Darlene Kipling

Tulsa, OK

Colon and Breast Cancer Survivor

When I was recruited from Canada by Oral Roberts University (ORU) to work as a nurse at City of Faith after it opened in 1980, my husband and I decided it was a good thing. So we made the move to Tulsa in 1987 and I began working in the oncology unit of the hospital.

I remember having lunch one day at work and thinking to myself how awful it must be to have cancer, how I'd feel if it were me. Little did I know what lay ahead.

When City of Faith closed in 1989, I joined another Tulsa-area hospital. However, the following year when Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) opened in the old City of Faith building (now known as CityPlex Towers), I became a CTCA employee and was back in familiar surroundings.

I had been working at CTCA three years when I was diagnosed with colon cancer. My life didn't stop spinning for months. It was very traumatic. I can really identify with patients who walk into our hospital now. Even if they don't admit it, they're often filled with fear. And, because people tend to link cancer and death in their minds, they're often wrestling with those types of questions in relation to their own future.

Following my diagnosis, I went through a difficult time, undergoing two bowel resections that kept me from working. I was off for 10 months, very ill and then ready to come back to work. CTCA told me, 'We want you back. You can come in even two hours a day. We just want you back.' I came back and was soon working full time. I've told so many patients that CTCA not only treats patients like royalty, they treat the staff the same way.

Then in 1996, following a routine mammogram, I once again found herself dealing with a malignancy ... this time, breast cancer. I chose to have a mastectomy. A few days after the surgery, my oncologist called with even more devastating news: a chest x-ray showed a small tumor on the left lower lobe of my lung. He wanted me to come in for a CT scan. I was devastated. I asked him to give me a few days to get my legs back under me.

Those few days proved miraculous for me. My daughter took me twice to hear a visiting evangelist who was speaking at ORU, and when he asked for those who wanted prayer to come forward, I went and received prayer to heal the tumor. I had experienced dramatic healing in answer to prayer many years before for a heart problem, so I was no stranger to God's instant intervention, if that's what He wanted to do. When the evangelist came to me, I told him I was in a huge battle with cancer and needed a miracle of healing. He laid his hand on me and prayed.

At the beginning of the following week, the CT scan showed my lung completely clear.

Interestingly, a few years ago, I had a chest infection, and had a chest x-ray to see what was going on. When I met with Dr. Daniel Nader (a CTCA pulmonologist) to review the x-ray, he asked me if I'd ever had any surgery on my lung. I told him no and asked why he wanted to know. He said on the left lower lobe of my lung, there was a miniscule scar that looked like there'd been something removed. I was pleased to tell him the story of my healing.

Now semi-retired, I continue to work part-time at CTCA as a nurse care manager, coordinating care for patients. I'm now many years out from colon cancer and breast cancer, and I believe they taught me greater empathy and understanding for patients, as well as gave me greater love for them. As I walk down the halls at CTCA, I utter prayers for the patients and caregivers I pass. I also believe God showed me His overwhelming love for me through cancer. I don't know that I understood it as fully before. And I believe I learned what things are important in life and what things aren't. I know I'm a different person as a nurse for having had cancer. The love of God in me has increased 10-fold. The Bible says suffering is one of those things God uses to transform us and make us more in the image of Jesus.