1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,400 What's up guys? My name's Alexis, your host of 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,000 Praises and the Pod, and I'm so excited to be here with Rachel 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,680 Ferreiras today. We are going to be talking about 4 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:12,240 her testimony, everything in between, and just what God has 5 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:14,440 done in your life. So we're super excited about it. 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,480 We're going to start off in prayer and then we're going to 7 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:17,480 jump right in. So here we go. 8 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,600 Lord, Heavenly Father, thank you for today and all of your many 9 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:23,400 blessings. Dear God, thank you for bringing 10 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,720 us here where we can talk about your goodness and your 11 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,520 faithfulness and what all you have done in our lives. 12 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,880 No matter what, no matter valley, no matter no matter 13 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,720 where we are in life, we know that you are right there beside 14 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,000 us and we are just so thankful for that. 15 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,080 We pray that you speak to us and through US today and let this 16 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,560 episode glorify you. In Jesus name I pray Amen, Amen. 17 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:45,200 Amen. Rachel. 18 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:46,720 All right, so let's jump right in. 19 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,920 I mean, let's start around your childhood. 20 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,240 Tell us a little bit about how you. 21 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,600 Grew up OK. What's the youngest of three 22 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,080 kids? There was a big age difference 23 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,800 between me and my siblings. They were 13 and 15. 24 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,840 I always laugh and say, yeah, I wasn't the accident, they were. 25 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,680 That's a big age gap. It was a big age, Yeah. 26 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:10,600 My dad was a state trooper, and my mom kind of realized that she 27 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,400 was 16 to me home by herself, and she was young when she had 28 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:15,880 my sister. That's the oldest. 29 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,200 And so she said, hey, let's have a baby. 30 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,920 Yeah. So wow, back then, you know, 31 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:25,040 that was considered way advanced maternal age for her, for her at 32 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,920 the time, but that I was totally planned. 33 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,720 And of course, they always had to pick on me about that. 34 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,400 But I grew up in a small world town in North Florida. 35 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,640 OK. My grandparents were next door. 36 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,760 So we were always a tight knit family. 37 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,320 And my other grandparents lived about 15 minutes away. 38 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:46,840 So we would have lunch with them every other Sunday. 39 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,480 And just, you know, lots of cousins in town, lots of family 40 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,000 in town. My parents were Christians. 41 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,720 We raised in a Christian home. They were not always active, but 42 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,880 that was with my dad working, as I said, a state trooper. 43 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,960 His shift changed every 28 days, so it was very inconsistent with 44 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,880 his time off. Yeah, for that makes sense. 45 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,840 Yeah, but. I mean, a lot of people relate 46 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,400 to that, like a lot of people, you know, believe in God, they 47 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,800 trust in God, maybe they read devotions at home, but they're 48 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,960 not actively going to church. And so that's basically what 49 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,680 you're saying is like your parents were Christians and 50 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,640 stuff but y'all weren't actively in the church. 51 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:31,320 We were correct at the time. And then when I hit middle 52 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,040 school, I got like, well, I want to go do this and, you know, a 53 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,360 lot of a lot positive peer pressure, yes, with friends. 54 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,760 And so my mom would get me up or not. 55 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,200 I would actually get myself up and then say, Mama, will you 56 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,280 drive me to church before I could. 57 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,200 And she would drive me and drop me off and then come back and 58 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:49,520 pick me up. They love that. 59 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,840 And we'll so she would do the shuffle and then we would talk 60 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,880 about it. A lot of times she would listen 61 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,480 on the radio. Yeah, and at this time, your 62 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,160 older siblings are probably. Out of the house now they're 63 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,920 they've they've been gone my brother he graduated from high 64 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:09,680 school in May and I started kindergarten in August wow and 65 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:10,920 my. Sister, you're an only child. 66 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,880 I was an only child and and quite spoiled, you know, with 67 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,200 grandparents next door and then my siblings, my sister was in, 68 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,080 she stayed in town and she was the one that was 15 years older. 69 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,480 Yeah, I bet she acted like you were her own little daughter. 70 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,840 She did. At times she did. 71 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,960 Yeah. But we had, you know, and we 72 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,800 have. We were not close then, but 73 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:36,640 we're closer now. Oh, good. 74 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,400 We're closer. We're closer now, all. 75 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,200 Right, so middle school, you start going to church and stuff, 76 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:42,960 do you get saved around that same time? 77 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,600 Or I was saved actually as a as an elementary, still there as a 78 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,760 child, as a small child, and then just kind of drifted back 79 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,840 and forth. You had the mountain top 80 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:58,640 experience at camps and different things and then got a 81 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,280 little older and, and still just kind of like, well, I guess I'll 82 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,560 just go by myself. But then just had good friends 83 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,520 and and cousin, I had a cousin. We were more like sisters. 84 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,920 And she lived 15 miles away. So I would do a lot with her and 85 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,600 her, her, they, she, she went to a bigger church. 86 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,680 So I would drive over now that I could drive because Mama wasn't 87 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,080 driving me that far. Yeah. 88 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,240 She was like, you got a car. You got a car, you can go and 89 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,360 you can pay for young guy. Yep, absolutely. 90 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:30,200 And so we did, and. Nice. 91 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:34,360 So after graduation, let's talk a little bit about your early 92 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,000 adulthood and what that looks like. 93 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,400 Just just when I would say just normal, you know, I still 94 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:46,440 continued in church, stayed very active because now I'm on my 95 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,320 own, still living at home, but on my own kind of thing. 96 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,080 And then my husband and I, we actually met the day after my 97 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:55,640 21st birthday. Oh, wow. 98 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,120 And so I always laughed and said he was the birthday present. 