By Chanda Temple
“How in the world do I have breast cancer?”
That’s what Marcella Roberts wanted to know after a routine mammogram and later a biopsy showed she had Stage 2, triple negative breast cancer, which is a cancer that is common in women of color and experts have more difficulty pinpointing what fuels it.
Marcella had no symptoms, no signs and no one in her family had had breast cancer. And even though breast cancer can show up without symptoms or a family history, Marcella still wondered, “So, how did this happen?”
But pretty soon, she had to put down that question and pick up the fight for her life.
It was December 2018, and she and her husband were in the midst of planning a birthday party for their then-10-year-old twin sons. The decorations were bought. Family was coming into town. And things were moving.
Marcella didn’t want to spoil her sons’ birthday or the holidays, so, she and her husband decided to keep the news to themselves until January 2019. Then, that’s when the real work began.
Marcella leaned on her faith. Hard.
“After getting diagnosed, I went to God, and said, ‘I’m standing on your word, ‘ ” she recalled.
She asked God to heal her, and in that moment, she spoke nothing but healing. She prayed over the bags that would deliver the chemotherapy treatments to her veins and into her body. She remained in prayer.
She did six months of chemo at UAB, along with being in a drug trial study for women diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She then had a lumpectomy and 40 rounds of radiation. She emerged fine from it all, but returned for MRIs and mammograms every three months because that was part of the breast cancer study.
Her appetite was strong. There was no sickness. There was no nausea. In fact, she gained weight as she had a desire for home cooked food consisting of meats, vegetables and cornbread. When she couldn’t get a home cooked meal or vegetables from Niki’s West in Birmingham, she craved the tomato basil soup from Newk’s.
“It was all so good,” she said.
During one of her MRIs in 2022, experts saw a spot. Marcella was asked to return for an MRI and a biopsy, which revealed she had DCIS in her left breast. Treatment for such a diagnosis was to remove the breast. Marcella opted to have both breasts removed. She also had tissue from her stomach removed to build her new breasts.
She underwent a three-month recovery process that she said was quite challenging. She had to regain her strength and have assistance with simple things such as taking a bath. She saw it as a time to heal. “I wasn’t trying to be superwoman,” she said. “I was trying to rest and do what I was told to do.”
Today, as Marcella looks back at her journey, she relaxes in the comfort of gratitude. She’s an attorney, developer and a married mother of four children and three grandchildren. In her spare time, she runs a ministry she founded before breast cancer. It’s called Sisters Winning in Marriage (SWIM), which helps women align faith and love without losing themselves. She is active with the American Heart Association and the central Alabama-based SistersCancervive support getup. She is also a past president of Down Syndrome Alabama.
“I live every single day just to give that back to people walking on this earth with hopes that they would … just know what a blessing it is to enjoy this life, to have this life and enjoy this life to the fullest,” said Marcella, now 57.
NOTE: In America, one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will be profiling one female breast cancer survivor each day in October 2025. The stories will also highlight a food from a Birmingham, AL restaurant or food vendor they liked at some point during their breast cancer journey or today. The series is called “SurviveHer at the Table: Food. Faith. Fight.”
Each story posted this month is the opinion of the survivor, with a goal to increase awareness about early detection and treatment for breast cancer. Readers should consult with their physician for medical and health advice and their nutritionist for healthy eating tips. Links to area resources will be shared in future posts this month.
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
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