I was 31 with a two year old son and nine month old daughter. I noticed a lump and called my doctor, but she dismissed my concerns and said I was too young for breast cancer. I knew that something wasn’t right and I felt an urgency that I know was from the Lord so I scheduled a mammogram and got checked anyway. The radiologist referred me to a surgeon and I had a biopsy. I remember the day the doctor told me I had cancer. Fear gripped my stomach. I knew I would go to heaven, but I wanted to raise my two children. I researched online to be sure that I was getting the best treatment for my situation. It was overwhelming to read the research. I chose a lumpectomy with radiation and chemo, and found that the cancer was not in my lymph nodes. I was told that the chemo would not make me very sick, and some people even gained weight on it. I became very sick from the first two rounds and lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks.  The treatments put a lot of stress on an already strained marriage relationship.

     After 6 months of chemo and radiation my husband moved out and my marriage eventually ended.  The Lord provided for me and I kept my home and had health insurance. One month after the divorce I found another lump under my arm. This time I felt fear like never before. This meant the cancer had spread. My doctor told me I had to have even tougher chemo this time. My family and church prayed with me for God’s healing. After several tests the doctor said I had a rare recurrence where the cancer had not spread to the rest of my body. I know this was a miracle!    

     I didn’t think I would ever find someone who wanted to marry a divorced mother with two young children and a history of cancer.  But I found a caring and faithful man to marry.  We wanted to have children, but my cancer treatments meant that it would be difficult.  My husband told me that no one knows if they can have children when they get married, and he was okay with whatever happened. I stopped taking menopause treatments after a year, and God blessed us with the miracle of a baby daughter. We wanted to have another child, but didn’t want me to be off of treatment for too long. We lost two pregnancies in a row, which was very difficult, and then just as we were going to stop trying, found out we were pregnant with our son.    

Life for the last 11 years has been very busy, blessed, and complicated as we have raised four children through all the normal situations of parenting in a step-family.