99 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,560 I could never get back. Get back, guys. 30 something 100 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,720 years later, he's we're he's, you know, we're still 101 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,000 celebrating that birthday. Amazing. 102 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:08,880 Yeah. It's such a huge accomplishment. 103 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,520 Why is Yeah is a story in itself. 104 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,560 It is it, It really is. And that goes into part of my 105 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,840 story. We moved to Warner Robins, our 106 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:24,680 boys. So we we got married, we met in 107 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:30,720 92, got married in 93 and then our children were born in 95 and 108 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,760 99. I had one of this 1999 babies. 109 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,040 Right on the cuff. Right on December of 99. 110 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,280 Oh, really? On the cuff. 111 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:41,040 Really. On the cuff, yeah, I had an old 112 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,040 not, not 9596. We had an Olympic baby and then 113 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,400 we had a 1999. Wow. 114 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:49,560 So how did y'all end up in Warner? 115 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:54,480 Robins, my husband's work move just We could live anywhere we 116 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,040 wanted to in his territory. And y'all chose here. 117 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:01,320 And we did. We we were in Atlanta and we 118 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:03,040 were trying to get closer to Florida. 119 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,800 And originally we were looking at Lee County. 120 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,280 And then he realized that he spent more time and making in 121 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:16,360 Warner Robins. And so it just we it took nine 122 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,200 months for our house to sell cause the market was not like it 123 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,240 was these days. Now you put a house on the 124 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:23,080 market, it's. Gone. 125 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,720 You better have a plan. Yep, you better have a plan. 126 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,600 And our house. So we listed it in January and 127 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,360 we didn't move until October. And when school started that 128 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,600 year, our oldest was in second grade. 129 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,320 I said something at at church because now we're going to our 130 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,560 parents church. My dad had passed away. 131 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:48,160 So it's just my mom and she's gotten more involved now at this 132 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,200 point. And so we were going with her 133 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,320 and I said something at church about choir. 134 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:55,800 They had asked me about the Christmas program. 135 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,720 I said, oh, I won't be here. We're going to be gone lately, 136 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:00,720 we'll not be here. Count me out. 137 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,560 But we started praying specifically for our house, not 138 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:11,480 for house to sell, but for the family that God had planned for 139 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,920 that to be their home. We at which flipped it instead 140 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:16,640 of God, we need to sell this house. 141 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,240 You know, help us to sell this house for a second. 142 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:25,640 God show us who shows clear the path for who's home this is 143 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,480 supposed to be. That's beautiful. 144 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,800 And within like 2 weeks, then we had an offer. 145 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,320 Wow. And that's where it got even 146 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,400 crazy or was a pastor that bought the house and they're 147 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:36,400 still in it. Wow. 148 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,440 And they layers are they let it, they're still in it. 149 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,600 So we so we moved down here. We picked Houston County because 150 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,800 of schools. We were coming from North Cobb 151 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,120 and so we had amazing schools up there. 152 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,760 That year, a Cobb County school had was rated the number one 153 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,760 high school in the country and Houston County had actually 154 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:03,600 outscored them on their test scores. 155 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:05,920 Wow. So we were like, OK, well, 156 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,720 that's that's the one. That's where we're going to be. 157 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,200 That's what we picked. Had no idea. 158 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,960 I worked S Marietta Square. We lived not far from downtown 159 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,200 Kennesaw. So we had all that pretty part 160 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:22,480 of of Tom County. The first time I came to look at 161 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,760 houses, Scott showed me the Watson end. 162 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,160 That the base end of Watson. Yeah. 163 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,280 And I'm like, I can't live here. The same end. 164 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:32,919 It's just not where I want to be. 165 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,840 Yeah. But God had another plan, and He 166 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,280 knew exactly right where we were supposed to be. 167 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,840 Because then, as you not talking, you know, in 2006, our 168 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,000 lives changed. We were. 169 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:45,800 Yep. So let's go ahead and jump to 170 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,480 2000. And six, we're, we are living, 171 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,320 we are living our best lives. My husband's job is better than 172 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,760 it's ever been. Boys are doing great in school. 173 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:01,160 Joseph was in 4th grade, John David was in kindergarten. 174 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,560 I'm 7 doing PTO room mom, all those things, just living our 175 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:10,920 best life. And then in November of actually 176 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,880 2005, I had noticed a change in my breast and I showed it to my 177 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,760 husband and he's like, I don't see what you're talking about. 178 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,560 And he just brushed his teeth and went lid. 179 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:29,240 Fast forward to February and we're all getting, we're getting 180 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,520 ready for bed one night And he was like, I had gotten out of 181 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,560 the shower and he's like, he pointed at me and he said that 182 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,880 doesn't look right. And what I had, what I saw in 183 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:45,760 November had grown tremendously from by the end of February. 184 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,960 So I told him, So I'm not really worried about it. 185 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,720 I'm going next week to my OBGYN appointment. 186 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:55,760 I'll get them to look at it. I'm sure it's nothing. 187 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,880 I'm only 35. I was just about to ask how old 188 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,920 you are then I was, well, I was 34 'cause I, I turned 35 for the 189 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:08,240 next month. And so I go and the doctor, his 190 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,040 oh, you're too young. Don't worry about it. 191 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:15,200 I did convince him to do a mammogram and that came back 192 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,080 completely normal. What had happened was I guess 193 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,200 it's OK to say this. We're we're, we're female. 194 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,920 This is a good space. My nipple had completely 195 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,840 inverted on one side. I mean completely, completely. 196 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,000 So we did a mammogram that came back normal and I'm like, oh, 197 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,360 OK, well, my nipple is inverting even more. 198 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:44,440 And I was sitting at Soccer Mother boys were practicing one 199 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,680 night and I was talking to a friend who's a nurse. 