Excerpts from a letter to a friend

It’s great to hear from you! Please give my love to your family. Let them know that because of their prayers and those of many others literally around the world, I am a walking miracle! I wanted to write to you and let you know exactly what has been going on with me since we last saw one another.

In 2006 I was diagnosed for the second time with breast cancer, I was told I was now in Stage IV, a sharp contrast to having been in Stage 0 five years earlier. This recurrence was more complex and very agressive. The cancer was growing at an alarming rate. Since that first doctor's visit, I’ve had more surgery to the left (and cancerous) breast, several rounds of chemo, and radiation. Eventually, I had to have over half my sternum removed.

Late 2007 the cancer started to spread again, causing my lungs to collapse (again) and for my organs to fail. I was nearly comatose and my husband and family were told I would not survive. Yet, I DID survived! I can only credit this as a miracle due to God’s incredible mercy, grace, and the prayers of hundreds of brothers and sisters in Christ, family members and friends around the country and overseas. My damaged lungs healed themselves even though doctors thought I would need further surgery to remove the blood and other protein clogging them.

Today, I am still feeling stronger, although I’m still on a very strong chemo medication. I am grateful to God just to be here with my family. When my daughters asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I responded that I wanted our family to go and encourage other cancer patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the facility where I have received treatment for nearly 4 years. It was a tough time for all of us seeing other families hurting and going through the pain of disease and treatment. Yet, giving to them filled our hearts with gratitude and we received many hugs and teary-eyed thanks from the patients and their loved ones. I feel compelled to share the story of my miraculous healing whenever I hear someone feeling overwhelmed or in despair. I believe it is my purpose and God's desire for me to fulfill His plans for me.

I feel blessed to be able to do what I have always wanted to do: to be a missionary. At one time, I thought it was in the plans for Joaquin and me to go off to a third-world country and preach the Gospel. Little did I know that cancer would provide for me a mission and people eagerly seeking God--right here at home! “Yet not my will but your will be done,” Jesus said. And I try to have that same heart every day.