It was January 2011 when Annie Brinson, mother of EEW President, Dianna Hobbs, discovered her lump at home. Though she was pretty sure she felt something out of the ordinary, Annie waited for her upcoming mammogram scheduled for March 4.
“I said to myself, I hope this isn’t breast cancer,” says Annie, who admits suspecting that something serious might be going on.
Finally, the day arrived to set the process of finding out in motion. When the technician completed the mammogram Mrs. Brinson was told that a gray area was detected, and was sent down for an ultrasound the same day. Afterward, she discovered the doctor wanted to do a biopsy.
After completing that procedure, a week passed by before Annie returned to her doctor’s office for her test results.
When she and her husband Joseph walked in, the doctor shook both their hands and cut to the chase. “It is cancer,” he said very matter-of-factly.
“I looked at my husband and his eyes were red,” Annie recalls. Though neither of them cried, it was a sobering moment. “It was a strange feeling, but all along I felt like God was going to do something, but I didn’t know what he was going to do.”
Unsure of what to expect, Annie knew one thing with certainty: God was in control.
“I heard a voice say 'I’m gonna put a smile on your face for you to embrace,'" Annie vividly recalls. The peace she felt was "so deep," that she wondered, “Am I supposed to be feeling this good, and I just got bad news?”
God had given her the kind of supernatural peace that surpasses all understanding, as well as comfort and strength.
Even though her children didn't handle the news well--everyone broke down crying--she stayed strong anyway.
She knew her loved ones were concerned that she might lose her fight, since one of Annie's older sisters had just passed away in 2009 from breast cancer. Her brother died exactly one year later. And now, Annie's diagnosis had everyone thinking she might be the next one in her family to go.
But that wasn’t God’s plan.
"They gave me chemotherapy. I was supposed to have 4 doses of chemo, but I only ended up having 2 because I kept getting sick and getting infections," she explains. "So they stopped my chemo. Every time they were getting ready to give it to me, I would get sick and they would put it off. After the third time, they decided to do the radiation and completely stop the chemotherapy."
The radiation badly burned Annie's skin and caused her great pain, but she stuck it out. Her treatment ended one year ago, in October 2011.
During the course of her treatment, Annie Brinson learned that her Oncologist, Dr. Zale P. Berstein, was battling stage 4 cancer. He passed away in March 2012 after a 15-month battle with the disease.
God used the good doctor to help save Annie's life, but Dr. Bernstein could not save his own. His time on earth had expired and his work was fulfilled.
Today, Annie Brinson is cancer-free.
Now she's doing her part to bring awareness to the disease and encouraging other women through their own breast cancer journeys. Recently, Annie participated in Western New York’s “Real People, Real Stories” Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign by sharing her story with thousands of individuals through inspirational radio spots for the month of October.
"I thank God," she says. "I just feel so thankful."
