Finding Strength, Faith, and Perspective After Breast Cancer

Janet Parker talks candidly about her journey with Breast Cancer.

This story is about my incredible mother. It still doesn’t feel right that this is her story, but here we are. Watching her strength and resilience in the face of adversity over the last year and a half has been humbling, to say the least. 

We’re hopeful that sharing my mom’s story will help at least one other person battling breast cancer. We are very lucky to be where we are and I’m personally working on not taking moments for granted, which is extremely hard to remember when you have your head down trying to get through each day.

For the rest of this piece, I’ll be calling my mom Janet because this is her perspective. Thank you for reading.
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When Janet Parker got the call, she already knew something was off — just not how much.

“There were two spots that were biopsied,” she remembers. “The nurse started with the one that wasn’t cancer and confirmed that diagnosis. Then she went to the one that was cancer and confirmed our worst fear.”

The nurse stayed on the phone as long as Janet and her husband needed, walking them through what it meant, what came next, and what they could expect.

“I remember thinking, this can’t be right. I don’t have a family history. This cannot be happening to me.”

Her diagnosis came with what doctors called “excellent statistics,” a reassuring phrase that didn’t quite settle her nerves. This was still cancer. 

🌿 Learning to Let Go

If cancer teaches you anything, it’s that control is mostly an illusion. Janet, a lifelong doer, felt that lesson deeply.

“I was forced to realize I wasn’t invincible,” she says. “I couldn’t make the situation be what I wanted it to be. This time, I wasn’t the strong one with all the knowledge — I had to rely on others’ expertise and help.”

She learned to lean on her people — her husband and daughter — who talked her through spirals and reminded her to breathe. And when she could, she went outside.

“Nature brings me peace and confirms to me there is a God.”

Now, life feels mostly back to normal, until she catches herself mid-day, reminded that it could all change in an instant. She’s working every day to maintain a sense of peace with that knowledge. 

The Emotions That Linger

“The emotions are still close to the surface,” Janet says. “It only takes a minute to go back to that day.”

When asked how she feels about looking to the future after her treatments, she notes, “despite the overwhelmingly positive outlook, I still can’t let it go that it could happen again.”

But she also knows she’s not defined by it. She’s grounded, grateful, and fiercely realistic. Her perspective, shaped by both science and faith, is a reminder that resilience doesn’t have to look loud to be powerful.

💗 Janet’s Message to Other Women

“Excellent treatment is out there,” she says. “They’re constantly getting better at diagnostics and care. This isn’t 50, or even 20, years ago.”

Her advice is simple but strong:

“Get an excellent medical team and support system. If something feels off, speak up. Ask questions. If you’re uncomfortable, make a change.”

It’s that balance of trust and agency that carried her through. Faith in her doctors, faith in God, and faith in herself.

Because sometimes, surviving isn’t about feeling fearless. It’s about feeling everything — and choosing to keep going anyway.