 4, 2022. During this practice, Jess was absent because she was in the hospital.