200 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,680 And I told her what was going on because I said the doctor says 201 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:54,200 it's normal. The mammogram says it's normal, 202 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,120 but this doesn't feel normal. And she said, I don't think so 203 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:01,240 either. She said, I think you need to go 204 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:06,640 see somebody else. So I went to my primary care and 205 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,120 I showed her. And she's like, I don't know. 206 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,560 And her office she was building and she had a so she was in a 207 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:19,320 temporary office. And her nurse would stay in 208 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,400 front of the door because the door for that exam room was 209 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,000 right by the lobby. So the nurse would always stand 210 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,400 in front of the door. So that way if somebody yeah, 211 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,000 opened it, they didn't, they didn't come in. 212 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,680 And so after she did her exam, she said, would you mind if I 213 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:38,640 have my nurse to do another breast exam? 214 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,400 And I said sure, you know, I don't care if I had kids. 215 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,720 I don't care at this point. Multiple people's multiple, 216 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:47,560 multiple at this point. Yeah. 217 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,040 And so she's and I love this doctor. 218 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,080 And she said, I'm not going to tell you to worry about it 219 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,120 because that's my job, but I want to send you to somebody 220 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:00,680 that knows more about this than I do. 221 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:03,400 And we're going to let them look at it. 222 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,720 And I said, OK, still not worried, Still calm, cool. 223 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:12,640 Still calm, cool, collected. My mom came up to go with me and 224 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,600 he that's right. And my dad, my dad was still 225 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,680 living at that point. So they both so they came dad 226 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:25,880 was off with the boys, mom was with me and I am there for 227 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:30,640 hours. I mean 4 hours because they I 228 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:36,080 see the doctor, he does another exam and then he says let's do a 229 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,440 mammogram. I want to compare. 230 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,160 So he they do the and, but you're going to wait. 231 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:42,520 You're going to wait. You're going to sit here. 232 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,240 So I waited and I did the mammogram and then the nurse 233 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:48,480 came back in and said, don't get dressed yet. 234 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:49,760 We're going to go do an ultrasound. 235 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:55,600 And OK, so I go and do the ultrasound and I'm laying on the 236 00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:00,160 table, my arms up over my head and I look at the technician and 237 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,280 it was not a technician, it was the radiologist. 238 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,480 And then I'm like, that's the radiologist, Yeah, doing that, 239 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,720 you know, that kind of shit. I started getting a little 240 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:11,400 worried. Yeah. 241 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,080 And I go back to my room and they finally say you can get 242 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:21,080 dressed and the doctor comes in and he says well I'm going to 243 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,600 give you 2 choices but you really only have one. 244 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,560 We can redo all of this in six months or we can do a biopsy 245 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:30,480 next week and find out what's going on. 246 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,320 So my response was what day? Yeah, what day? 247 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,200 And my poor sweet mom, she said, do you need to talk to Scott 248 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,440 about that? And I said no, because I know 249 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,640 his answer. I know he's going to say go 250 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,360 ahead and get it scheduled. So we did, went home that 251 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,960 weekend for a family wedding, came back, had the biopsy on a 252 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:57,080 Friday, and then we were leaving for the beach on Saturday. 253 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:00,920 But I can, I persuaded the doctor to call me. 254 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,880 I said, I don't want to wait, call me and let me know. 255 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,440 Especially leaving that and coming back a week later. 256 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,440 I'm sure that was very nerve wracking. 257 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,720 It was it was a long, it was a long week at the beach. 258 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,880 It was a long week. And he said, well, I'll have the 259 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:21,080 results by Tuesday. And I said, OK, so this was in 260 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,960 two that now 2006 the boys had just finished school. 261 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,000 So we were all this Friday, end of the end of the year, 4th 262 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,920 grade, end of the year, kindergarten, we go to the beach 263 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:38,960 and I'm getting my bathing suit. Only one of the boys notices my 264 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,200 bandage on my bathing suit and like, what's that for? 265 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,520 Like mommy's got a Boo Boo. Nothing to worry about. 266 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:50,640 This was also the year after Hurricane Katrina and we had 267 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,440 done a lot to help people here that had evacuated from New 268 00:14:55,440 --> 00:15:00,400 Orleans and Louisiana there. And so that year there was a 269 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:06,360 heavy forecast for hurricanes. There were no hurricanes and 270 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:10,920 that hit our area that year. However, on that Tuesday, June 271 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:16,680 13th, 2006, a tropical storm hit Myrtle Beach, SC. 272 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,440 While we are there. While we were there and that's 273 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:20,680 the day I'm getting the phone call. 274 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,080 So that morning we get up because we know the storms 275 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:25,240 coming in. That afternoon. 276 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,720 We go down to the beach and I literally have my phone in my 277 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,800 bathing suit because I don't want to miss the phone call. 278 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,480 And we play it. We play at the beach. 279 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,520 Then we get dressed, we go to the boardwalk and we're walking 280 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,440 around the boardwalk because can't go to the beach. 281 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:47,280 It's raining, it's drizzling. And if you know my husband, he 282 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,080 is, we, we tease him that he's so tight he squeaks when he 283 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,360 walks. But that's a good thing. 284 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,600 It's a good thing and still a phone call. 285 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,600 Still no phone calls way after lunch, still no phone call. 286 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,440 And there was a a photo booth that has the green screen and 287 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:08,840 they have the surf shirts and surfboards. 288 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:11,920 Well, there's nobody taking pictures because it's raining. 289 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,840 And he the photographer emotions to my husband and says, hey, 290 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,880 come over here, come over here. I'll give you a picture if y'all 291 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,440 will take a picture, because if I'm taking pictures then it 292 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,720 looks like we're then I'm busier and you get a free souvenir and 293 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:29,680 he's like hey, free souvenir chat. 294 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,120 Yeah, that sounds. Good. 295 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,800 So he's doing that with the boys and that that's exactly when my 296 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,720 phone rang. And that was totally a God thing 297 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,520 that we were standing there. He had no one. 298 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,080 So that way my boys were distracted. 