Stories For and About Living Your Truth
By Chanda Temple
Breast cancer wasn’t part of Jill Carter’s plans. But plans change.
She was a married mom of three boys – one in kindergarten, one in fourth grade and one in 10th grade – when she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Triple Negative breast cancer on Oct. 3, 2008. From working part time to handling home life, she stayed on the go
“I remember thinking I don’t have time for this. But I did, and that began the fight of my life,” she said.
By Chanda Temple
Breast cancer pushed Denetra Johnson to do two things: enroll in community college and go to church more.
It all started on Oct. 29, 2011 after her doctor called and said she had triple breast cancer. What followed next was all Denetra had to hear: “I think we got it in time.”
Denetra cried at first. Then, she told her family and started working on a plan.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m fixing to do some thangs now,’ ” Denetra recalled. “It’s time for me to grow up, … get stronger, be a thriver and a survivor.’ ”
By Chanda Temple
Every day, Alease Sims walks past a pink wreath that once belonged to her daughter, Stacey Sims Turner.
A sign on it reads: “I stood strong. I fought hard. I won.”
Stacey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. As Stacey fought the disease, Alease knew her pain because Alease had fought the same disease in 1989. Alease comforted Stacey through a mastectomy, chemo, radiation and six-month checkups.
Doctors eventually told Stacey she was cancer-free. But in 2021, the cancer had returned and spread to Stacey’s lungs and brain. Again, Alease was by Stacey’s side, telling her, “We are going to fight this.”
By Chanda Temple
Every Thursday, right after Tonya Adams’ breast cancer office visits, she and her mother had a standing date at Edgar’s Bakery in downtown Birmingham.
They’d walk in and the staff already knew what they wanted: a chicken salad box with a croissant, fruit and a slice of strawberry cake or strawberry cupcake.
For Tonya, it was like eating hope on a plate.
By Chanda Temple
LaKisha Cargill was 28 years old when she learned she had Stage II, ER+, HER- and ductal carcinoma in situ. The year was 2006.
She underwent chemo and then had lumpectomies to remove the tumor in 2007 in her left breast. She thought she was in the clear of Stage II breast cancer.
But nearly a decade later, cancer returned. This time, it was Stage IV.
Today, LaKisha is a thriver as she lives with cancer every day, balancing treatments and checkups with work, travel and writing in Birmingham.
“Live your life to the fullest,” she said.
By Chanda Temple
In fighting breast cancer, Nataly Swann lost her eyelashes, her eyebrows and a few fingernails.
She also lost her happiness.
For someone who was once carefree, cancer left Nataly heavy with worry about herself and if she’d ever see her family in her homeland of Russia again. Tears flowed, hitting the hard, rough reality she couldn’t change. But as every tear fell, Nataly’s footing eventually softened, making way for a whole new harvest.
How did she reap her happiness again?
“Oh, it’s a journey,” she admits. “I’m still adjusting to it.’’
By Chanda Temple
Jordan Collins was a sophomore at the University of Alabama in October 2024, when her world seemed to stop.
There, standing in the shower, she felt a lump. She was only 19.
The next morning, she went to a women’s health clinic and underwent additional testing. On Nov. 19, 2024, she was told she had Stage 0 breast cancer.
Immediately, her mind began to race. Could it had been something she ate? Something she drank? Her environment? Could it have even been her family genes since several of her aunts had had breast cancer?
Then, she leaned on her faith to ease her fears. And right there, ‘”Jordan, the Warrior ” was born.
“I said, ‘This is my fight, and I will fight it.’ ”
By Chanda Temple
Moments before Birmingham native Jasmine “Jazz” McKenzie stepped on stage, capturing the votes and hearts of the judges and audience from NBC’s “The Voice” on Monday, Oct. 13, she remembered six little words.
“What’s for you won’t miss you.”
It’s a saying a fellow “The Voice” contestant shared with other contestants this season, and it’s something Jazz has been saying to herself since starting the process on Season 28. On Monday, Sept. 22, she appeared in “The Blind Auditions” premiere, singing her rendition of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”
That evening, Jazz received a “four-chair turn,” earning the attention and interest of all four celebrity coaches. While each coach wanted her, she selected singer/coach Michael Buble.
Then, on Monday, Oct. 13, Jazz appeared again for her next competition in what’s known as “The Battles.” She faced off with team mate, Trinity, as they did a duet to Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity.”
By Chanda Temple
When Monique Martin’s father died in May 2024, she was engulfed in grief. And as a result, the lymph nodes under her arms and in her neck, began to swell.
She thought stress had brought on the brief swelling. So, she ignored it.
Then, in August 2024, the swelling returned and it gradually got worse. In October 2024, she felt a lump in her left breast. Officials scheduled her for a mammogram in November 2024.
“I got the mammogram, went on the patient portal and read the results before they even called me,” she said. It said, “Indicative of breast cancer.” She wasn’t totally surprised because her mother is a breast cancer survivor. But she was scared.
“I was kind of kicking myself because I was like, ‘Maybe if I had gotten on this when I first noticed my lymph nodes were swollen, the prognosis would have been a little bit better,’ ” she said.
By Chanda Temple
During her chemo treatments for breast cancer, many things tasted like air to Marshelle Harris.
Everything, that is, except for Newk’s Margherita Pizza when she swapped out its red pizza sauce for the Newk’s white barbecue sauce. She also asked that a little cilantro be added to the pizza’s existing offerings of grape tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil.
The combo was a game changer, as the white BBQ sauce burst through with the most robust flavors on the warm, soft pizza slices.
“I always tell people about it, and when they get it, they say, ‘Girl, you were not lying! ‘ ” she said.
