Beech Tree News Network

Back With Vengeance-This story is hard for me to write because I know Cindy Cardwell personally. We are very close friends, and I won't lie when I say tears flowed down my face while writing her story. Her tears flowed freely, and her voice shook while she filled me in on the details of her journey. Even though I knew most of it already, just hearing it out loud was extremely heart wrenching. Cindy asked me to share her journey, hoping that her story will encourage others that are having to battle this dreaded demon named cancer.

Nine years ago (2008), Cindy Cardwell's life was just as normal as any other 44 year old. Being a wife, working her job, and working out at the gym to keep her body healthy.  Life was good for Cindy and her husband, Charles. Until one morning, Cindy couldn't raise her arm. Her first thought was "I lift weights too much, or have lifted too heavy a weight."  She began to investigate and felt a knot in the top of her left breast. She immediately called her mother-in-law and discussed it with her and decided she needed to call her doctor. Cindy said she knew in her heart; something was wrong. We as women (and men) know (or should know) our body better than anyone.
She called her doctor in Owensboro, and they got her in the office that same day. Upon an exam, the doctor's diagnosis was "too much calcium." It is very common for women to have calcium knots in their breast, but Cindy was not accepting that it was calcium. She felt in her heart that something much worse was wrong. She insisted upon the doctor ordering a mammogram be done. She was not comfortable with his diagnosis and didn't feel comfortable leaving until further testing was done. Due to her uneasiness, the doctor sent her on for a mammogram that same day . That's one of the reasons I love this lady so much, when she gets something in her pretty little head, she doesn't take no for an answer.
After the mammogram was performed, the doctor returned to Cindy's room. He immediately told Cindy that something  just didn't look right and asked her "do you have a family member nearby?" At that moment, Cindy knew the news was not going to be good. Cindy's sister Helen lived about 5 minutes away and was immediately contacted to come support Cindy. After much more tests and a waiting period that I just can't imagine living through, the doctor re-entered Cindy's room and showed her the x-rays and test results. He then took her by the  hand and said the dreaded words, "Mrs. Cardwell, I think you have breast cancer." Tears began to run down Cindy's face as her worst fears had come true.
Two days later, February 27, 2008,  Cindy had surgery to remove her left breast. They took out 22 lymph nodes and 18 tested positive. She was informed that reconstruction of the breast wasn't an option because the cancer had gone all the way to her chest wall. In the following weeks, Cindy took 36 chemo treatments and 56 radiation treatments. Like the tough lady she is, she beat this horrific disease...or so she thought.
Cindy returned to work (at Morgantown Plastics) after being off for seven months; only to discover the lifting was too much for the left side of her body. She has lymphedema (where lymphatic fluid builds up and causes swelling), and it would not allow her to lift or use her left arm much. She had to wear a compress sleeve for several years, and now she has a pump to use when the swelling gets severe. She was only able to work one week before the doctor put her on disability. She had to do therapy for a year when it would get extremely swollen and painful. The therapists would massage her arm to reduce the swelling. This would relieve some of the pain.

