Faith Through the Fight

The journey is never easy with any diagnosis you might receive, especially when you know there’s a chance of dying. You can be afraid and scared but with FAITH, strength, and hope the odds are much better!

I was diagnosed with a rare and fast-growing breast cancer in January 2014. I consider myself lucky and truly blessed that I only had to have a lumpectomy, 12 chemo treatments and 32 radiations that took a year out of my life. Why do I say that… because there are so many women that have had a much worse outcome. I missed getting a mammogram the year before so it had been two years and when I think about it, it could have been a much more devastating outcome.

I never asked, “why me?” I just made the decision to fight because God put this in my life’s path to make me a stronger and better person. I kept my life as normal as possible. I had my bad days and my good days and honestly, I did have a few “pity parties,” but I kept working and doing the things I loved like golfing with my husband and friends and living life as if cancer was not present. I was not going to let this cancer get the best of me.  I didn’t want to die. It was not my time to go. My FAITH in God and prayers from family, friends, and people I didn’t even know gave me my survivor power.

Making the decision to have chemotherapy and radiation was a tough one to make. But when you’re told you would be cutting your chances of getting cancer again from 30% to 10%, we decided I would do it. It was a scary and long grueling ordeal to go through. You don’t understand it unless you’ve experienced it. Nausea, weakness, dry mouth, no taste for months, and some neuropathies were difficult, but with my husband and great friends by my side, I was able to conquer the chemo treatments!

I had an incredible friend (who recently passed away from her third cancer) who actually made my chemo treatments fun. I know that sounds weird, but with puppets to keep my mind off the big needle it made it bearable. Jolly Ranchers reduced the metallic taste of the medicine going into me.  Lavender scent on a towel masked the awful smell of chemo. Playing Yahtzee and having Mexican food after it all made it a little easier to endure. I was also always supported by different friends at each treatment.

Now, I can relay to others to look at the positives from what you’re going through. I lost every hair on my body, and I felt like I looked like an “alien”. But I didn’t have to shave for months and the water on my head in the shower really felt amazing!  My head on the pillow at night was nice and cool and different than I had ever experienced. I acquired wigs to make myself feel pretty, and they had names like Natasha, Raquel, and Trixie.  My husband really got a kick out of that! I felt like a different person each time. A funny thing happened at my work with one of my customers. I had taken in two wigs that day to switch out if I got tired of one of them. Well, the customer came back later after I had switched and asked me if I had a twin!  We both laughed after I explained what I did!

When my hair grew back, that was one of the most exciting days. July 5th, I felt fuzz on my scalp for the first time in a long time.  Months later my new white and silver hair was shining bright!

There is so much more to tell, but if I can help someone who is about to embark on this same journey that I had and share my experiences, it makes me happy that I might be able to help them a little. So, if you know someone who is going through something similar, let them see hope that they can get through it.

I was able to get through all of this with loving support from my husband, family, friends, God, and FAITH!

I look back upon the time when my niece Miller was first diagnosed with CRPS. It was about the same time as my diagnosis of breast cancer, so it was a difficult time for both of us and she was always in my thoughts and prayers the entire time. I remember taking Miller and her sister to eat ice cream and she was on crutches, and she just couldn’t bend her leg. I didn’t understand. I now know at that time we all just didn’t get the pain she was suffering, and we still don’t because she is the one suffering from it.  It hurt to see her in pain. I wished that I had been able to go see her at the Cleveland Clinic but with my cancer treatment, it was not possible. We both had challenges to face at the same time. I truly wished I had understood her suffering better to help her. It was a beautiful time when she finally came home from the Cleveland Clinic and was able to walk again. What joy and happiness I felt for Miller to see her walking. Her new journey was just about to begin, and we were about to be amazed by her talent and perseverance.

God gives us challenges and obstacles in life and it’s up to us to conquer them.

What got me through my journey was my faith in God that He gave me the strength to keep going because this was his path for me and I was going to conquer it, and I believe Miller can and will continue to conquer CRPS!  Although she still suffers from the pain every day, she has the fight and willpower that is amazing beyond words. I think Miller has become a force of nature with her determination and drive to find a cure and help others through her passion and experience herself. I want to do all that I can to help her in making that happen. I have been so proud to help her with hosting blanket parties for her Blanket Project and raise money for Walk Strong with my Orange Crush team. I hope to go beyond my goal each year to help in the research for a cure for CRPS.

I am a proud Aunt and Miller’s motivation and achievements have astounded me greatly. She will succeed in all that she does because she has the confidence, strength, and FAITH in God’s plan for her.

“God’s love and healing power are always available to those who seek them with FAITH” - Unknown