Sister Saturdays – Lisa Roberts
Lisa Roberts was 48 years old when she was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The day was July 7th, 2016, and her son was away at college. Her treatment included five months of chemotherapy, followed by right breast mastectomy, then six weeks of daily radiation, followed again by 10 months of chemotherapy, and then a few weeks of a “just-approved” drug that was thought to have some small benefit to her statistical recurrence chances. She officially concluded active treatment on October 10th, 2017, and now she is an Inflammatory Breast Cancer survivor. She’s 51 years old, she’s married with a son, and she’s officially in remission with no evidence of disease. During the last phase of her treatment, she wrote a poem about what her journey had been like. Through her beautiful and passionate words, she hopes to inspire and give strength to others in the fight of their lives. Thank you, Lisa, for sharing this part of yourself with us!
A cancer growing rapidly,
It caught me unaware.
A battle waged inside of me,
A war, I would declare.
I fought a serial killer with no face.
An invader with the devils’ mark.
Insidious, and parasitic in nature
A monster born in the dark.
I remember it so clearly now,
The day it looked in my soul.
It tried to rob me of my strength
It wanted to take full control.
To survive, I had to sacrifice
My breast, my hair, my femininity
It showed no mercy when it snatched these things
Efficiently, indifferent, malignantly.
When I grew tired, I would not concede
With great faith, I prayed for healing
It’s so hard not to be afraid
This is cancer with whom I’m dealing.
In Jesus name, I asked for grace.
I called on my Lord and Savior,
My spirit grew quiet. My soul heard his voice,
He said, “My child, don’t you know? YOU are favored!”
There is nothing that I cannot fix,
No illness I can’t erase.
Have faith and KNOW that I am here.
There is nothing YOU cannot face.
I did not carry you all this way
Just to leave you here alone.
I love you, Lisa! You are my child.
So favor and grace, you will always be shown.
“One more step”, he said.
You can do it! Your journey is ordained.
You will share your story with those in need.
This disease, trust me to contain.
I know you’re scared, but I am here.
Gain comfort from my voice.
You are stronger than you think you are
Shine your light! Have faith. Make the choice.
I listened intently to his message,
It helped to know there was purpose.
With the faith of a mustard seed
My strength was renewed, with surplus.
Right then and there, I won the war.
My cancer was defeated!
No vulnerability to exploit,
The monster turned and retreated.
My spirit renewed. My purpose clear.
There was a reason for this fight.
Sometimes the darkness is there…
Just so that you can see the light.
All things are possible through God’s grace.
This I know, so I give GOD the glory!
Through his grace, I was restored
So that I could share my story. 🙂
To reach out to Lisa, please feel free to email her here: lrbrob@icloud.com