Cindy said she thanked God daily for bringing her through this battle and sparing her life. Things began to get back to normal and became good again for Cindy as she got back into most of her daily routines. She started back at the gym, doing what she was able, and building her strength. As part of her healthy routine, Cindy loved to walk. She had gotten to where she was able to walk up to ten miles a day. She began living again and enjoying every aspect of life. She visited her doctor as instructed every two months for checkups. No reason to think anything could ever go wrong like that again.
April of this year (2017) was a month Cindy would love to forget. She had been having some issues with her left side; some pain and discomfort that landed her at the chiropractor. After an evaluation and x-rays, they began treating her for a sciatic nerve issue and arthritis problems. She continued this for a few weeks with just enough relief to be able to continue her walking but was limited. Then one morning, she wasn't able to even do a mile, she was gasping for air and in severe pain. She said it happened just that fast, things changed for the extreme worse, that fast.
Though Cindy was scared, because she knew something was wrong, she said the thought of cancer never once crossed her mind. She had beaten that and moved past that window of time forever. Cindy called her sister Helen in Owensboro, and together they decided a doctor visit needed to be made immediately. Cindy was determined to find out why the excruciating pain kept worsening and her breathing had become a very scary issue so suddenly.
When Cindy arrived at the doctor later that day, he immediately wanted to start with x-rays due to her history of cancer. He evaluated her and told her he would let her know later in the day what his diagnosis was. And just as promised, later that afternoon, she received the call, still not thinking anything about the "C" word. The doctor reported to Cindy that she had massive fluid on her right lung, which explained the breathing problem. At her age, the doctor said the amount of fluid that had built up in her lung was very alarming. Cindy kept reminding me that even through all the events that had taken place thus far with her leg, the pain, the difficulty breathing, the report of fluid in her lung, it never once crossed her mind that her cancer had raised its evil head again.
The doctor instructed her to see a lung specialist and an appointment was made very shortly after. The specialist wanted to draw the fluid off of Cindy's lung and said they usually do it in the hospital.But being the tough chic that Cindy is, she said: "we can just do it here in the office." In the middle of the procedure, Cindy could no longer take the pain. The doctor left the room, and she could see the tubes that they were collecting off of her lung. They had tried to hide it she said, but Cindy saw it and described it as a purplish/red color, which she thought was odd.
The doctor returned and gave Cindy the devastating news; cancer had indeed returned.  The disease that no one should have to face once in a lifetime, Cindy was now facing again. At this point, they didn't know where the cancer really was or if it was contained, so they put her in the hospital that day. The following day, they finished taking the fluid off of Cindy's lung and removed what she described as 20 " little pepper" tumors out of her lung.  Shortly after,  a pet scan was ordered, and the readings were horrific; Cindy was diagnosed with stage 4 bone cancer. Through the tears, Cindy explained to me how surprised she was; "it was indescribably shocking because I had this disease whipped, this was not supposed to happen to her again."  As a Christian, this is the time it had to be so difficult not to question God's motives. Why? Why is this happening...again??
The pet scan revealed even worse news than could be imagined; cancer had already done so much damage to Cindy's body. You see, when Cindy had breast cancer nine years ago, there was one tiny little cell that wasn't found. That cell caused bone metastases (where the cancer starts in one place and spreads to another), so actually, this is still breast cancer that they are calling this. I did some research on this because I wanted to better understand how something like this happens. I learned that when cells break away from cancerous tumors (like what was in Cindy's breast), they can either travel through the bloodstream or lymph vessels and end up in other parts of the body. Once there, they can start another tumor. So, the primary tumor was in her breast. Therefore this is still considered breast cancer. Upon more research, breast cancer is not only cancer that this can happen with, but it's common also for kidney, lung, prostate and thyroid cancers.
The cancer had weakened Cindy's bones in places so much that she ended up with two pelvic fractures, a fracture in her back, one rib had a fracture and one shoulder. The cancer had returned with a vengeance. Cindy told the medical people that they were just going to have to do something about the pain because it was unbearable. She couldn't understand why when she had breast cancer nine years ago; the pain was nowhere near this excruciating. They put Cindy on morphine and pain patches to try to deal with pain. I will tell you from seeing her through all this; she is one of the strongest ladies I know. Yes, she spent a lot of time sleeping and laying because she couldn't  stand the severity of the pain, but considering all the damage, she did so much better than I believe I ever could have.
She suffered for weeks. Her days were filled with darkness, depression, and tears. She wasn't sure she was going to make it. She wasn't sure she wanted to make it. Her husband Charles had to work 12 hour days, sometimes seven days a week. This was mandatory at his workplace, and he had to continue working to retain health insurance and to pay bills. His work schedule was difficult and left very little time for him to be by her side. She understood that he had to work, but him not being there only added to her depression. There were days I'd visit Cindy to just hold her hand, without knowing what to say or do to help her. Some days I would visit and she would keep dozing off because of lack of sleep due to pain. I'd drive home in tears and pray for God to ease my friend's pain. It absolutely broke my heart to see this wonderful lady suffering like she was. Nobody deserves to suffer like this.
Cindy made a point to mention that without her sister Helen and her neighbors, Chester and Patricia, she probably would not have survived this whole nightmare. Chester and Patricia would cook meals and do anything to help where needed. Helen would come from Owensboro very often to take Cindy for her treatments.
 A wheelchair was her means of getting around to go to the doctor and anywhere else she had strength enough to go. She was not able to walk on her own. Once again, Cindy faced radiation and chemo treatments.  Nothing seemed to be helping with the pain, so the doctor decided it was time to start radiation to the bones.  The doctor told her this would help ease the pain caused by the damage to her bones from cancer.  This time, she had 25  days straight of radiation, all those directly to the bones. She also had 20 chemo treatments (one a week). Finally, the pain began to lessen. Every day I'd check on Cindy, and I'd say "how you feel today?" Every time her response would be "I'm hurting a little, but I'm ok cause I know God's going to take care of me, I'm going to beat this." Things were finally looking up.  Through this whole nightmare, God was looking down on her, making her stronger than she ever imagined she could be; giving her strength, she never knew she had.
The oncologist has told Cindy they can "hold" the cancer, but there wouldn't be any chance of remission. She has her labs checked every two weeks due to the chemo pill that she will be on for the rest of her life. But as far as quality of life, things look good for Cindy, praise the Lord.
When I asked Cindy if she thinks God has a plan for her, she said "OH YES!" She feels she's here to help others. While going through the radiation and chemo, Cindy was able to build some very special friendships. She will always have a special bond with these friends, as she truly understands what they are going through. The doctors have even told her that she needs to continue visiting these other patients because she can bring a smile to everyone that she meets. She said she knows there's always someone out there in worse shape than she and God brought her through this for a reason.
On a personal note, Cindy and I have been friends for many years. We worked together at Morgantown Plastics. We lost contact when I left the plant, and through God's great plan, two years ago I accepted a job at Meritor in Franklin, Ky. I had no idea that her husband Charles works there and has for over 18 years. In April when Charles and Cindy learned she had cancer again, he talked to me about it at work. I kept in contact with Cindy daily. One day I text to check on her, and she was in excruciating pain and needed Charles to take her to the emergency room. At that very moment, I knew it was God's plan for me to be at Meritor and in the position to locate Charles for her. God's master plan was at work.

About Debby:
In 2014, I felt a calling from God to change the course of my photography. Here is a little info on Today's Miracle Photography:

Memories last forever; I have a deep passion for photography and writing, and have had for many years. I wanted to tie these two together and use my passion for the glory of God. When our granddaughter Lexi (not by blood) was born, and shortly passed, I felt God wanted me to share her story, from that point on, I've felt that calling. To reach out to people that have had miracles performed in their lives, to bring awareness to terminally ill people, people that have lost loved ones, people that struggle with addictions, just various aspects of life that God works miracles in.
God works miracles everyday, share yours with me and lets share it with the world. I believe these people I photo shoot and write about need prayer and the best way to start a prayer chain and praise God, is with a big group of people that will share all over the world. No miracle is to great or small to praise God for.

I have a page on Facebook named Today's Miracle Photography, please follow me there to capture these incredible people's story's and photos as well.

Debby Lanham