299 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,520 Yeah, because they don't know anything at this point. 300 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,800 And the surgery calls. I step over and I'm standing 301 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:56,520 under the awning of a building. And he says, Rachel, you've got 302 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,720 breast cancer. And he said, but we think we've 303 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,240 caught it early, and if you have to have it, it's the best kind 304 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,640 to have. And tears are rolling down my 305 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:10,560 face and my husband looks at me and I start shaking my head. 306 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,480 And then he knows there are no work. 307 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,800 We don't have to say anything. He can tell by the look on my 308 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:22,560 face what's going on. And we walk around. 309 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:29,720 We just keep going. Later we learned that miss Miss 310 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:34,000 Mona, brother Dennis Revere too. And they were like 5 steps ahead 311 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,280 of us everywhere we went that day. 312 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,640 But I always talked about, but I've told my story before about 313 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,720 how the rain was drizzling, so everybody looked awful. 314 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,960 Nobody knew I was crying because they all look like I did too. 315 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,920 And so but we continue our vacation. 316 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,200 I'm just like, I'm just sitting here and I'm like, that is just 317 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:06,240 so hard to hear when you're 35 years old. 35 and just being 318 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,720 with a six year old and a nine year old, yes, just being like 319 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,880 freshly with young kids, you know, like so much and so 320 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,560 scared, probably like your emotions are just like probably 321 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,000 numb now that moment. Yeah Yep. 322 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:25,720 We called my parents and told them and I called my my little 323 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,680 circle of friends. It just so happened that they 324 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:33,640 were all together that night. And so I could tell everybody at 325 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:34,600 one time. Yeah. 326 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,480 And I didn't have to call 5 different people. 327 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,520 This is when you when you're texting, you pay per text. 328 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:43,600 I kind of asked y'all were together. 329 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,160 So it was a good thing that everybody was together, but only 330 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,640 our only our our inner circle knew. 331 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:52,400 Not everybody knew yet. Of course. 332 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,000 We called brother Jerry. Yeah, and told him and told him. 333 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:03,200 So we finished our vacation, we come home on Sunday and then we 334 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,920 go to the doctor and they decide to do a lumpectomy. 335 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,920 So my original tumor was 2 1/2 centimeters. 336 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,200 And like a big grape. Yeah, kind of like a big grape. 337 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,600 And then they go out five centimeters, so a half dollar 338 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:22,240 size and they cannot get a clear margin. 339 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,640 The Sentinel node, which is what is called, which is what that's 340 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,160 the lymph node that's closest to the tumor. 341 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,560 It was grossly diseased to the naked eye. 342 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:40,360 It had tumors growing out of it. So he basically glued me up and 343 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:45,200 put me in recovery and went and told my husband that it was more 344 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,400 advanced than he thought. And what we thought was called 345 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:54,440 early ended up being stage 3C. Out of four, I had 25 lymph 346 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,960 nodes removed and thirteen of those were positive. 347 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:08,000 So the lumpectomy happened on a Friday and on Saturday I had my 348 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,280 meltdown. My parents are here again. 349 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,480 Only my inner circle knows. Do your boys know what the OK 350 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:16,560 still? Boys still don't know. 351 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,760 Boys still don't know. Just the inner circle knows. 352 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:31,360 And on Saturday, my niece had called and she's I was 12 when 353 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,200 she was born. So she's younger. 354 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,720 So I'm, you know, I'm her aunt, but I'm just like, yeah, when 355 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,600 you're only 12, just as well your age difference. 356 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:46,040 She called from Pennsylvania. And my husband had done a very 357 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,400 good job of protecting me. Where if you showed up at my 358 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:54,080 door and you were crying, he'd say, thank you so much for 359 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:55,920 coming by. We're going to let you come back 360 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,120 later. He protected me. 361 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,400 But he was upstairs. He had gone into researcher 362 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:07,640 mode, and he is researching, Googling and, you know, full, 363 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,760 full, full mode of being a detective. 364 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,880 Yeah. The boys still don't know what's 365 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:15,400 going on. And they just think, oh, maybe. 366 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,120 And Paw Paw are here and they're just here longer than a weekend 367 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,520 kind of thing that my niece had called. 368 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,560 And that was the one with time that my husband couldn't protect 369 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,920 me because then she lost it on the phone. 370 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,680 And I took the phone, thankfully it was house phone at the time. 371 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:42,280 And I threw it across the room and it hit a wall and my mom's 372 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,960 picking up the phone because her granddaughter's on the phone and 373 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,400 she knows she's upset. And I take off running and I 374 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:54,680 fought down on my bed and I'm, and I, I lose it. 375 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,800 I lose it. And my dad comes running after 376 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,480 me. That's where I'm going to need 377 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:06,440 this. And he, he grabs me. 378 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,520 But you know, I'm, I'm daddy's girl. 379 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,080 And he holds me. And of course, and then Scott 380 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:20,720 has heard the noise and he comes down and my daddy bushes me off 381 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:27,600 of him and hands me to my husband and my dad think it's to 382 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,200 my mom because she needed, she needed him. 383 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:35,560 And no one might, no one might Addie. 384 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,080 I know that was so hard because he was supposed to be my 385 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,560 protector, but he knew that my husband, he knew. 386 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,280 He knew that that was that's what he had to do. 387 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:54,680 Yeah. That Scott called a friend of 388 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,240 ours that's a pharmacist because they had given me something to 389 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:03,600 help me relax if I needed it and I not taking anything at that 390 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,720 point. And so she because I was also on 391 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,080 pain medicine and I had just taken pain medicine. 