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Beauty Rises From Ashes - 9/18/08



by Rita Devlin



Four days after her second chemotherapy treatment, Tisha Rambaransingh sat on the patio at a Starbucks sipping a frozen lemonade because it soothed her nausea. Just six weeks earlier, on June 23, Tisha learned that she has stage III breast cancer.



In the days following actress Christina Applegateâs announcement that she had been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer, Tisha was newly aware that one in three women will suffer from some form of cancer. She hopes that in some way her story and faith journey will be an inspiration for others facing the same disease.



âMy pastor spoke from the Book of Isaiah about beauty from ashes and the idea of always having hope,â she said. âGod allowed this to happen to the right person. Iâm like an open book.â



Though some people have suggested Tishaâs book is more like Job than Isaiah, she believes that something beautiful will ultimately come from the broken pieces of her life.



Tisha Rambaransingh of Wintermere Pointe inspires others as she faces stage III breast cancer.



Recently, Tisha faced a difficult divorce, making her a single mother raising two children, Anthony and Angelina. In addition, budget cuts took her job as the Student Assistance and Family Empowerment coordinator at Bridgewater Middle School. Then came the diagnosis of breast cancer.



With no family history of any form of cancer, this 35-year-old Wintermere Pointe resident followed her doctorâs orders earlier this year for a baseline mammogram. Around the time her doctor was advising a biopsy follow-up, Tisha felt a lump.



The results of the additional tests revealed a large tumor in her right breast, as well as two tumors in her axilliary nodes and internal mammary lymph nodes. A normal course of treatment would include surgery first, then chemotherapy and radiation. However, because of the size of Tishaâs tumor, her doctor started her on chemotherapy first to reduce its size.



âStage III means that I have a 50 percent chance of living after four years.â Tisha put her hand over her heart as if to stress the sincerity of her next sentence. âI donât go by manâs statistics, because Godâs statistics are totally different.â



After the first round of chemotherapy, Tishaâs largest tumor had shrunk so significantly that her doctor had difficulty locating it during an exam. When her doctor said that Tishaâs body was very receptive to the treatments, she told him that thousands of prayers were working.



Those prayers come from likely and unlikely places. After her divorce, Tisha and her children found a new church home at Discovery Churchâs Southwest campus, which meets at Olympia High School.



âAt Bible study, all these people were praying over me,â she said.

âPeople I donât know from other churches have been helping and praying for us, too. Itâs phenomenal.â



One of her largest encouragements has been GodTube, a video-driven social Web site similar to YouTube that allows users to post videos and build relationships online. The first week of July, just a few days after her cancer diagnosis, Tisha and her children began posting videos chronicling her journey through cancer. In addition to making promises to pray for her family, people commented on Tishaâs GodTube videos, which encouraged her. Other users thanked her for being a strong encouragement and example as they faced similar challenges.



âIâve seen Godâs blessings in so many things. People have told me that watching the videos makes them want to go back to church.â



Tisha and her children always have shared a passion for helping others through activities like American Cancer Societyâs Relay For Life, which raises money and awareness for cancer, and being the cancer patient has not stopped Tishaâs giving spirit. When her hair began to fall out, she put it in eight ponytails and cut them off close to her head, allowing her to donate her hair to Locks of Love. While Angelina cut, Anthony filmed the event, which Tisha posted to GodTube as part of her video journal.



Beauty continues to rise from the ashes of Tishaâs story. After her job at BMS was cut, Tisha kept her optimistic spirit and trusted that God would provide for her yet again.



While at BMS, Tisha loved working with the middle school students, but her true passion lies with high school and college students. Earlier this summer, Tisha accepted a position at West Orange High School as its SAFE coordinator.



Always looking for the good, Tisha sipped her lemonade and said, âChemotherapy is cleansing me. I want to be around for my kids and to bring glory to God.â



Tisha Rambaransinghâs video journal can be viewed at www.godtube.com/godsgirl35 on the Web.