It’s been difficult writing this article. After reading some of the articles that have been written, I felt that my battle with cancer was quite insignificant. But then again I guess the feelings you have of fear and uncertainty are the same no matter what the degree of cancer you are dealing with.
My name is Kandis Thomas, I was diagnosed in 1991. While running some tests to confirm Graves disease, they discovered a growth on the thyroid. After surgery to remove the thyroid and the growth, and a biopsy on the growth, it was confirmed that it was cancer.
It was a small growth and the treatment was very simple, or as simple as it can be for cancer. The surgery took care of most of the treatment and the rest was taken care of by one treatment of radioactive iodine. It has almost been 14 years now and I’ve had no reoccurrences.
I remember being grateful that some of my children were still young and needed me, this filled my days and didn’t give me much time to think about it. I was amazed at their faith that I was going to be OK, and I seemed to draw from their faith, and that made me stronger.
I prayed a lot, because I needed to feel close to my Heavenly Father, and I received many priesthood blessings.
This experience has made me realize, as I think these types of experiences do, how important our relationships are, our family and friends. It’s nice to know that even though the disease is ours alone, we have those whom we love that we can lean on and draw strength from.