392 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,440 So he called her and said, can she take this with that? 393 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:17,480 And she said yes. And she said, and you need to 394 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,440 take one too. She could already tell. 395 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:21,680 Like you need to take one too. I'm not taking it. 396 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:23,200 I'm not taking it. I'm not taking it. 397 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:25,680 And I don't know if he did or not. 398 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:31,280 That's but he put me to bed because with, with the anxiety 399 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,320 medicine and the pain medicine, he, he put me to bed. 400 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:39,400 And then Sunday morning we get up and we go to church and I'm, 401 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,640 I'm just numb. I am more numb than I was that 402 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:45,120 the day that I got the phone call. 403 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,240 Because now I know it's way more advanced, way more advanced. 404 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,520 Our message that Sundays when I'll never forget. 405 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,880 And it was about how we all go through dark times that God 406 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:04,520 sends someone to light the path out of our darkness. 407 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,520 And I felt like that message was for me. 408 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,400 I mean, I'd say it was very dark for me. 409 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:20,880 I sat there and when the altar call opened up, I went to the 410 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,960 altar, but I couldn't pray. I cried. 411 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,320 I cried, but I couldn't. I couldn't form words. 412 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,760 There was only one word that I could put together and that was 413 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,680 help. And then I could add help me. 414 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,280 And now in my inner circle, they come and they pray over me. 415 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:47,440 Then I can still hear Miss Debbie praying about how God, 416 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,360 how God knew I was in a dark spot and that he would send 417 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:58,120 someone to light the path out of that dark spot and that she was 418 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,960 praying for a miracle and she's praying for a miracle. 419 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,840 We go to lunch and while I was in the restroom, a friend looks 420 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,960 at my husband and says, right, Scott? 421 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,840 Rachel's face is very weak right now. 422 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,080 And he said hello. And she's so wise. 423 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,400 She is so wise, one of the wisest people I've ever met. 424 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:27,360 And she looked at him and she said, but that's OK, wait, weak 425 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:32,320 faith is better than no faith. And she still has faith. 426 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:38,880 And he said, OK, you're right. So we go home again, he puts me 427 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:44,280 to bed because I need a nap. I'm worn out and while I'm 428 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:49,720 napping he's praying and he's researching. 429 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:55,000 His mom passed away a year after we got married and we called her 430 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,560 Angel and I had these little angels that were hers. 431 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:05,520 They were in both of our boys nurseries and when I woke up, he 432 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,920 had gone and had moved those angels. 433 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,160 So they were the first thing that I saw when I woke up. 434 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,480 And then he tells me about the conversation about my faith 435 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:22,440 being linked. And I'm just listening because 436 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:27,000 I'm I had no words, if you know me at all, to know that I'm 437 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,120 speechless. People will. 438 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,840 Lie. Something's really wrong. 439 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,200 Something really wrong but I just listened. 440 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:41,960 We went back to church that night and our worship. 441 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,560 During our time of worship we sang 3 songs. 442 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:53,000 I surrender all just as I am and my life is in your hands. 443 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,400 Wow, now. Do you again? 444 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:01,000 Again, this is just for me. Everybody else got the benefit. 445 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,280 Y'all are just here. Y'all are just here, me and God. 446 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,520 Are on this white place God just talking straight to me and where 447 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:14,360 I had cried help me then we sang that and I grew up singing just 448 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:18,560 as I am I mean I played piano as a child and that was one of my 449 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,960 favorite hymns to play. That's beautiful and I surrender 450 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,400 all that was one of my other favorites to sing. 451 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:30,120 I mean to play. I don't sing, but then when we 452 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:32,200 hit that my life is in your hands. 453 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:39,320 I popped up and my hands were raised and I, I closed my eyes 454 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:43,320 and I swear the choir came down and surrounded me. 455 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,440 And then when I opened my eyes, that was nobody. 456 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:48,560 There was nobody. There was nobody. 457 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,800 But I know I was surrounded with angels that day. 458 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,840 I know I was surrounded. And then I went back to the 459 00:27:55,840 --> 00:28:00,240 altar that night and I said, all right, God, you've put this in 460 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,720 my life. I'm giving it back to you. 461 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,120 You picked me for this. Now use me. 462 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,560 And that's June 13th was 19 years ago. 463 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:21,520 Wow, I love how you end with that of just saying, God, you 464 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,080 gave this to me and I'm giving it back to you because one of 465 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,160 the things that changed my life that I actually talked to 466 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,080 another girl on the podcast about is she told me she was 467 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,040 like, God gives us more that we can handle that we can't hold so 468 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,680 that we do turn around and give it back to him. 469 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,080 And you just literally quoted what she said that changed my 470 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:40,160 life. So I'm like what? 471 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,080 And I haven't listened to that one yet. 472 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,520 Wow. So it's like, well, it hasn't 473 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:45,920 even came out yet. I don't think so. 474 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,600 Yeah, I think it comes out next month, but that is just 475 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,760 absolutely amazing. But I so how are you feeling 476 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,240 with God? Like, was there a period of time 477 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,360 where like, you're angry? Or maybe you're just like, 478 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,840 you're just numb really until that night? 479 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,200 The night I threw the phone, yeah, The night I threw the 480 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:08,720 phone. And then after that, yeah, I 481 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,760 had. So I had 13 surgeries in the 482 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,120 first three years. That's a lot. 483 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:20,760 I had more than 20, the 1st 5. I had non textbook complications 484 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,120 from my reconstruction, had no issues with chemo. 485 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,040 I had 6 rounds of chemo, six weeks of daily radiation. 486 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,120 I still take one oral medication. 