“Highly suspicious,” said my doctor after reading my breast x-ray. The radiologist had turned over my x-ray plates to him. You see, the nipple on my right breast was flat and the doctor sent me to the hospital for x-rays. He said, “I have arranged an appointment with a top oncology surgeon and a hospital room at Baptist Hospital in Memphis.” He went on to say, “Please go.”
After an agonizing weekend, my husband and I drove 90 miles to Memphis and my appointment with an oncology surgeon. The surgeon asked, “Do you know what we are up against?” Sadly we checked into Baptist Hospital. The next morning I was to be wheeled into surgery. And if the breast was cancerous they would remove it. That night I got down on my knees and asked God to spare me this ordeal that every woman dreads more than any other surgery. They did remove my breast. In the recovery room I felt lost and helpless.
The surgeon came into my hospital room and told me I would have to undergo chemotherapy. I really dreaded losing my hair. I knew very little about chemotherapy.
I was ready for the first chemotherapy treatment and my husband took off work and drove me the 90 miles to see an oncologist. His name was Dr. West. He was extremely sympathetic and very nice to both my husband and me. You see, my husband’s job was coming to an end. His plant was closing down. The doctor was very sorry for the both of us. Dr. West said he was going after the cancer aggressively. Six out of eleven lymph nodes showed up cancerous. They were invading my body. I got down on my knees and prayed for God to take this disease away. For the following nine months I faithfully went every three weeks for treatments.
Dr. West said, “Get a wig.” Six friends went with me to shop for the perfect wig. We found it. The wig was a petite size and just right for my head. Two weeks after the first treatment, my hair just came out in the shower one night. I put on my new wig and got outside for long healthy walks each day. A neighbor sometimes walked with me. I told her my husband would be without a job soon and I really did not know what we would do. She said, “We will see about that.” The next thing I knew we received a call from my neighbor’s friend asking my husband to come in for a job interview at the mill. He got the job and the money was considerably more than his present employer. This meant our family of five would survive economically. Our three college age children could go on with their education. Hopefully I would survive also. I overheard a relative say, “We just don’t know if she will make it.”
The night of the new job offer we were celebrating with friends. Gathered
around the fire and cooking fish, I pulled my wig down in the back. The
wig was singed from me getting too close to the fire. It felt like stubble and was very brittle. The next day I ordered a new petite size wig and vowed to stay away from fires. Keeping up my routine by praying each morning and walking in the evening, the time went by fast. Although one hot August day, I told my husband, “I am not going for my treatment today.” He sternly said, “Oh, yes you are.” So very reluctantly I got in the car and faced the treatment. It wasn’t so bad when I got there. I always called on the name of Jesus during this time. The nurse gave me a pep talk. She said, “Great big men have dropped out of chemo treatments. How brave of you to show up each and every time.”
One of my friends tried to encourage me by keeping me very busy. “Come see the new blooms on my hibiscus plant,” she would say. “Let’s go for a ride after church,” she and her husband insisted. We would always get lost. This provided me with a diversion from the struggle God and I were in.
My husband had promised me an airline ticket to Florida to see my folks at the end of my treatments. I really wanted to go. I got to make that trip.
Now as a twenty-five year cancer survivor, I went back to West Clinic’s twenty-fifth anniversary gala in November of 2004. They showed my video in front of about two thousand people that were attending that awesome event. I got to hug Dr. West. Wind Beneath My Wings was my favorite song they sang at this celebration night. God sends new jobs and supporting friends right when you need them.