Slaying the Cancer Giant with the Word of God: Part Two: the Final Steps of the Journey

By Reverend Diana M. Fields

Reverend Diana M. Fields shares how her faith helped her slay the cancer giant for good in part two of her memoir. After beating breast cancer, she breathed a sigh of relief.

But six years after her initial lumpectomy in 2006, doctors told her because the BRCA gene could show up at any time in her other breast, she should consider yet another surgery. She wasn’t ready to hear that and asked God, “Why another surgery?” Just when she had begun to settle into being cancer-free, she was hit with this bombshell news.

In continuing to tell her story, the author reveals how she withstood the emotional, and physical toll of medical tests, surgeries, and treatments to slay the cancer giant once and for all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973663812

Reverend Diana M. Fields

Reverend Diana M. Fields was a public-school teacher for almost thirty years. While teaching, she was called into ministry. She earned a master of divinity and a doctorate in ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary and is also the author of Slaying the Cancer Giant with the Word of God: An Autobiography of a Cancer Survivor. She and her husband, Willie, live in Flossmoor, Illinois. She has one son, Anthony, a daughter-in-law, Chogie, and a granddaughter, Simone.

Book preview

The Final Steps of My Journey

I begin this book at the point where I had been cancer-free for six years and thought all was well with the world. But as life would have it, my situation changed in the blink of an eye. Events can rock your world, throwing you off life’s accustomed path, and you may not be prepared for the change. Life is a continuous sequence of twists and turns, of familiar and unfamiliar events that produce a rhythm you might not discern at first.

However, if you hold on and live long enough, you’ll begin to recognize this up-and-down pattern. Other people may help you see this, or you may discover these times on your own. And life is sometimes gracious enough to let you go through these moments unaffected. Others alerted me to one of these times in my life. The cancer giant struck again, and I had no clue until my doctors told me what was happening.

Fortunately, I had concerned and astute doctors who insisted upon learning my family’s breast cancer history. Of course, it challenged me to acknowledge female family members who lived in upstate New York, whom I had never met, who had died of breast cancer.

I had entirely forgotten this bit of history that my mother had passed on to me when I was much younger. These relatives were seven sisters of my maternal grandfather. I mentioned them in my first book, hoping their offspring would get the word that they needed to be tested for the breast cancer gene. It is imperative that you learn the medical history of your ancestors, both immediate and distant. When you know this history, you become better equipped to handle your medical problems, because you are better able to articulate these issues to doctors.

The fact that other women in my family had died of breast cancer raised red flags for doctors. Once it was confirmed through the BRCA test that I had the breast cancer gene, doctors developed my course of treatment. These plans would eventually help to remove breast cancer from my life forever, though this is not to say something else will not raise its ugly head in the future.

I have already discussed the BRCA gene for breast cancer that I carry and how it could have wreaked havoc in my life if it had remained undetected. This factor alone increased the risk of cancer occurring in my other breast. Because of this genetic factor, I was at high risk for getting ovarian cancer as well.

A simple blood test can tell you if you have the breast cancer gene. I recommend that all women who have had multiple relatives with breast cancer take the BRCA test. When several people in your family get breast cancer, this should be a red flag to take this simple test. Early detection is the way to an early cure.

If this gene had appeared again, I might have had to go through another round of chemotherapy and radiation treatments or possibly risked losing my life! As a precautionary measure, it was recommended that I have yet another surgery, this time to remove both ovaries. Because ovarian cancer is closely associated with breast cancer, I had to have this surgery. For me, this was another curve-of-life situation, so in December of 2010 I underwent the operation.

I assured myself that this surgery would be the last. It was not an invasive operation and was rather uneventful, and I thank God for that. I was able to go home the same day, and I recuperated with a great joy. It was wonderful to be in my own bed, with my family there to take care of me. This was surgery number three for me, and I was tired of hearing You will need another operation.

After the removal of my ovaries, I thought everything would be smooth sailing. I settled into normalcy and felt all was well. This surgery, however, proved to be the step leading to the final step of my journey with breast cancer. Because the surgery was fairly simple, I quickly regained my general health. When all appeared to be going well, I took a deep breath, sighed in relief, and thanked God for His intervention. I told myself that this was it and that my battle was over.

