Our Family Album

Rachele’s Story

I’m Rachele’ Davis. My husband, Brandon, and I have been attending CCOJ for 20 years. We have faced challenges that we all have with time. The challenge I am going to share with you is my breast cancer diagnosis in 2019 because it has made the biggest impact on me.

I was 39 years old. Our son, Sawyer, had just turned four. The day after I discovered two tumors on my own, I told Brandon I believed I had breast cancer. Even though he reassured me that it most likely wasn’t, I knew it was.

My doctor scheduled me for a mammogram and ultrasound. The day before my appointment, God completely overwhelmed me with His peace. I knew in my heart I had cancer, but I also knew that God was by my side and I need not worry about what this meant for me.

A breast cancer diagnosis was confirmed. I didn’t know the outcome, the extent of the cancer, and whether or not this was going to kill me. All I knew was God’s calming presence. It was very real.

Over the next several weeks, I learned I had stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. It was growing with the estrogen my body was producing. I had two large tumors, but no cancer had spread to my lymph nodes or beyond. One tumor was close to my chest wall, too close for comfort to do surgery first, so it was decided I would complete 16 rounds of chemotherapy to shrink the tumors, then a double mastectomy, and finally, a full hysterectomy.

My treatment lasted nearly a year. It was the hardest and best year of my life.

I lost my hair. I struggled through differing degrees of nausea nearly every day for several months. My body completely changed. I have permanent hearing loss from the chemo, as well as nonstop ringing in my ears that will never go away. I struggled through neuropathy and have joint aches that still persist today. I was thrown into immediate early menopause with no option for relief with medication. I still take medicine that blocks all estrogen that my body produces.

But even so, God was and is more than faithful every moment of every day. His peace remains. It has never wavered. He provides hope when circumstances seem hopeless. With cancer, He showed me that my everything is in Him and when your everything is in God, the details of life suddenly don’t matter as much.

Getting cancer reminded me that I am not in control of my life. God is. And that is the most hope-filled, reassuring, best place to be. When I lost my false sense of control, I’ve never felt so secure in all my life. Things that used to matter, didn’t matter anymore. Things, and even people, I had held onto so tightly, I was able to release them into God’s hands. Freedom in Jesus had a new meaning for me! Cancer made me joyful. Really and truly joyful!

Oh, and it goes without saying... God healed me from cancer too.