I am a breast cancer survivor by the grace of God.
March 2008, I dreamed I was leaving a golf course. I found myself at Unity’s emergency room. A nurse was about to give me a shot in the chest when I told her no! She replied, “If you don’t let me do this you are going to die!” At that, I awoke.
The next evening, I was bathing and found a lump the size of a golf ball in my left breast.
There was no pain nor soreness present so I dismissed it as nothing. A few days later, it hadn’t gone away so I told my husband Tim who wanted me to see a doctor.
To reassure him, I agreed and went. After an exam, I was referred to a local surgeon, Dr. Hanson. My appointment day I went alone. After all, there was no family history of breast cancer.
Shortly after my arrival, the nurse called my name. I quickly noticed she was the same nurse from my dream. Entering the exam room, I saw the room aligned in golf course border.
The doctor entered the room and performed the biopsy.
I was so nervous I left immediately, not even waiting to make another appointment for test results.
Sunday, Tim went out and bought a metropolitan newspaper. The front page headline read, “So, you have cancer, Now what?” Is this a joke, I asked? Is someone trying to tell me something or is this a coincidence?
Thursday morning my results arrived. I went in that afternoon to recieve the news alone. It’s cancer, need to schedule surgery as soon as possible.
Dr. Hanson and his nurse began to comfort me. My reply, I’m only 38 years old, I’m not going anywhere. Upon hearing the news, my daughter asked me, full of tears, does this mean I’m going to lose my mom?
I hugged her tight and answered, no! You know your mama is a fighter!
By Monday morning, I was having a lumpectomy.
Dr. Hanson gave the news to my family. It’s stage 2 cancer aggressive, lymp nodes were clear.
Tim cried as a million questions flooded his mind. Suddenly life was fragile.
By the next Wednesday, I had my first chemo treatment. Entering the Unity cancer center I quickly noticed the difference in people’s appearance. I began to cry uncontrollably. For the first time, I was scared and overwhelmed. This disease was not only physically, but mentally challenging. I couldn’t control it.
My oncologist, Dr. Chohan, was going to save my life with God’s help. Everyone in the cancer center was awesome! I had the best cancer team in the world!
Over the next nine months, I underwent 8 chemo and 33 radiation treatments. The side effects of chemo alone were enough to make anyone give up, but God wouldn’t let me.
Every week, I recieved an encouraging word. I kept a positive attitude and prayed daily. Prayer grams came by mail from Immanuel Baptist Church.
By November we were attending service. As of August 2009, our family joined membership.
Today, I am holding a christian support group for anyone ill every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. open to the public.
My message to other cancer patients is never give up hope. Cancer is not a death sentence. You are never alone. God is always with you!
For more stories submitted by cancer survivors visit the Your Story section.