Since the doctors were now telling me I was cured of cancer, I was finally able to relax. I began to trust that word cured. I knew God had kept His word to me! Proverbs 3:5–6 NIV explains my attitude toward events during this time: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

I had total trust in God and knew all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28 KJV). I love God and I know I have been called according to His purpose. I also know this doesn’t mean I am exempt from sickness and pain, but I have a new perspective on these things in Christ Jesus. This new perspective tells me that God is in every situation I encounter and that He can change any situation into a victorious one. The bottom line of any situation we face is that God always has the final say! Many times, we tend to forget that important fact.

The Unexpected

J ust two years later, in the summer of 2012, I was faced with another major decision concerning surgery. In one of my follow-up visits, my oncologist, Dr. O, told me this surgery was a possibility. It was her responsibility to follow her patients for five years after the initial lumpectomy surgery so she could track their breast cancer status. She and her research team stayed on top of my situation. Since I was undergoing mammograms and MRIs every six months, they were well informed on how I was doing.

However, I often asked myself a question I dared not speak. Would visiting the hospital every six months be a lifelong process? I knew there was more to life than being in and out of hospitals. Originally, these visits were to end after five years. I guess I was in a hurry to have my freedom from visiting the hospital, counseling with the doctors, having my blood drawn for testing, undergoing the MRIs and the mammograms, and taking the many surveys. I was looking forward to my dismissal with great anticipation. I wasn’t ungrateful, but I was tired. I felt well, and I wanted to live like I was well! Treatment and recovery seemed to drag on and on.

I had remained cancer-free since my initial lumpectomy in 2006. Now, six years later, I was feeling good about my cancer-free status and was becoming very comfortable with staying that way. I had let my guard down concerning the possibility of cancer reoccurring. Even knowing I had the cancer gene, I had begun to think I had defeated the deadly disease. My mammography and MRI sessions confirmed my feelings.

The researchers tracked my psychological and emotional status and my support systems with each visit. I always felt confident I was doing well. Then that moment came when Dr. O. told me that although I had been cancer-free for six years, the BRCA gene could show up at any time in my other breast and that I should consider yet another surgery. In other words, because a lumpectomy had been performed on my left breast in 2006, there was a high probability I could get a malignant tumor in my right breast.

I wasn’t ready to hear this. I had to ask God, Why another surgery? I thought, Enough is enough. This would be surgery number four! Just when I had begun to settle into being cancer-free, I was hit with this bombshell news.

Now I had to consider putting my body through another surgery. As I listened to the doctor’s proposal, I concluded this one would be grueling. I remembered Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV, my sustaining Scripture verse, which says, The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. I encouraged myself to accept this final step of my cancer journey, but the prospect of another surgery weighed heavily on my mind and heart.

I was completely surprised to hear I needed yet another surgery—in fact, dual operations. I eventually learned the surgery would be a bilateral mastectomy with bilateral reconstruction. Dr. O suggested that I have both of my breasts removed and that I have immediate reconstruction in the same surgery.

I had plenty to consider. I was informed that if I had these surgeries I would never again have to worry about breast cancer, even though I had the breast cancer gene. But I couldn’t help recalling that I thought having my ovaries removed just two years earlier would be the last of the surgeries. Now I was facing two radical surgeries. What a bummer! I told myself. I knew God will not put more on us than we can bear, but this was a lot for me to digest.

Dr. O told me she would refer me to two other doctors, who would do the surgeries. One doctor was a breast cancer surgeon, and the other was a micro-reconstruction surgeon. I will call them Dr. Jas and Dr. S. I learned the dual procedures would take eleven hours! At first, it was hard for me to accept an eleven-hour surgery. However, I eventually saw the necessity of this. You could say I faced a do-or-possibly-die decision.

When it hit me that I might be having two surgeries at one time, I had no words to express how I felt. I did know, however, that I would do whatever it took to end the threat of having breast cancer again. This would be the ultimate result if I decided to go through with these surgeries. I remembered that the Bible says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but God delivereth him out of them all (Ps. 34:19 KJV). I again held on to the Word of God for dear life.

Did I have a choice in this situation? I could have lived a