My story is truly one of God’s Amazing Grace!

It was either Jan. or Feb. of 2007. I had myyearly mammogram, and was walking away with total confidence that it would be fine, after all, the last 10 had all came back clear.

A few days later the doctor’s office called. They had found a suspicious spot in my right breast, and I needed to come back for another mammogram.

They assured me that this wasn’t something to be overly concerned about just yet – sometimes these things happened and it turns out to be nothing. I think it was about a week before I got the phone call that it was indeed something that needed to be addressed – the sooner the better. I would need to have surgery.

That stopped me in my tracks, and all the things that it could mean began to wage war in my mind. Fighting cancer was not something I had thought much about. How could I pray and ask God to heal me or make this all ok, when I had been living in total opposition of what His Word said.

At this point, I had never even heard of God’s Grace or how much He loved me. The first 20 years of my life I lived with a religious code that made me feel like I could never be good enough to go to Heaven, and I had been running away from God and living life “my way” for about 28 years.

The thoughts were bombarding my mind with fear. I was the only parent my daughter had left….would I live to see my grandkids grow up….the thoughts and fears were endless. All the while I trying to act like I was ok so no one would see how afraid Ireally was.

Iwas able to get an appointment at M.D. Anderson pretty quick, but the appointment date was a few weeks out. The days before and between appointments seem to be the longest. I worried, then worried some more. Then once I got to M.D. Anderson, everything started over….they wanted their own mammograms, there were several different doctors I needed to see, the appointments seemed to go on forever, when all I wanted was for them to just get it out!

After they did the biopsy I was again in the waiting pattern! When they finally called, it was confirmed it was cancer and surgery needed to be scheduled. I had to have 2 surgeries because the first one didn’t get enough clear margins from around it to make sure it was all contained to that area. The good news is that it was caught in the earliest

stage…stage 0!

Because it was all contained in that one small area, all I needed was radiation….no chemo! I was so very thankful. I am now 15 yearscancer free and I give God all the glory!

In 2009, my husband and I gave our lives to The Lord and I daily give Him praise for His Amazing Grace before Ieven knew about it, His love for me when I did not deserve it, and His Mercy before I comprehended it.