Here and Back Again: Finding Strength for the Journey

By Teri D. McClanahan

The book is the story of Teri’s Journey back to God. It gives the reader a front seat view of the challenges she faced in her journey through life threatening situations. The book reveals how she found strength for the journey in God through Jesus Christ. It inspires those faced with similar situations to not give up on God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664214538

Teri D. McClanahan

Teri has survived cancer, brain surgery, and homelessness. She has overcome issues of sexism and ageism in her struggle to return to normal. In her journey, she learned that her normal was not real, and that what God had in store for her was greater than anything she could imagine.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Teri D. Mcclanahan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Katrina Thomas Photography, Teri McClanahan, The Cancer Journey, Depositphotos

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1454-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1453-8 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/07/2021

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

1 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

2 THE DIAGNOSIS

3 INITIATION

4 THE PIT

5 FINDING STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY - ALLIES

6 THE BREAKTHROUGH: HERE AGAIN

7 BACK AGAIN

8 EPILOGUE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the women in my Red Tent:

My mother – Christina Williams McClanahan

My two grandmothers – Jenny Bea McClanahan & Martha Williams

Aunt Ruth & Aunt Bobbi & Aunt Everleen

Tara & Ena

Cheryl, Pat, Brenneca, & Renita

Diane & Keely

You have loved me despite myself. God placed you in my life and you

blessed me immensely. May God continue to bless and keep you.

Much Love

PROLOGUE

I am saying that a journey is called that because you cannot know what you will discover on the journey, what you will do with what you find, or what you will find will do to you.

— JAMES BALDWIN,

NOTES FROM REMEMBER THIS HOUSE, 1979

Y ou have cancer.

When I heard those three little words, I stopped breathing. It was surreal! I felt I was in a daze, lost somewhere between the reality of the room and the open space that defined my life.

It’s Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

My mind was racing. I was telling myself - I don’t have time for cancer; I have a life to live. I have plans for my future—a planned trip to Hawaii. I just received the biggest promotion in my life. Isn’t it enough that I have diabetes and high blood pressure as well as early stages of arthritis and that I am an aging black woman? Now, this too! Get this thing out of me!

Do you have an oncologist?

No.

I’ll make the referral.

And so, it begins.

This is the story of my life journey and the challenges that followed. For four years beginning with my cancer diagnosis, my life resembled a sine wave - a continuous movement of peaks and valleys. It is the tale of my three neurosurgeries, my failed attempts at relationships, my job loss, and relocation. Cancer formed a broad and deep base of my life pyramid, with everything else piled on top – my personal hierarchy of needs. Cancer is terrifying because you don’t know the outcome, and more frightening, neither do the doctors. They have studies, charts, and graphs. They have medicines and surgical procedures. They make predictions and projections, but they don’t know for sure. The people selling the funny concoctions and cure-all medicines don’t know. There are no guarantees. It is a toss-up between the disease itself and the treatment; sometimes it’s both.

In addition to the physical toll it can take on your body, there is a mental price to pay. Our lives become riddled with anxiety and pain associated with every procedure and treatment and the follow-up visit. Even addressing friends and family during the journey can be overwhelming. There were days I couldn’t breathe, nights I couldn’t sleep. I had always been a person that believed I could design and control my