Dear KLTY Christmas Wish Selection Committee:
Do you believe in miracles? I do. My name is Whitney Johnson. I am a registered nurse working in DFW in Labor and Delivery. Every day in my job I am a witness to God’s miracles. Last year, my friend and colleague Andrea Teran-Chavez was diagnosed with breast cancer. Andrea is 33 years old. She is mother to 3 young girls ages 10, 6, and 3. Andrea’s husband is finishing his schooling and Andrea is the primary wage earner in her household. Andrea started her treatment of radiation and chemotherapy then had a mastectomy. After surgery, it was recommended she receive additional radiation therapy. During her post-op radiation, she felt a lump on her chest. Andrea had found breast cancer again. They removed the lump and restarted her chemotherapy. Her doctors use the words “proliferative” and “aggressive” when they describe her cancer. In late October, doctors found a lesion on Andrea’s brain that doctor’s suspect is malignant. I am tearing up as I type these words. I can’t imagine what Andrea felt when she first heard those words… “You have metastasis of breast cancer to the brain.”
It’s hard to understand if you have never experienced it but there is a strong bond among nurses. I suspect it is because so often we deal in life and death together. It creates a connection among us that is so strong it is quite like a sisterhood. Andrea may have been the one to have the diagnosis of cancer but it has happened to all of us. Now this too…
The thing is that Andrea has a deep and abiding faith. She knows that God intends to heal her and she radiates this confidence that only comes from a deep seeded faith. Ephesians 3:20 shares a powerful prayer that reflects Andrea’s faith in her healing. “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Many may see Andrea’s cancer as a curse but I know she views it as her testimony to the power of God in her life. I see it in the way she looks at her children and how she does her work. Her purpose is greater than cancer.
Now Andrea is facing brain surgery during the week before Thanksgiving, as well as weeks if not months of recovery and continued treatment for her cancer. As the financial breadwinner of her household, Andrea and her family have moved in with relatives and cannot even afford the preschool care of their youngest child. The preschool, First Presbyterian Preschool in Arlington, has gifted them tuition. Costs are mounting and all Andrea is focused on is the fight for her life.
As her friends and sisters in nursing, we want to provide for this family this holiday season. We have started to supplement meals, give rides for treatments as necessary and now we are selling pink wristbands as a fundraiser. Still, we fear it won’t be enough. The holiday season is a wonderful time to be a child but a scary one if Mommy has cancer. This Christmas, our goal is to make a wonderful holiday for this young family filled with precious memories. Anything that KLTY’s generous listeners can do to help this family would be God’s blessing to them. We pray this Christmas for the miracle of God’s healing on Andrea. We hope that you will consider Andrea and her family for 2011 Christmas wish.
With thanks and appreciation,
Whitney Johnson, RN, MSN
