Posted on: June 29th, 2017

The day I received my diagnosis I was stunned.  I thought about my entire life. The lives of my family crossed in front of me rapidly. I didn’t know what to do.

The oncologist was very young and I will never forget his reaction to my, “Why me?  How can this happen?”  His reply to me was “Why not you?” He was exactly right! This comment stuck with me as I prepared me for the uphill battle that I would “fight this through with faith”.

The prognosis was not good, and the doctor had not dealt with this form of breast cancer before. There were times when none of us knew what was ahead, and quite frankly I was scared.  Sitting in the clinic receiving chemo for eight hours at a time gave me a lot of time to think about my life, and the lives of my family and friends. I could have very easily “slipped under”, but I knew that God was walking beside me and I looked to him for strength.  The many prayers from friends, family and those I never met helped me to continually restore the faith when I started to lose it all.

It was a long year of treatments and sometimes all I could do was cry and pray. I faced many rounds of chemo before and after surgery, and a summer of radiation.  Looking back, I’ve learned that this experience made me a much stronger Christian.  “Let your faith be bigger than your fears”. (Unknown)

I attribute much of my strength through this time to the pastoral support and support from the church. Looking back, I am truly convinced that I traveled this road because God was calling me to help others who were traveling a long road themselves.

I continue to lean on God for strength as I assist not only those who are going through breast cancer like I did, but other cancers and major illnesses.  Even in the worst of it, I remind people to have keep their spirits high, to face their fears head on, and most importantly to have great faith and know that God is always there with them and their family no matter the obstacles that lie ahead.

I have complete faith in my God. He is always with me and strengthens my faith with every struggle that comes my way.

I will walk by faith even when I cannot see. 2 Corinthians