Stage 4 Colon Cancer Update: How God Is Carrying Me Through!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Hey sisteras, it's Jessica with the Sisterita Club. Thank you for watching today's video. I wanted to give you an update and then also share with you how I have seen God walking with me through each and every moment, every day of this cancer diagnosis journey. and just hope that I can give you encouragement throughout this journey in how when we go through trials and we go through difficult situations that we were never expecting and we will because we are living life our most important response is to lean into God. Whether that's discovering a relationship with Jesus for the first time ever, or it might just be to lean in further and develop a stronger relationship with him and to trust him that he has a good plan for us and that he will use this trial, no matter what it is, for his glory and good purposes, but also as a way of blessing you who's going through it and others. by showing you his faithfulness and just showing you himself and also refining you and building your faith and making it deeper as well. But I know that he has big plans for me. I'm trusting him throughout this process. I am going to be comfy cozy in today's video because I don't feel well. I know that we are sisters in Christ aka Sisteras. We're family and I know that you are okay with me just being comfortable. I had a sweet sister send me this t-shirt. He works all things for our good. Romans 8:28. I am so appreciative to wear it today. But I wanted before I continue to do more content because I have a lot that I want to share with you. I just felt that it would be a good opportunity to circle back, share with you what all God has done to show me that he is with me, but also where I'm at now, a month into this journey. After I was in the hospital, they did determine that I had stage 4 cancer because of the metastasizing on my liver. the way that the tumors presented themselves on my liver, the doctors were confident that it was stage four, that there was a primary. So, we then went on a mission to determine where is the primary origin of this cancer so that they could then understand how to best treat me. I had every single type of test you could imagine in the hospital. Well, not every type, but while I was in the hospital, I had a lot of blood work. I had CT scans and I had MRI scans. And the blood work came back and right away there was a high blood marker for colon cancer. So, the oncologist believed that I had colon cancer, stage 4. We were doing a biopsy on the liver. The doctor said that based on those biopsy results, it presented itself to look like it was pancreatic or gallbladder cancer. So with that determination, the doctor then decided that I would have what's called an endoscopy. That was the next step that they put me under anesthesia and I had like a probe go down um and checked out uh my upper GI area and did some biopsies internally of the liver. The findings were that there was nothing that was presenting itself in the upper GI which was a a great blessing. And so then they scheduled me for a PET scan. The PET scan, it would light up any areas where cancer showed itself. From the PET scan, it lit up in the liver, of course, and the colon. So the diagnosis then went back to the colon. I was then scheduled for a colonoscopy. Throughout each of these tests, we have to wait a few days before we get the results. So we ended up doing the colonoscopy. That's where the origin was confirmed is that I have stage 4 colon cancer. From there, they did a biopsy of the colon. We've been working on getting all these tests as fast and furiously as we can. And in the process, we've been wanting and trying to get into MD Anderson. And I've left it up to my wonderful husband who has just been amazing throughout this whole process and my father who has been so amazing as well. And together they've been doing a lot of research and working together to determine where would be the best place for me to go for my treatment. And they landed on MD Anderson. When I do go to MD Anderson, they will have a complete file all completed with my molecular profiling, my biopsies, my PET scan.

[00:05:36]They'll have everything completed so that they will be able to start treatment right away, which is really encouraging. So, where we're at right now is we understand that it is stage 4 colon cancer metastasized to the liver and I will be able to get treatment at MD Anderson leaving this Wednesday and I'll be meeting with the doctor there at MD Anderson on Thursday and I'll be there between 3 to 5 days and be starting my treatment. So, I just think it is such a blessing and an answer from God and I'm just so grateful and so blessed and thankful. I just want to encourage each and every one of you sisteras when you go through a trial and we all will. Your trial might not be stage four cancer but you will have a trial in life. Those trials can be tests where we can dig our heels in and trust in God and look to him to carry us through it. And this trial is so difficult that I'm currently on that the only way that I can move forward is he has to carry me and I'm going to let him do that and I'm going to lean on him and I'm asking him to carry me every single day and he's been so faithful so far. So, I want to give you a few examples so that you can see how faithful he is and to encourage you that when you go through a trial, if you're leaning into him and if you're asking him to come into your life and to walk with you, he's going to be there with you and you're going to see him very closely. And it's personal. It's a personal thing. You're going to see that he sees you and that he's your personal God. And that's what's so beautiful.

