Brenda Martin
NOVEMBER 2026 CALENDAR
2019: A Year to Be Remembered
My name is Brenda Martin. During the Pandemic, at the age of 62, I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma cancer in my left breast. Today, I am a six-year cancer survivor and on a hormone treatment after a left breast mastectomy.
The year 2019 was one to be remembered in my life with blessings and health challenge trials. In January, God blessed me with a recovery home for broken women who had lost their way in life. With God’s help some that came to the home Broken, left the home Blessed. I was addicted to crack/cocaine for 19 years and have been clean since 2005. In 2017, I wrote a book and the title of the book was: “From Broken to Blessed – A True Story of Redemption.”
“After the sunshine, the rain began to pour continuously. Before I could recover from one ailment there was another one. All I could do was ask God to help me.”
In August 2019, the doctor removed my gallbladder. While working a third shift one night, for some unknown reason, I put my hand inside my blouse and felt a mass inside my left breast. I didn’t think anything about it because I was scheduled for my mammogram the following week. When I went for my mammogram, the tech asked if I had noticed anything unusual with my breasts. I pointed to the area where I had felt the mass. It was marked for closer observation. I was then taken across the hall for an ultrasound. After the ultrasound was read, the doctor came into the room and explained what was happening and informed me that I needed to see a surgeon.
On the day that I went to see the surgeon, while examining my breast, he saw the bandages on my stomach from the gallbladder removal surgery and asked about them. He said: “What are you doing here? You just had major surgery!” I replied, “I thought that cancer took priority over everything else that I am going through.” The surgeon did a biopsy, and I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, and I underwent a mastectomy.
I went through my cancer journey alone, thinking that I had to be strong for my only son and loved ones. Therefore, I never shared my true feelings, thoughts, and needs with anyone. I carried it all, not knowing that I was carrying it all. I know now that my son and loved ones care for me and wanted to be there to support me. The only way I made it through those trials was my reliance on God’s word. In Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV), it states: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; Do not be discouraged.”
My support team included my surgeon, Dr. Edward White, and his team, Dr. Charlecinth Roberts, Dr. Rahman Zia, MD, and the staff at the Smiloh Cancer Center, as well as my son, Anthony Keith Martin, church family, coworkers, family, and friends. The lesson that I learned from detecting the mass in my breast is that all women should get their yearly mammograms and check their breasts frequently.