Linda McDonald

Siesta Key, FL

Breast Cancer Survivor

Back then, people didn’t speak of cancer. It was like leprosy or something. So, all I knew when I was three was that I had a tumor on my kidney and its name was Wilms. I remember it was during the war, and there was gas rationing. After surgery to remove my kidney, my mom and I would walk to the train station and board the train to Philadelphia from our home in New Jersey. In Philadelphia, we’d then take a trolley to the hospital, so I could have radiation.

Other than that, I had a normal childhood. I grew up, became involved with dance and movement, was a cheerleader, went to college, and everything was fine.

It wasn’t until much later, when a doctor was talking a medical history from me, that he told me a Wilms tumor was cancer, almost always fatal, and he’d never known anyone besides myself who had survived it. That was the first time I knew I’d had cancer.

Then, at 33, 30 years after the removal of the Wilms tumor, some irregular pap smears alerted my doctor to a pre-cancerous condition present in my body, a carcinoma in situ. So, following the birth of my second child, I had a hysterectomy.

At the time, they wanted me to do hormone replacement therapy, but, by God’s grace, I declined, and asked them to just keep watching me. I continued with dance, taught dance, ate right and stayed active and healthy.

Another 30 years passed. At age 63 in May 2005, I went in for a routine breast exam, and the doctor found a lump. A biopsy showed it was cancerous. Here I was again … at 3, at 33 and now at 63, fighting cancer.

I chose to go to a well-known cancer facility in Texas. After reviewing my tests, they wanted me to have a mastectomy, followed by chemo and radiation. I wanted to be treated naturally as much as possible or at least combine complementary and alternative methods if possible. But they didn’t provide all I wanted. So I decided to keep researching.

I found Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) and decided to make an appointment. When I came to CTCA in Tulsa, I still wasn’t sure I wanted conventional treatment. I asked the oncologist if she’d just follow me for a while, and if it worsened, then we’d talk about treatment. She agreed. Things went along for a while, but, then, suddenly, in two weeks time, I felt the cancer moving. So, I had a mastectomy, started chemotherapy in June 2006, and now, I’m undergoing radiation.

This is a wonderful place. I’m so thankful God led me here. He’s taken care of me my whole life, and He’s made me very aware that I have a responsibility to care for this body and life He’s entrusted to me. At CTCA, I love the way they combine everything and treat all of me … mind, body, spirit. It’s what I believe in and am all about.

I also believe God uses all our experiences, and while I’m not happy I’ve had to have this experience, I am trying to find the good in it. I have great church support, and the staff and everyone here at CTCA are so supportive.

Cancer isn’t good in itself, but God can use it for good in my life, and through me, in the lives of others. I’ve asked God for years, “Lord, what would you have me do?” And, then, that’s what I’ve tried to do. I’m still asking Him that now. And I’m open to see what He is going to do with all of this. His Word says His plans for me are good, to give me a future and a hope. As a survivor of cancer for over 60 years, I know I can trust and lean on His promises.

Presently, I’m very focused on cancer survivor skills. I believe in good self care. I’d like to put something together for other people that would make the journey with this disease more palatable and help them with treatment side effects. Certainly, I’d like to be able to incorporate and impart my dance and movement knowledge and skills to help other cancer patients as well. But I’m waiting on God’s timing … everything is according to His timing. So, right now, I’m gathering all the information I can. I even scheduled CTCA’s spiritual outreach program, Our Journey of Hope, to come to my church and provide lay ministry training for us. It was great and gave us really valuable information on cancer, cancer patients’ needs and caring for them. Other than that, I’m waiting on Him to show me the way once again.