A Closer Walk: The C Word

Roxanne had faith in God before, but she was changed after what He did for her. Here is her story:

"I never felt any lumps at all. It was found because of my annual mammogram. God is good and He was truly with me going through breast cancer. I had breast cancer surgery, a lumpectomy to remove the tumor. It was stage 1 cancer. I have a strong faith in God and of course, I was shocked the cancer was in my body. I had a peace from God going through this cancer journey and many prayers went up for me

In surgery they removed the tumor, which was the size of the tip of my little finger.

The surgeon removed a lymph node to see if any cancer cells spread

to them. If cancer cells were found in lymph nodes that meant chemotherapy, I

sure did not want to go through that. Surgery was day surgery. I came out of

recovery with no effects at all, like I had not had major surgery. I was very

surprised. They said after surgery I would have pain and not feel good for 1-2 weeks.

I woke up the next day after the surgery with no pain at all.

A lymph node was removed under my arm, with a two inch cut. No pain under my arm either. I am still amazed there was no pain from surgery. I should have had pain. Also, because a lymph node was removed, I was told I would most likely not be able to move my arm and would need to exercise my arm and maybe have therapy to get my arm moving all the way. I was concerned because I do sign language to worship at church and other Christian groups. I never had any problem with moving my arm at all. God was with me and many prayers went up for me going through this.

6 1/2 weeks for 5 days a week I had radiation therapy. A friend said,

“Roxanne let’s pray God would not let radiation destroy any good cells and

only destroy bad cells.” So, I had others pray that also. All my doctors told me with

radiation, my skin would change, be dimpled because of the burning of radiation

and I would shrink in size on the side I was having radiation done. I was told I

would blister, be in pain, be tired, and need to put ointment on it. Some people have to take a break from radiation for a bit and recover before continuing. Radiation is like taking a steak and putting it in the hot sun outside and letting it fry. The steak would have a tough texture, and shrink from the heat.

That was what I had to look forward to. But, I put my faith in God again. I joined a cancer support group at UNM Cancer Center, which has helped and supported me.

I prayed and others prayed and believed God would get me through this too, and He did. I did not blister, I did not get tired, I did not hurt, I did not shrink, my skin did not change.

My doctors were amazed at how I looked going through radiation. I was told

by my surgeon, “You must have very good skin.” It was not my skin being good,

it was God. Good cells were saved. I did not look like I had radiation and never

really felt like I had it either. I wish I had pictures of the faces of doctors who saw me,

so shocked at how I looked and in less than 6 months after surgery, also my scars

from surgery could hardly be seen.

I encourage women to put their faith in God going through cancer or any

sickness or disease. I also encourage woman to get mammograms every

year. If I had skipped my mammogram in 2010 it could have been a different

story, the tumor would have been bigger and may have spread to lymph nodes.

Some scriptures God put in my heart going through my cancer journey.

2 Corinthians 1 3-4. “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our

troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we

ourselves have received from God.”

Isaiah 41:10 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”

There is power in having faith in God and from prayers. I had peace most of

the time. I feel like I went through cancer treatment but didn't, like being in a fire

and not getting burned.

I praise God and love Him for what He did for me and He can do it for others too.Trust Him. He is a good God and is always with us in what ever we go through. A song was put in my heart after surgery and it is called “God Will Make A Way,” it says, “God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me.” He did make a way, and I love Him."

Have you seen God do something huge in your life? How did it change you?

This is Day 18 of the 31 Days of Change series.If you would like to read previous year's series, click here to read about Our Adoption Adventure. Click here to read about Hearing God. If you would like to read other blogs and different topics you can go to Write31days.com.