[00:07:37]I originally got scheduled to go to MD Anderson for April 27th. I was just so grateful to be able to get in. This last week, my pain levels have really increased. And I know that that's, you know, something that MD Anderson will be able to help me with, but um it's really become very difficult for me. Um sometimes it's hard to talk and to breathe and so I might be talking slower in these videos, but in any event, my my pain level has been really increased. It's it's been very severe.

[00:08:21]the level of my condition. I didn't want to wait until April 27th, but I really needed and wanted to move to MD Anderson as quickly as I could. And I had posted on the Sisterita Club, and you all are prayer warriors to pray for me and ask God to allow me to get into MD Anderson much sooner. And I kid you not, I I didn't go back and look at the time, but it wasn't it must have been like only a day or two after I had asked you all to pray for me. Would you believe that I was bumped up nearly 2 weeks to April 16th, this Thursday, which would be my first appointment at MD Anderson. And it just I just weeped. I just absolutely weeped or I knew it was an answer from God of our prayers. It goes back to me saying that when I am healed on the other side of all of this, you sisteras will have had an active part in my healing based on your prayers. I'm just so grateful for the Sister Rita club.

[00:09:34]We're family. We can all share in each other's burdens and rejoice and have praises together and lift one another up. and that's what you've been doing for me. And so I wanted to give you that encouragement of answered prayers. Like your prayers were literally answered with that. Again, God hears prayers in our prayer Bibles. There's power in it.

[00:10:01]Become a prayer warrior. It was a blessing. And I'm now going to MD Anderson this week. I wanted to tell you a little story that it just shows again how God sees me. He sees you. He works all of us believers together. If we have the Holy Spirit inside of us, we're sisters in Christ. We're sisteras. And he orchestrates his will within our obedience to respond to his calling in our life. So, let me tell you this amazing story. So, I have a neighbor and she was going to drop a meal off at my house. I have not been feeling well. So, I'm laying in the bed and my sweet daughter Abigail walks in and she says, "Mommy, a girl in our neighborhood is here and she's bringing you dinner." And I said, "Abigail, I want to say thank you to her so badly, but I can't get out of bed right now, but daddy is in is home and I hear him in the kitchen." So she says, "Okay."

[00:11:09]And then she leaves. She comes right back in the bedroom. Oh, and before this, this is the most important part of the story. Before this, I had prayed probably about 2 hours before, and I had said to the Lord, "I really need a hug from you." Now, here's this wonderful lady in my kitchen bringing this dinner.

[00:11:32]Abigail runs back into the bedroom and she's got a gift bag and she says, "Mom, this was a gift that she brought, too."

[00:11:41]And I said, "Okay, thank you." I look in the bag and there's a card. And in the card, it's written by a different lady named Elizabeth. She writes me and says, "I'm friends with Lori, who is my neighbor who's dropping off the meal in the kitchen." And Elizabeth says, "Lori sent me your YouTube video of your cancer diagnosis in the hospital." And I watched it. And then the very next day, another friend of mine completely on the other side of the United States in Oregon sent me your YouTube video of your cancer diagnosis in the hospital. And at that point, I said to myself, "Wow, God is really telling me that I need to do something for this woman." And then she said, "So I put together a quilt and I stitched it for you. Look at how beautiful.

[00:12:49]And every stitch I prayed over you."