487 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,680 I've hit the five year plan of that. 488 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,800 But one of the doctors that I saw after I finished my five 489 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:43,840 year plan, he's like, he should have had a recurrence by now and 490 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,480 I don't know why you have it. Hey, ma'am. 491 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,200 And I looked at him and I said, like, yeah, I know why. 492 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,080 Yeah. And it has nothing to do with 493 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,440 what you did. And. 494 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,920 And he said, you're right. I mean, he said you're right. 495 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:00,920 So yeah. So I've, you know, I've my 496 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,240 cancer. What people saw it as a road 497 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,160 walk. I actually grew from my cancer. 498 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,920 I learned to be a voice from myself. 499 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,960 I felt like I had always been a voice for others, but to be a 500 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,680 voice for myself, yeah, was was totally different. 501 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:24,280 One day I got an e-mail about an opportunity to go to DC and 502 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,280 represent Middle Georgia. Represent breast cancer 503 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:32,560 survivors from Middle Georgia. It's amazing. 504 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,480 That sounds like fun. Let. 505 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,480 Me go away and I get a travel grant, so they'll they'll pay 506 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,480 for it and I can go away for a couple of days, yeah. 507 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,440 With a home full of boys. Yes, ma'am. 508 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,240 Yes ma'am. So I did, and that's a whole 509 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:53,240 another story. I actually found myself on 510 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,200 Capitol Hill. They prepared me with a 511 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,520 lobbyist, with a paid person. And after the second meeting, 512 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,360 she was like, you don't know, you don't need me. 513 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,560 You're you're good. And I'm like, what? 514 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:09,000 What what? I've been almost 20 times and 515 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,880 I've actually gone toe to toe and corrected some Congress 516 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,680 members on some misinformation. And they had to the point that 517 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,120 they thanked me. Wow. 518 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,880 They said, you tell me what I needed to hear, not what you 519 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:27,280 thought I wanted to hear. I would have never done that 520 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:32,080 before. I've done some advocates, I've 521 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:36,280 done advocacy, I've done research, I've sat on research 522 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:37,800 panels. Wow. 523 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,800 I've I've met researchers from across the globe. 524 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,240 In fact, I'm Facebook message to friend the other day that lives 525 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:50,640 in New Zealand that that's a breast an ovarian cancer 526 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,840 researcher. Oh, wow, so, so you just got 527 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,560 people everywhere. I got people everywhere. 528 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:01,040 That is amazing. So with all of that, let's kind 529 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,480 of talk about, you know, 'cause you say you grew so much, like 530 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:09,720 I'm sure you had to truly lean on God three years and it's just 531 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,120 surgery after surgery after surgery. 532 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,960 So like, what does that look like going into surgeries or 533 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,080 like you and your husband's relationship and how that is? 534 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:25,520 So one at my, my mastectomy I had and they said my word became 535 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,080 courage. My through the whole thing 536 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:29,560 courage. That was my word. 537 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:36,120 And the morning of my mastectomy when I got up, of course, you 538 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,480 only had to be there at 5:00 in the morning, had to be there 539 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,680 super early. And I'm sitting on the side of 540 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,400 the bed and Scott asked me, Are you ready? 541 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:48,320 And I'm like I shook my head no and they gently but firmly held 542 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:55,440 my little cheeks and said have courage OK, I can do that. 543 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:02,360 And so we go Revere and they put me in holding. 544 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:07,280 They take me from pre op to not pre op holding and the case 545 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,040 before took longer than it was supposed to. 546 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,240 So I'm back there totally by myself for over an hour. 547 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:19,600 I am blind as a bat without my contacts, so I can't see and I'm 548 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,920 just laying and a Gurney all along. 549 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,480 But I'm right in front of the nurse's station and I can hear 550 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,800 the nurse and I know she's talking to Scott. 551 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:35,280 And she comes over to me, said I just talked to your husband and 552 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,720 we're fixing they've, they're ready for you. 553 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,440 So we're going to be going back in a few minutes. 554 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:44,480 And then he told me to remind you to have courage. 555 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,120 And I started to cry. And she said, can I pray for 556 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:51,200 you? Oh wow. 557 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:57,320 And I couldn't answer her, but I nodded my head and I thought she 558 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,560 was just going to, you know, say OK, I'll pray for you and I'll 559 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:01,640 go off on her. Me, right? 560 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,800 No, ma'am. She ripped that curtain clothes 561 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,600 around my Gurney. She grabbed my hands and laid 562 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,760 them over my chest. And she prayed out loud over me 563 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:16,639 for me, for my children, for my husband, for the surgeon, for 564 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:21,480 every part of my care team. And, and she and she remembered 565 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,520 the word courage. That's beautiful. 566 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,080 She and, and she prayed for me to have courage. 567 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,400 And then when she opened the curtain bag up, the transporter 568 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,360 was there to take me down. And she looked at him. 569 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,719 She said I'm good, I'm going to take her down. 570 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:42,400 And so she was the charge nurse and she pushed me down to the OR 571 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,960 and she parked me outside the OR and she asked the nurse 572 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,400 anesthetist to come out. She said she's not going in here 573 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,360 awake. You're going to come out here 574 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:58,120 and give her something because she's not going in there awake 575 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,120 seeing all that and seeing everything. 576 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:06,280 Well, her name is Tina. And when, as I said, I had 13 577 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,400 surgeries in three years, she was probably my pre op nurse 578 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,600 nine of those times. Wow, that is unheard of. 579 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,720 I mean those. Nurses change as change regular 580 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,920 and and I and Tina like we became, we became friends. 581 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,280 When I had my reconstruction, she wasn't, she was off that 582 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,000 day, but she saw that I was on the schedule. 583 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,920 And so she made a note and swapped with somebody to come 584 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,840 the day after so that she could come and see me on the floor. 585 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:42,320 And she haunted me down to come and find me to see me because 586 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,120 she's like, I missed you yesterday. 