I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

'I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. Within ten days of going to the GP I was having surgery: a lumpectomy to remove part of the breast. I was working full-time with a mixed class of four-to-seven-year-olds in a village school. My head pretty much exploded.

Having the lumpectomy did nothing for my confidence. It took me four years to get over the trauma. I changed my lifestyle and my diet and was incredibly well until the end of 2011-12, when I knew there was a lump in the other breast. But I kind of hid it.

We’d just become grandparents. I’d given up work. In 2014, my husband noticed there was a lump. I put off going to the GP until the January of 2015. She said, ‘It’s definitely breast cancer. You’ve probably left it too long.’ I couldn’t face what I knew lay ahead. I said to the consultant that I wanted to do it my way, going on a special diet rather than having radiotherapy.

Now, I’m having hormone treatment for it. I want quality of life every day for as long as I am alive. The verse that has really helped me through all of this is Jeremiah 29.11, ‘”For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”’ I keep going back to that verse. It reminds me that God is in control.

That’s what’s kept me going. I have had incredible peace. I haven’t had sleepless nights. I haven’t really gone to pieces, which is astonishing.'

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