[00:12:56]And then my women's Bible study, who Lori is a part of, we anointed the quilt with oil and we prayed over it. And so this way we wanted to give it to you so that you feel God's love when you're using the blanket. And I just started to weep because I realized in that moment God was speaking through the Holy Spirit into the heart of two different women to impact another woman, Elizabeth, to do something for me and to show me. And he did that within the same day that I needed a hug from him. And I was having a delicious meal that Lori brought with this beautiful quilt and this amazing testimony of a story. I was just crying and then I did get out of bed and I walked over to thank Lori and she just put her hands on my shoulders and she said, "You will live and you will not die and this will just be a part of your testimony of how God has showed you his faithfulness in your life." And I just could not believe what a blessing that was. And I just wanted to share that with you as a story about how God sees us. He sees you and he works in the heart of his people and us sisteras when we feel that prompting from the Holy Spirit. Let's be obedient. Let's act upon the ripple effect of the blessing that we can provide by being his hands and feet. And this was for Easter. I wasn't even thinking about Easter festivities for my family. I couldn't even put my mind around that. I knew Easter was coming. I knew that we were going to celebrate it in some way, shape, or form, but I think I was just assuming that it was going to happen and somehow I was going to deal with it, but had no plans, preparations, or thought on how I was going to do it. Well, God knew that. And so, he orchestrated and planned this for me. He planned our entire Easter for me. Let me explain.

[00:15:15]So, I have a dear friend. Her boss heard about my situation because Ashley told her and I have never met her. I have never She's not a part of the Sister Rita club. I I don't know who she is.

[00:15:33]and she heard my about my diagnosis and she told Ashley, "Tell Jessica I am going to make an entire Easter dinner for her and her family." She brought over an Easter ham, a green bean casserole, a zucchini casserole, a toss salad, a dessert. It was a full spread and it was a delicious, high quality meal. and she made this entire Easter dinner for us. Who does that? She didn't She's never even met me again. My mother called and said, "I'm gonna make the kids five Easter baskets. You don't have to deal with that." And I'm We're not We don't take our kids to see the Easter Bunny. We always watch the Passion of the Christ on Good Friday. We go to service on Sunday mornings. That's usually how we celebrate Easter. But if we give them an Easter basket, it usually has like a devotion in it, something to just feel loved. But we don't we're not crazy on Easter bunnies and stuff like that. Same thing with Christmas. We don't even do Santa Claus. We just focus on the birth of Jesus. But with everything going on, my mom wanted to lift the children's spirits and let them feel a part of the Easter celebrations. And so she said, "I'm going to do a little Easter basket for each one of the kids." And she's so talented and sweet and creative. And she brought over five beautifully done Easter baskets as a sweet little gesture to lift the children's spirits. And so then they had an Easter basket with this delicious dinner. And then we weren't able to participate any church activities this year. Well, every year the church has an Easter egg hunt, so it's always fun for the kids. Well, ours weren't able to attend because of uh my diagnosis. Well, in any event, some neighbor in the neighborhood, I didn't say a word. I didn't reach out and ask. She just had the thought and put together about 50 Easter uh plastic Easter eggs filled with candy and dropped them off at our house so that our three youngest kids we could put the little Easter eggs in the front yard and on Easter the three youngest kids could go out and collect the little Easter eggs and put them in their basket. And I just thought sat back and thought, God, without me even thinking about it, you put together a delicious Easter dinner for us, Easter baskets, an Easter egg hunt. You orchestrated all of it. And I didn't even have to think about it. And I just thought that that was so sweet from the Lord. And then to top off my entire Easter story, we have a cat that got pregnant and she gave birth to six precious, beautiful kittens on Easter. Even my daughter was like, "Mom, God allowed her to give birth to these six precious kittens and give them life on Easter." I mean, it was just so beautiful. So, I just think that that whole Easter and how God orchestrated that from my story with the quilt, it's just amazing how he sees me and he's with me. Lastly, I just wanted to share with you, Sister Rita, that you all have been the biggest blessing to me, providing me with with prayer shaws and uh anointed prayer cloths and just beautiful letters, certificates of your church praying for me. I thank you for that. I know that God is touching your heart to write me or to send me your love and it's just such a blessing and I will write everyone back. I am currently working on all of my correspondence. So, please be patient with me. But I just wanted to give you, sister, just an update on where I'm at and just share with you sweet stories of how I have seen the Lord with me. And thank you so very much for all of your prayers and your love and your support. And I will give you an update um as I'm kind of going through the treatment and walk you through uh all of this. But I believe that God has already said the word that he will heal me. and I just have to walk this through and that I will be uh fully my body will completely catch up to the healing that God has already declared in my life. And I love you, Sister Rita, and I thank you for for all that you've done for me. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.