Theresa Stover had been going for routine mammograms since she was 35. So, when the now 42-year-old visited the mobile unit at Edgefield County Hospital in April 2009, she didn’t think much about it.

When she received a letter stating that she needed further tests, she didn’t get alarmed.
“I had two benign lumps removed over the years, so I said, ‘Okay, this is normal for me,’” she said.

So, when she was told there was another lump, she told the doctor, “Let’s get it out.”

She had the lump removed and was away from her job at the hospital as a medical billing clerk for a week or so.

‘When I went back to work, while still waiting for my next appointment, I ran into Dr. Stallings. So I asked him if everything was okay,” she said. “I’ll never forget how he looked when he said, ‘I’m so sorry. It came back as cancer.’”

“I was shocked, but I guess the realization hadn’t really hit me,” she said. “I asked him, ‘What do we need to do?’ My mom was with me and she just about hit the floor. She has a history of breast cancer in the same breast in her early 30s.”

She told her boys, 8 and 11 at the time, that she was diagnosed with cancer and she didn’t know how bad it was going to be. She did know it would take away their summer vacation. But she was going to fight it and everything would be okay. Once she came out, she said, they were going to celebrate.

“For just a ‘little minute,’ they acted out in school,” she said. “But they were all right after that.”

She said there still were no tears on her part.

“Everyone at work wanted to cry and I said, ‘No … no tears. I’ve lived a wonderful life. Whatever comes, I’ll deal with it.’”

At work, she was referred to as “Theresa Spread the Love Stover” because she always had a smile on her face.

“But I guess at some point it sunk in,” she said. “I went into a depression and I felt I was going to die. Then, I said to myself, ‘No, I can’t. There’s so much more for me to do.’”

Stover began setting the stage for a right mastectomy.

“I don’t think I knew how much love and support I had until then. I went to surgery on a first-name basis with the nurses and everyone was so supportive,” she said. “I had favor from the beginning. They did above and beyond what was required of them. I just knew I would be taken care of.”
After the surgery, she got into a fighting mode. They had removed 18 lymph nodes with the surgery.

“Everyone was looking after me and taking care of me,” she said. “I told them, ‘I’m going to whip this thing.’”

But then, she said, she wasn’t prepared for what chemo was going to be like.

“It took all my strength and my appetite,” she said. “I couldn’t taste anything and my hair fell out after the second treatment. But I was prepared for that. I was depressed a lot during chemo. I just wanted to be alone—to meditate.”

She had chemo treatments on Fridays and she really didn’t get the full affects until Sunday.

“My kids were so good to me during this time,” she said. “They knew Sundays were going to be my worst days. They would bring me water and help me to the bathroom. They were like little men. Sometimes, we’d lie on the bed together and cry.”

The boys said they worried about her, but even though they didn’t get to do some of the things they wanted to do that summer and they had to help a lot with housework, they felt like all along their mother would get better.

“We saw her being strong and she never gave up,” said Donte, now 12.

During this time, she still tried to work, she said.

“I’d get up and I’d talk to my body,” she said. I’d call ‘my hospital family’ and they’d come and get me and I’d sit at my desk and work.”

She added, “My family—my dad, my mom, stepmom and sister helped out a lot. My dad was one of a kind and my mom was my ‘chemo buddy.’ My husband (they are separated) helped out a lot with the boys and he gave me a surprise birthday party on my birthday last year.”

Toward the end of her chemotherapy, she developed neuropathy in her legs.

“I couldn’t write, my hands were so stiff,” she said. “I got to where I couldn’t walk. I had to use a cane and riding chair. I don’t know if they doubled the last round or what. The doctor put me out of work for 12 weeks.”

“During this time, I relaxed and tried to stay off my feet,” she said. “I thanked God for how far I had come. My home church and my husband’s church family were very supportive. My stepmom was really great during the neuropathy. She would massage my feet and keep them cool. All this helped me to make it through.”

She has been cancer-free since January of this year.

“Everything is so great now,” she said. “I had gotten down to 100 pounds. Now, I’m back to 143. My taste buds are back to normal. I can eat and enjoy it. I will never take my taste buds for granted again. My color is back and my hair has grown back. During chemo, my nails were black.”

Her legs still have some discomfort, but she can walk okay now.

“I’ll never take walking for granted again, either,” she said.

Today, she looks at life at lot differently.

“The sun shining is so beautiful to me now,” she said. “I appreciate the small things in life now. Don’t put off things until tomorrow. You don’t always get a second chance.”

She most enjoys sharing her story with others in the hopes that it will help someone else.

“Before all this, I couldn’t speak in public,” she said. “I went to my husband’s church awhile back and I got up and gave my testimony. The words just came out.”

Her favorite verse of Scripture now is Romans 8:28.

“I believe that God let me go through this in order to help others,” she said. “I can’t tell you the people who have told me I inspired them, even ones who don’t have cancer.”

She said a co-worker, Rose Boone, told her that before knowing her and going through this with her, she couldn’t bear to be around anyone sick or talk about illness. Now she can handle it.

“I can’t stress enough how others helped me and encouraged me and helped prepare me for what I had to face,” she said. “I want to do that for other people. I want to tell them, ‘You can make it if you keep the faith. Keep going and tell yourself you can do it. Never give up.”