Geraldine Smith was getting ready for bed one Friday in 2022 when she felt a lump on her left breast.
“I could not move my arms because I had felt the lump in my chest, (and it) scared me to death,” Smith told a crowd of supporters Oct. 11 during the Zumba in Pink event in Columbus. “I remember sitting on my bed devastated. … In a time span of 10 minutes … I went from diagnosing myself, giving myself Stage 4 breast cancer, dying, attending my funeral, being buried, all in a matter of 20 minutes. I was literally devastated.”
Though she had already beaten breast cancer once ten years earlier, it still took a couple of days before Smith could come to terms with her realization. But by that Sunday, Smith said she “knew she had to get it together.”
So she prayed for what “seemed like hours.” As soon as she stopped, Smith felt an immediate “calmness” wash over her.
She thought of her son, who had died in a car accident and the “unbearable” devastation she felt at the time.
“There’s nothing worse than that pain, that hurt – it’s unbearable. But I got through that (with) the help of God,” Smith said. “So I said to myself then, if I stood and I’m still standing, got through the death of my son, I can get through anything. So it was then I had made up my mind, determined that with the help of God, I was going to get through this breast cancer.”
The next day, Smith went in for testing, and the results were as expected.
“I don’t remember what type (my doctor) said. I don’t remember what stage he said,” Smith said. “All I remember is, ‘you have breast cancer,’ and that devastated me.”
Smith had a successful mastectomy to remove the cancer, along with 18 lymph nodes from her arm, two of which were cancerous. Her doctor recommended she do four treatments of chemo followed by radiation to be on the safe side.
While he said it would be mild, the treatment was incredibly difficult for Smith.
“I lost every strand of hair on my head on the second treatment, and I only did four,” she said. “But I got through that chemo, got through the … six weeks of radiation, which tore up my skin, but got through that as well.”
A year later, Smith was declared cancer free. All of the medication, all of the doctors and nurses and staff played a role in her healing, she said.
“I encourage you to get tested for breast cancer,” she said. “Get a mammogram because you know your body. You know if something’s not right.”
But “without a doubt,” Smith says her saving grace in that second bout of cancer was the same force that pulled her through the first time before and that carried her through the loss of her child.
“In the end, you have your family. You have your support group, your church group, your friends and everybody (else) supporting you,” Smith said. “But having cancer is a lonely journey. It’s scary. But if you know what you know and who you know, you’ll survive. And I thank the Lord for his healing on my body.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
