Hi y'all, welcome to my story. It was January 26, 2018, two days shy of my 39th birthday. Wow, 39! How did I reach the last year of my 30's so fast. This Type A, check-off person that I am thought...might be time to get a mammogram done, I am almost 40 after all (scary thought!) I had zero worries walking into that office having the most uncomfortable exam for a woman, I mean after all, to my knowledge I have no history of breast cancer in my family other than my Aunt in her mid-70's. February 2, 2018, I receive a phone call that changed everything. I hear "We see two areas that need to be re-scanned and we need you to come into our hospital facility". Everything seemed a blur, my thoughts were, "I am sorry, what?" God knew I would get that phone call that day and He worked it out that it just so happened my husband was working from home that day. We hugged as my fear took over my entire body. For the next few days waiting to be re-scanned, I thought for sure they saw something by mistake. Thursday, February 8, 2018 I came to be re-scanned at Northside hospital at the Forsyth facility. I remember praying, shaking the whole drive there. I get re-scanned....then a maximized re-scan...the the dreaded voice from the nurse, "Doctor now wants an ultrasound". As I laid on that ultrasound table shaking like a leaf like it was below zero in there. After ultrasound, my husband and I were placed in the consultation room to review my results. Doctor comes in, first thing she says is, "There is definitely something there". My head dropped, tears flowed, fear sucked in. As she is talking and everything to me was completely zoned out, I hear my husband say, in a fearful voice, "how serious is this?" Doctor softly whispers, "I'm very concerned". The overwhelming of thoughts I had are unexplainable but all I could think about was what my father went through as he battled lung cancer and my family... my precious little family. Northside hospital scheduled a biopsy immediately for the next day, February 9, 2018. The imaging found two spots on the right breast that needed a biopsy done. I am the person to just freak out with needles but with diligently reading in the Bible and praying, I had an abundance of strength that morning that I never knew I had. That was not enjoyable by any means, I was scared like a little child but I knew my Heavenly Father had His arms wrapped around His daughter the whole time, comforting me. I felt Him, I felt the prayers for me that day. The Waiting: I waited a dreaded 4 days. Those were the longest 4 days of my life to hear the results of my biopsy and my future. While I waited, all I wanted to do was to read in the Word, pray on my knees and serve others that were needing help. I was holding onto a great amount of HOPE & COURAGE. When I was out and about, I didn't walk around like a black cloud was hovering over me, no, I held my head up high and smiled at everyone that looked my way. God was filling me with so much of His strength, courage, and peace. Don't get my wrong, when I was on my hands and knees praying out to God, I shed many tears behind closed doors but I never DOUBTED Him, not once. The Call: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at approximately 1:30 pm, I get a phone call from the hospital. "Mrs. Snipes, we have your results" I looked upward, my heart is pounding. I breathe heavy, "yes". Doctor says, "Well, its not what we were hoping for, you have cancer" It is like my life just stopped. All I could do was say yes to everything she was telling me over the phone. Doctor says, "The two spots were found are cancerous, one is Ductual Carcinoma and the other is Invasive. " We need you to see a surgeon and get this taken care of." Again, all I can think about was, is this happening? She asked me to jot down a surgeons name, I scribbled it down like a 3 year old. We hang up. I immediately called my husband, while crying and breathing heavy I told him the news to get home now as my 3 year old son, Gavyn looks up at me and says, "Mommy, why are you crying?" that just made matters worse. As I made a few more phone calls to family and friends, I called a neighbor for immediate comfort. Surgeon appt: On February 22, 2018, my husband and I drove down to Northside Atlanta Hospital to meet with the Doctor at 6:30 in the morning. As we've been told by several people, she is the best in Atlanta and the best in the SE region. I felt not only am I in good hands with the Lord, I am in good hands with this surgeon. I walked into that doctor office with my head held high filling an abundance of peace knowing it was from God and everyone's loving prayers. Even the nurse noticed and says, "You look calm". The surgeon reviews my imaging and reports. She walks in and says, she has some good news and some bad news. The good news is the cancer does not look to be aggressive. Thank you Lord, I whispered. The bad news, the two areas are connected and once we remove the tumors and the breast tissue in the surrounding areas there will not be much left of your breast so I am recommending a mastectomy, she states. OK. I can deal with that. My thought process: Even though this is an unexpected circumstance that happened in my life, I will not lose hope or doubt. He is NEVER FAILING. NEVER. He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:16) I stand in the confidence of God's faithfulness. I will stand confident, bold, and not discouraged by this trial. Even though I walk through dark moments, I am CONFIDENT that He is going to bring me into light and victory on the other side. When I am afraid, I will put my TRUST in you (Psalm 56:3) I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" (Psalm 91:2) His word are FULL of rock solid promises, many of which involve granting you peace. Know that He will ALWAYS honor them. "Do not fear, for I am with you, Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10) HE is in CONTROL and will cause "all things to work together for good" (Romans 8:28) I will continue to trust and know that Christ is with me and I WILL make it to the other side. No matter how serious this circumstance is, I WILL RECOVER and my final state WILL be better than anything I have EVER experienced. I stay STRONG and take COURAGE as my triumph unfolds.
Thank to everyone that prayed for me on surgery day and for your continued prayers! The day of the surgery was a long day, my surgery was not until 1 pm. We arrived at Northside hospital at 8:30 am, between that time and when they rolled me back into the OR, I was nervous but at the same time I felt completely covered in God's peace and I know without a doubt it was from all of your prayers, so THANK YOU, y'all are simply amazing. The surgery itself went very smoothly, doctor stated there were no surprises and they got everything they needed (bye bye cancer!)
My recovery the past week and a half has been challenging to be expected. I am still on pain medicine and still have a lot of discomfort but everyday is getting a little bit easier. Yesterday I was able to get one drain out (Praise Jesus!) still have one left, hoping that will come out next week. Still sleeping in the lazy boy chair, hoping one day soon I can find comfort to get back into my own bed. I go to the doctor on a weekly basis and so far everything is healing smoothly.
I am just OVERWHELMED with all the gracious help we have received! From the delicious food, gifts, cards, help with cleaning & laundry, yard work, help with our children-I cannot thank everyone ENOUGH!! I am truly a blessed person to call each one of you my friend XO
I have a HUGE PRAISE, I heard back from my pathology report.
No further invasive cancer
lymph nodes are clear and benign
margins are benign
***PRAISE JESUS!!!!!!***
I am unknown of any kind of treatment that I will have to do until my post-op doctor appointment scheduled on, April 18th.
So as we all head into the weekend here are my prayers requests:
1. Praises for the good news I have received and that the cancer is out of my body; praise for God's peace that has covered me with every step
2. Praises for all of you and how you have blessed me and my family
3. Continued prayers for healing with no infection during my recovery process and over my doctor's appointment on the 18th to discuss what is next.
"Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100
"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods." Psalm 95:1-3
"The Lord is my strong defender; he is the one who has saved me. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will sing about his greatness." Exodus 15:2
Thanks again for being my prayer warriors. I feel so blessed to have each one of you in my life.
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