08/29/2026
đź”” I RANG THE BELL! đź””
On August 25, 2026, I completed my final radiation treatment.
The bell rang for only seven seconds, but those seven seconds represented months of examinations, uncertainty, prayer, tears, courage, and perseverance.
I do not drink alcohol. I do not smoke, use drugs, or get high. I believed I was perfectly healthy. I never imagined that breast cancer could be quietly developing inside my body.
Then, in less than two months, I underwent six mammograms and two biopsies.
I was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ—DCIS, also called Stage 0 breast cancer. I thank God that it was detected early and had not become invasive.
But early did not mean insignificant.
My DCISionRT score was 9.2 out of 10, placing me in an elevated-risk category. My report estimated that, with surgery alone, I had a 42% risk of recurrence within 10 years, including an 18% risk of invasive breast cancer. With surgery and radiation, those estimated risks decreased to 15% and 7%.
After receiving my diagnosis, I did what I had learned to do many years ago: I wrote my prayer request down and placed it inside my Something For Jesus To Do™ box.
I prayed specifically, released the burden to God, and trusted Him with what I could not control.
Write it. Release it. Trust Him.
On May 7, 2026, I underwent a lumpectomy. I wore my Something For Jesus To Do™ bracelet into surgery as a reminder that I was not walking into that operating room alone.
The cancer was removed with negative margins, and no invasive carcinoma was found.
But God!
I then completed 15 radiation treatments—including a makeup treatment because the machine broke on my first scheduled treatment day.
While receiving radiation, my daughter became seriously ill and was hospitalized. Some days I went from her hospital room to my radiation appointment while continuing to care for my family, manage my businesses, and handle my responsibilities.
There were days when I was physically and emotionally exhausted—but God continued to give me strength.
My hair had always been long and beautiful. I did not lose it through chemotherapy, but the stress of six mammograms, two biopsies, surgery, radiation, uncertainty, and family emergencies took a toll. I eventually cut it short.
But I did not cut away my faith.
The woman in my “before” photographs was beautiful. The woman who rang that bell is beautiful too—changed, tested, grateful, and stronger.
Today, I am grateful to move forward with no evidence of disease. My next chapter includes continued follow-up care and five years of hormone therapy to help reduce the chance of recurrence.
I am sharing my story because feeling healthy does not replace screening. Cancer does not only happen to people who drink, smoke, use drugs, or live unhealthy lifestyles.
Please schedule your mammogram. Keep your appointments. Ask questions and advocate for yourself. Early detection may save your life.
I thought I was perfectly healthy—and then breast cancer happened.
I wrote my prayer.
I released my burden.
I trusted Him.
Cancer became part of my story, but it did not become the author of my life. God is still writing my story.
There is nothing He cannot do.
But God. 💗🔔🙏🏽
