The Face of Cancer: A Survivor's Walk through the Valley of Death

By Sandra Whitaker-Turner

This book describes my personal journey and battle with metastatic lung cancer.

Hopefully, it will be an inspiration and a beacon of hope for others in the battle.

Keep God first in your life and never give up!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645319467

Book preview

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The Face of Cancer

A Survivor's Walk through the Valley of Death

Sandra Whitaker-Turner

Copyright © 2020 Sandra Whitaker-Turner

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-64531-945-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64531-946-7 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Diagnosis

The Exodus

The Surgery

Battle Scars

Strange Happenings

Chemotherapy

It’s Back!

Not Again!

Radiation

Stages of Hair Growth

Remission

Follow-Ups

This book is dedicated to cancer survivors, caregivers, those still in the battle, and the families of those who have lost their battle.

Keep God first in your life and never give up!

The Diagnosis

Mrs. Turner, we found a spot on your right lung. The doctor pointed to a large mass on my x-ray. We’re not sure what it is. It could be pneumonia or an infection. We’re going to give you a treatment and take another look. After about an hour and another x-ray, the doctor returns with my x-ray and says, The spot is still there. We’re not for sure, but it might be cancer. We’ll need to do a biopsy to be sure. We’re going to admit you for surveillance to see if things change. As soon as she said it, I knew what the findings would be. Still, those were the most frightening words I had ever heard in my life.

I never knew what people went through when given the terrifying diagnosis of the big C (cancer) until I experienced it for myself. It is not an easy diagnosis to deal with. The first thing that ran through my mind was I’m going to die soon. Then I started crying when I looked at the fear in my child’s eyes. You see, she was in the room with me when the doctor gave me the news. She had recently told me about a classmate who had to move to Florida because his mom had died of lung cancer. We cried together and then she bravely said, Mommy, we are going to get through this together. Brianna was only twelve years old then, but showed more courage than I did at that moment. Her words stirred a fire inside me and gave me the courage to fight for my life, not for my sake but for hers. I have been fighting hard since September 18, 2009, and I refuse to give up.

Let me give you a little history before that moment. I was married for 8 1/2 years to Brianna’s father, Tim; a second time around for us. In our previous marriage, we were together for five years, married for three of the five. We divorced shortly after the birth of Brianna in 1997, and remarried three years later. So I had known him for seventeen years. We separated again in August 2009. I was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2009.

Brianna and I had to share a one-bedroom apartment in Wixom, Michigan, a northwestern suburb of Detroit. I worked two part-time jobs trying to make ends meet. I did receive some child support from Tim but no physical help, except on weekends. I was a long-time smoker, thirty years. The stress of our separation and the prior loss of a good job caused me to become a chain smoker. I worried about my finances, Brianna’s safety at night while I worked, and how she and I were going to survive.

I soon developed a nagging cough that kept both of us awake at night. One night, Brianna and I were eating noodles for dinner and I began to choke and started throwing up blood. Brianna begged me to go to a doctor, but I kept putting it off, mostly out of fear and lack of money. One night, at one of my jobs, I began to cough up blood. I went on to my second job and then went home. Brianna was waiting up for me and as soon as I came through the door. She cornered me. She said, in as stern a voice as she could muster, "Momma, we are going to the emergency