Deborah Estienne

Survivor

Hope

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy “

I have always been a strong woman but little did i know that i would be confronted with breast cancer. I am blessed to have a 6 kids, a farm, and a very strong family, church family and community. I have taught fitness classes for 23 years and raise sheep. April 2023 i felt a lump in my breast, i have always been on schedule for mammograms yearly so i did not think that it would be anything but a cyst. A prayer chain was immediately sent and prayers were flowing. I received the news from a very caring facility in Newport News, VA you do have breast cancer. It was Her2-estrogen positive cancer. Stage 2. I did not know or have ever heard of this, i went on the Susan Komen website and read, and I thank God for such an informative website. I was advised by my surgeon to get a lumpectomy and then she would check on my lymph nodes. Not feeling good about the tumours that she found and the three lymph nodes she advised me to see oncologist. Just hearing the doctor tell me to get chemo i was completely beside myself. I received 4 treatments in a three month period, and was very blessed that i did not have bad side effects. I then did a masectomy and surgeon took out 14 lymph nodes. I was told 4 more were positive with cancer. In Nov of 2023 i received 28 radiation treatments and just finished. Ringing the bell was not just for me, i ring the bell for all of you and others that are going through breast cancer. YOU are not alone, we are all in this together, i thank God everyday for another day, and my journey of healing, i also thank all of you and this wonderful website for giving us all hope.
In Christ Love , Debbie