587 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,600 And she had a family thing. She's I tried to trade, but I 588 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,320 couldn't have had a family thing, but I had to come and see 589 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,120 you. I love how God just sends these 590 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:55,680 people in our lives. Like he already said at the 591 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,960 beginning, you you said that you know that he was going to 592 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:02,640 provide someone to like the past, so he did that all. 593 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,160 The way through all the way through. 594 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,800 And then to have Tina not I'll pretty much not all my surprise, 595 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:12,160 yes, like just encouragement. And I just love how like there 596 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,000 is many times where was like, we'll pray for you, like we're 597 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:16,440 praying for you. But she said no. 598 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,880 We're doing it right here, right right now, Prayer warrior. 599 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,680 It was amazing and thankfully I haven't had to see her in a long 600 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,560 time. I think I'm but she was just I 601 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:29,320 love. I love. 602 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:34,280 I had an amazing care team. My husband, he took care of me. 603 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,960 He took care of laundry. He worked non he still worked 604 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:44,040 news that I couldn't work. My treatment was all day on 605 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:50,560 Tuesday and it was literally all day and Wednesday was his work 606 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,160 from home day. It was his report day. 607 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,160 So I would sleep all day on Wednesday. 608 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,920 My parents would drive up on Wednesday night 'cause my mom 609 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:03,320 was, my dad had retired, but my mom was working three days a 610 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,480 week. And so on my chemo weeks, she 611 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,040 would work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then they would drive 612 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:11,680 up and then they would take care of the boys and this and that. 613 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:15,400 On Fridays, she would say, alright, get up, go get dressed, 614 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,400 go get the shower. And I like, I can't. 615 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,480 I said, go get the shower, I'm your Mama, go get in the shower. 616 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:27,800 And she would sit on the stool and my bathroom until I got. 617 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,320 Well, I showered, man. I didn't have any hair, so it 618 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:31,640 didn't take as long to get it ready. 619 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:36,320 But then she would be there with my towel and she'd wrap me in my 620 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,520 towel and help me dry off and she'd put my robe on me. 621 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,320 OK, go lay down. And then I'd lay down for a few 622 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:43,640 minutes. OK, What are you going to wear? 623 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:46,760 Yeah. And I'm like, I don't know, OK, 624 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:48,320 you want this shirt or you want this shirt? 625 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,560 So she was. Trying to make sure you didn't 626 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:54,040 go into like that fun. Yeah. 627 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,040 Because no matter how old you are. 628 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,120 Your mom is a Mama baby girl. Yeah, you say your honest girl. 629 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,400 And so we would get up, we'd go to, we'd go to Target, we'd go 630 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,680 to Publix, we'd go somewhere. She they'd put me in a 631 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,600 wheelchair because I didn't have the strength to walk. 632 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:12,040 And and then we would go to Gingy's. 633 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,000 We would go to Gingy's for lunch and I didn't have an appetite 634 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,920 and she would ask the wait. She told the waitress she's 635 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:22,400 like, she's going through chemo. So she she can't eat a lot. 636 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,440 And I'm like, mom, I think they can look at me and tell. 637 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:30,160 But she they would let me get a kids bill. 638 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,320 And so we would do that and then they'd come home and then they'd 639 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,440 I'd take a nap. Then they'd get the boys from 640 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,560 school. The principals at my boys 641 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,240 schools, they learned my parents. 642 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,960 They called them my name. They knew their cars. 643 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,000 They said, hey, Miss Ruth, hey, Mr. Newton, how how did things 644 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:52,520 go this week? The schools just took excellent 645 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,840 care of not just me, but my kids. 646 00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:01,880 My the principal at the primary school, she was one of the first 647 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:06,280 people that we told outside of our circle because I knew that 648 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:11,760 going into first grade, John David didn't need a teacher that 649 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:13,240 was counting down the days to retirement. 650 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,440 He didn't need somebody that was green that was trying to figure 651 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:18,880 it out. Not that there's anything wrong 652 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:22,080 with either one of those, but that's not what he made them. 653 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:26,200 Well, she took it a step further and said, who's his best friend? 654 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:32,880 Because that's who's going to pick up on him not being his 655 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:33,840 normal self. Yeah. 656 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,720 And if something happens and you're in the hospital, that's 657 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:41,200 who he's going to go home with. And I'm like, I never thought of 658 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,800 it, that I never thought of it that way. 659 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,120 Joseph's school, I was on PTO there. 660 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,360 I had just started a big flower bed. 661 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,760 You know, there's nothing going, nothing's fixing to happen 662 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,880 because, you know, so let's start a whole new flower bed. 663 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,240 Well then when we got the phone call. 664 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:06,920 I couldn't get out and work in the yard and I look outside one 665 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:12,480 day and PTI was in my yard and it had started with one mom and 666 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,720 had gone to another mom who had called another mom and they were 667 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:17,960 picking up limbs. We have pecan trees, so they 668 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,480 drop limbs all the time. They're picking up limbs, 669 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:24,160 they're trimming their plant. They had gone and plant pot 670 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:28,400 flowers and had planted flowers at my front door so that every 671 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,160 time I stood at my front door. I saw some beautiful. 672 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,640 I saw beautiful flowers, so that way I always had flowers. 673 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:39,480 They took care of my kids, my circle, my friends. 674 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,360 They took care of not just me and my husband, but they took 675 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:49,000 care of my kids. One of my friends, she likes to 676 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,480 do laundry. I never heard of that and if she 677 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,240 still loves to do. Laundry, I got some stuff for 678 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:58,920 her so she came one night and tell the boys, OK bring me, I'll 679 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:03,440 get dirty clothes and she took a basket home to her house and 680 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:05,400 washed and dried and. Folded. 681 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,360 Wow, God just kept sending them. We had so much food, we had to 682 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:12,360 buy a freezer. Oh, we already had the freezer, 683 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:16,440 but half of Houston County had the coat tire garage, and we had 684 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,840 casseroles in this. And I don't know what people 685 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,880 would just come by and open the garage door. 686 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,560 Yeah, put it in the freezer, close the garage door and leave. 