Imagine getting comfortable and enjoying life, suddenly everything changes. Nobody expects it, but it happens and your next thought is beat it.

One day while playing with my fiancé, I noticed a lump and discharge. Immediately I started crying. My fiancé assured me that everything would be okay but my intuition was telling me something was wrong. When the doctors first told me I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was devastated. Nothing could prepare me for what I was about to go through.

My doctor set up different tests to be done to see what stage the cancer was in. It was stage III: invasive ductal carcinoma. Getting used to the new changes was hard. I was a full-time medical assistant at the time and a mother of a two year old. I didn’t know life could change so quickly. I remember telling my family and friends and everybody was so sad for me. All I could think about was being here in the long run for my son and future husband.

I was 24 at the time and didn’t think I would get breast cancer at such a young age. Also no one in my family has ever had breast cancer so it was a shocker to be the first in the family with it, but I knew I had to keep a positive mind and stay strong.

Once I started chemo, I started to find other people with breast cancer to help cope with all the new changes from chemo. One of my coworkers was going through the same thing and we kept each other up by sending scriptures of healing to each other. Having someone that is going through almost the same thing you are is a little easing.

I started joining groups and following different people affected by breast cancer. I also had a best friend that never left my side and was with me  almost every day after treatment.

I remember when I just felt lost and not myself after my treatments. I lost all my hair in a matter of 10 days after my first treatment. I started seeing bald spots throughout my head. At first, I was embarrassed about all my hair being gone. I told my fiancé that I was going to go get it shaved. He responded with,  “I’ll cut it for you since I know you don’t want anyone to see you like this.” He told me after that I was still beautiful with or without hair. I felt a little better after that and I started to embrace my bald head.

I started having a lot more symptoms once I did about three treatments. Getting used to the new  normal of all the treatments and body changes was quite challenging but I overcame it all. I finally finished chemo after six months of treatment. I had  a double mastectomy next with reconstruction.

A month passed, then I was able to do my mastectomy. The surgery was a success but one week later I ended up back in the hospital. After two attempts at reconstruction, my doctor decided to not do any more expanders due to the infections I kept getting.

When the doctor told me I was cured. I was relieved and grateful. The journey  taught me how to be strong and how to appreciate life. I knew this journey was a test from God to test my faith. I knew I had to be strong even on my weakest days. I knew I had to trust in him in order to be healed. I started using the motto  “Faith over Fear.” I used this motto because at first, my faith was tested. I was afraid and upset. I didn’t know how to cope with having breast cancer. I asked why me everyday until I got down on my knee and asked God to heal me. Give me strength and to keep a positive mind. God is able and faithful.Trust in him.

My advice to other warriors is DON’T GIVE UP. Fight until you can’t fight anymore. Find stuff to do or encouraging people to take your mind off what you going through. God will never put more on your than you can bare. My fiancé used to always tell me that I needed to have tunnel vision. But I didn’t see what he meant until I was healed and cured. Soon after being cured, I became pregnant after the doctors said that I couldn’t. I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Now I am a mother of two beautiful kids and a SURVIVOR.