Staying Positive While Fighting Cancer

Faith in God’s love helps me carry on despite circumstances

Photo by Jasmin Ne on Unsplash

I’ve battled cancer three times so far. Last week, I had what I hope is my last round of chemotherapy.

The first time I had cancer I was in my 30s. Thanks to the cancer, I never had a family. I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast disease and given 6 months to live. Even after I was in remission, I was, for many years, too weak to think of having children. There was also the worry — what if I had a child and then got cancer again?

I got cancer again when I was 48 years old. I had a mastectomy.

Then last year, in April of 2021, I was diagnosed with metastatic brain, lung, and liver cancer. I was once again given 6 months to live, and told that within that time frame I’d end up on hospice.

I am not in hospice. It has been 18 months.

I am dealing with increased tumor masses — hence the chemo, to which I think I’ve responded well. Next week we do some tests to confirm. I am praying for not needing any more chemo, though my oncologist has mentioned I may need to keep doing immunotherapy.

I have other issues. For example, my balance is off. I have ongoing neuropathy in my left thumb. My blood pressure is too low most days and my…