687 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,840 I love that. Well, as we begin to close a 688 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:33,760 little bit, I would love to hear, you know, I'm going to 689 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,160 give you 3 options. OK, This is what I usually do. 690 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:40,080 So either maybe tell us a little bit something that God's 691 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:45,240 revealed to you more recently, maybe some advice to maybe 692 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:49,960 someone that's going through this or just to women in 693 00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:54,360 general, or something that I haven't gave you the opportunity 694 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,240 to really talk about and you were like on the way here, like 695 00:41:57,240 --> 00:41:59,800 I really want to say this and I haven't gave you the chance to 696 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:00,240 do so. So. 697 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:06,000 How do you want to end it? I want to talk to, to, to, to 698 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,440 not just women, but just to ladies, to girls. 699 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:11,880 Know your body. Don't take no. 700 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:15,880 If something's doesn't feel right, you know yourself. 701 00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,480 And for the folks for for the and it's not just ladies, it's 702 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:21,720 men. Yeah, too. 703 00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:23,120 That is true. It's it's men, too. 704 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,080 I have a good friend that has that he has metastatic breast 705 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:30,000 cancer right now. But you're not alone. 706 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:36,960 You're not alone. A friend, someone she told 707 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:41,040 somebody that she knew about me. She said, I'm sorry that your 708 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:44,800 friend has breast cancer, that she won't be the last one. 709 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:48,960 You know, it's one and eight is or that's the odds. 710 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:51,360 I heard it's probably dropping to 1:00 and 7:00. 711 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:56,600 But you're not alone. And I'm just so thankful for the 712 00:42:56,600 --> 00:43:01,400 ladies and men, but mostly ladies that walk the path before 713 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:09,640 me so that I can do what I do now and just know you're not 714 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,440 alone. Yeah, I love how you said the 715 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,760 don't take no for an answer because your original OBGYN 716 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:20,240 literally said no. Well, you know it's fine, but 717 00:43:20,240 --> 00:43:23,200 you were persistent. If I hadn't listened to that 718 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:27,320 person, yeah, I would, because I was only 35, I would not have 719 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,880 made 40. I would not have turned. 720 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:31,680 I would have not lived to 40. Wow. 721 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,840 And that at that time, that was that was the age for having a 722 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:37,960 mammogram. Wow. 723 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:41,520 Because I know like there's so many times they're, you know, 724 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:44,960 even just me too. I'm like, no, I'm young, you 725 00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:47,960 know, but you're saying like 35 and I wouldn't even have made it 726 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:50,360 to 40. And so it's just, it's so 727 00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:54,000 important to know your body and to get your check UPS regularly 728 00:43:54,000 --> 00:44:00,280 and just be aware of the things that could possibly be like a 729 00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,760 sign of those. Like what are maybe some signs? 730 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,760 That you would like to say there's a great I wish I had it 731 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:08,800 with me. There's a great graphic of 732 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:14,320 lemons. It's a dozen lemons and it shows 733 00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:20,200 different signs and one is the inverted nipple. 1 is a you know 734 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:25,840 how an A lemon when it gets old, how the peel gets dry and flaky. 735 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,400 That's one of the signs. I can't think of all the others, 736 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:33,680 but like you doing you doing a self exam. 737 00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,320 Do do a self exam, do a self exam. 738 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:42,640 And if you're young, you know, they say the week after your 739 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:46,840 cycle, if you're postmenopausal or you've had a hysterectomy, 740 00:44:47,240 --> 00:44:51,600 doesn't matter when because you know, but I always pick my 741 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:56,160 birthday because that's going to come around every the 4th is 742 00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:00,240 going to come around every month and just do the same day each 743 00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:03,760 month And but just know your body. 744 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:07,000 Yeah, when it and. And if something doesn't feel 745 00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:08,360 right, ask. Yeah. 746 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:11,000 That's good. This has been so good. 747 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,280 I absolutely enjoyed hearing your story and I actually. 748 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:18,120 This shirt I forgot about it shirt so this was the very this 749 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,680 shirt is vintage. I love it. 750 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,640 Reach out and tell a friend. Reach out and tell a friend our 751 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:29,280 Sunday school class started a well, it started as a girls 752 00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:32,160 night for Sunday school class and just to do a little breast 753 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:35,160 cancer awareness and it turned into over 100 ladies. 754 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,280 Wow, that's a big group. It had a big group. 755 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:40,800 Anissa Drigger saying my friend Kim is a nurse navigator. 756 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:44,840 She came and talked on the clinical side. 757 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:49,120 We sold these cute little T-shirts and but we before when 758 00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:52,680 we needed a verse, we were talking to somebody. 759 00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:55,400 Actually, I was Brother Dennis who recommended this verse. 760 00:45:55,800 --> 00:46:02,640 What is it Galatians 66262 I must be dyslexic so I literally 761 00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:07,560 yeah okay yeah but it's they're one anothers burdens and so 762 00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,440 fulfill the. Law of Christ, yeah. 763 00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:13,960 That's beautiful and so who designed those they're so cute. 764 00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:17,040 We did y'all just all came collectively came together and 765 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:21,200 collectively get them and I'll pull it out every now and then 766 00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:24,480 and today was a great day was a great day to pull it out yes 767 00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:27,960 well 19 years, 19 years next year will be 20. 768 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:29,960 So we will celebrate it absolutely. 769 00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:33,880 That is a big thing marriage 30 years that's an accomplishment 770 00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:38,200 20 years at survivor like God is just so good. 771 00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:41,480 He has been through all your story and just then they're 772 00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:43,120 through it all and it's just so beautiful. 773 00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:44,480 Well, this. Has been so good, right. 774 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,480 So thank you for sharing. Thank you. 775 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:48,600 Yes. All right, guys, I hope you 776 00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:52,280 enjoyed this as much as we have. Make sure you check us out, rate 777 00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,160 US comment. If you have any questions, 778 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,480 concern comments, we are here to answer them. 779 00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:58,440 I'll be able to pass it along to Rachel. 780 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:01,480 So yes, stay tuned, stay blessed, and we'll see you guys 781 00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,240 later. Bye bye.