Brittany Beitel

Survivor

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My Faith Gives Me Strength

From the day i was told I had cancer on May 16, 2014, i put everything i had into trust in God. When trying to figure out what gives me strength, i couldn’t decide what to put because so many people in my life gives me strength, but i attribute it all to my faith, and what God has given me.

I will start with my wonderful fiancé. Six months before i was diagnosed, I met this really good looking cop who was guarding a patient on the floor i work on as a nurse. Before i knew it he became my boyfriend and we were inseparable. Two weeks after my diagnosis he got down on one knee and vowed to go through this all with me and we would fight the fight together. Since day 1, Ben has not left my side, he has been to every appointment, runs to the store at any time of the day to get me anything i want, goes to whatever restaurant i want when i have my crazy cravings, and prays every night with me. God placed this man in my life for this very reason and at the most perfect time and i could not be anymore blessed!

My family has been a huge part in my fight. My mom has been the most amazing support I’ve had through all of this. She unfortunately knows this fight all too well because she was the care taker to my dad in 2009 when he battled stage 4 kidney cancer for a year before he passed. She hasn’t missed a appointment of mine yet, she is ALWAYS there for me and cooking me some awesome meals 🙂 My 2 wonderful sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, future in-laws, EVERYONE in my family has just been so positive and lift me up everyday in this fight. And of course my dad, my angel, he gives me strength everyday, and determination to win this fight for him!

My friends have been a huge part of my strength. my friends are AWESOME! From the first week, they have been there. They planned a huge surprise party for me before surgery, have sold t-shirts, bracelets, and bumper stickers to raise money for me. My work friends have donated some of their vacation hours to make sure i get paid through work. and most importantly, they treat me like nothing has changed, they still make fun of me and make me laugh and they don’t treat me any differently than before i was diagnosed (which makes me feel so good like i have normalcy in my life). I couldn’t think of a better support group to call my friends. I also have a group of friends i call my “Breast Friends”, these friends are a group of 14 girls, including myself, who are all around my age who all have breast cancer and are going through treatments right now. We “group text” everyday, pretty much all day. Being 26 years old, almost nobody can relate to what i am going through except someone going through the same thing. I thank God everyday for these girls. We were total strangers before cancer, and now i can honestly call them my good friends! We make each other laugh everyday, and talk about things related to chemo like bowel problems (haha) and can make jokes about it.

The last thing that gives me strength is my positive attitude. Everyday people ask me how i stay so positive through all of this and it is so hard to answer this question. I feel like this disease is almost a blessing because it has done more positive in my life than it has negative. Yeah i am not going to lie, going through chemo and having my breast cut off totally sucks. But the outlook i have on life has changed tremendously, and i feel like i can and have made a difference. It has been a LONG 16 months of battling but I believe God is using me to spread awareness, and to be there for other young people who are going through cancer, and might not have the support like i do. I was just saying the other day to my fiancé, how is it possible that i am the happiest i have every been in life while battling cancer?