Janet Corneil’s Christian faith gains new dimension

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

That Bible verse from the 14th chapter in the Book of John is what Janet Corneil says describes the new dimension of her Christian faith gained through her experience with breast cancer.

“I can, with all truthfulness, say that I wouldn’t raise my hand and volunteer to have breast cancer but I wouldn’t trade the experience that I have had for anything in the world,” she said. “I just wouldn’t.

“My faith has taken on a new dimension,” Corneil said. “I wouldn’t use the word grown. It’s taken on a totally new dimension. I just can’t imagine facing anything without Jesus Christ.”

Corneil learned that she had breast cancer around the time of the Labor Day weekend in 2017. It started with her discovery of a lump about the size of a pecan in her breast. “I have always self-examined,” she said. “But when I discovered that lump in my breast, I just got out of the shower, laid down on my bed and prayed.”

Corneil called her primary care doctor who arranged for a mammogram, ultra sound and a biopsy all during the same appointment. “They were so great at Medical Center Enterprise,” she recalled with a smile. The tests revealed that the lump was cancerous.

Corneil made an appointment with renowned Enterprise surgeon Dr. Sam Sawyer for the following Tuesday. “So there was that week of waiting,” Corneil said. “That was the scariest week.”

Corneil said she faced a choice of either starting radiation to shrink the lump or having it surgically removed immediately. “I said I want it out and (Sawyer) took it out two days later. I just had a horrible feeling when they called the cancer ‘aggressive.’

“The first thought I had, honestly, was to go to prayer immediately,” Corneil said. “I prayed, ‘I can’t handle this by myself, You’ve got to be with me,’ and right then from that point forward, yes, I’m not going to say I wasn’t afraid but I wasn’t panicky. I wasn’t alone.

“He was right there through the whole thing,” Corneil said. “It was the most phenomenal experience I have ever been through.

“How on earth do you ever handle something catastrophic like that without the Lord?” Corneil said shaking her head. “I just wonder how in the world you find your own strength.”

Corneil said the hardest thing about the chemotherapy treatments that she took every two weeks from October 2017 until March 2018 was the complete fatigue she experienced afterwards. “The fatigue is overwhelming. You feel so drained.”

Following a two-week respite after chemotherapy, Corneil underwent radiation five days a week for six weeks. “The fatigue was still there. It still drains you but the hardest thing about radiation is lying still for the treatments,” she said about the 15 minute treatments “that feels like two hours.”

Corneil lost her hair as a result of the chemotherapy treatments. Her advice is to anticipate that hair loss will happen. “Take a friend, go wig shopping,” she said. “Get a wig ahead of time. Be in control of the situation instead of feeling like the situation is spinning out of control. Make it fun.”

Corneil said she had her hair cut to the length of the wig she bought. “That way the transition is not as obvious.”

As Corneil reflects on the past which she only missed one day of work except for the surgery—she said her energy is back and so is her hair, which grew in salt and pepper silver. “I’m absolutely going to keep that color. I love it,” she said, running her fingers through the short pixie cut. “I expected the color but I didn’t expect to like it this much. I certainly didn’t expect to like my hair short as this. Who has the courage to cut their’s this short? Nobody,” she laughed.

Corneil said that regaining her energy took about six weeks after radiation treatments stopped. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Treat yourself well and eat plenty of pasta,” is the advice she said she would share.

Corneil credits the medical care staff at each treatment facility she went to. “I met some of the most caring people I have ever met in my life,” she said. “The quality care that I got was unreal.”

Through it all Corneil found the strength to maintain two jobs. “That was the Lord,” she said.

An active member of First Baptist Church of Enterprise and a member of the choir, Corneil managed to remain in the choir through the Christmas Cantata but her doctor insisted she get more rest.

She also credits her church and choir families, her work families for outstanding support.

There are two key things Corneil says she would share with others. “No. 1, get it early. Don’t be afraid to go to the doctor. Don’t ignore a lump. Don’t ignore unusual symptoms and don’t think its going to go away on its own,” she said. “No. 2, trust in the Lord. I couldn’t have faced any of this journey as well as I did without Jesus.

“Don’t be afraid to talk about it with friends. Don’t be afraid to let people know what they can do to help you because people want to do something. Don’t feel like you have to carry it all by yourself,” she advised those facing a similar challenge. “Watch for lumps and bumps and anything that’s not normal for you. Be good to yourself. Be kind to yourself.

“It’s ok to cry. It really is,” Corneil added. “Whether you cry with a friend or cry alone, let it out.

“And for those people who are friends of people going through cancer, those cards, texts and emails, every single one is meaningful. You think it’s a little thing but it’s not,” she said. “It may seem like a small thing but every thoughtful gesture means so much.”

One in eight women get breast cancer, Corneil said. “That’s a horrible statistic but because of that I never asked, ‘Why me?’ I asked, ‘Why not me?’

“I have high hopes not just because my prognosis is good,” she said. “If it comes back again we’re going to hit it again. I’m not panicking.

“Through it all I kept telling the Lord what I was feeling. I just felt this sense of peace through the whole experience,” Corneil said. “The peace is a gift that you have to accept because He tells you, ‘My peace I give you.’”