My Cancer Story

By Billie Folmer

I am the oldest of 10 children & have always been very independent & in control. 2005 turned out to be a tough year. First, my Mom passed away in April. She had diabetes & COPD (a lung disease). You never really realize how much you will miss someone until they are no longer there. Staying strong for my sisters & brothers was hard but my faith in God kept me going. Also, knowing where my Mom was (in heaven) helped. I knew she was now without pain & depression, which helped keep me going. A couple months after my Mom went to be with Jesus I started feeling a small lump in my left breast. I have had mammograms done every year since I was 41 except for this past year. Time just seem to get away from me. I have also always done self exams every month. Years earlier I had a small lump in the same area that got real sore. This turned out to be a cyst that had to be aspirated (where they draw fluid out with a needle). I assumed the lump I was feeling this time was the cyst giving me trouble again. The lump kept getting bigger & sorer, which is what had happened last time, but I was just too busy to go take care of it.

By the time I scheduled a mammogram the lump was big & extremely sore. I figured they would tell me it would have to be aspirated again. Wrong! They took me back & showed me the xray & said they wanted to take some biopsies. 2 days before Thanksgiving of 2005 the doctor’s office called with a diagnosis of breast cancer. They wanted to schedule surgery to remove the tumor as soon as possible. To say the least, I was stunned!

Right from the beginning I decided I would keep a positive attitude and to lay it all in God’s hands. I had a peacefulness that God would take care of everything. My husband, Tim, & a couple people @ work were all who knew. I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to tell my son, Matthew, & the rest of my family. Surgery went great on Dec. 5th 2005 & the lymph nodes that were taken showed no sign that the cancer had spread. Thank you Jesus!

Chemo treatments started Feb. 2006 every 3 weeks for a total of 6 treatments. Within the first week after my first treatment I realized I was not going to be able to continue working. I was able to take a medical leave of absence until I could come back. Until going through this I did not realize what giving up control & MY will meant. I learned to completely put my life in God’s hands & follow HIS will. Thankfully I had God & my husband beside me. There is a song that says, “when I needed a rock you were a mountain”, this fits how Tim was for me during this whole ordeal. Thank you Honey!

Chemo treatments ended @ the end of June & radiation treatments started the first of July till the first of August, every day for 33 days. During this time I started back to work couple hours a day & worked back up to full time.

Today, January 17, 2008 I am still cancer free. THANK YOU GOD! I cannot stress enough how very important doing self exams & having regular mammograms is. There was no cancer history in my family before this. There is now. I would like to thank so may people for their cards, thoughts & prayers. God truly does work miracles still.