Tracey's Story

Tracey Cornell - I want to share a piece of my journey with you. Back in 1998, when I was 28 years old with a two-year-old attached to my hip, I decided to do a self-breast exam after a long shift of doing hair. I found a lump in my right breast, and within days, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes. I went to Duke University, underwent a stem cell transplant, and fortunately, lived a carefree, cancer-free life for twenty-six years.

Then, in January 2025, I got very sick. I went to the doctor and found out that my breast cancer had come back—and it came back with a vengeance. I had 5 tumors in my breast, 8 tumors in my liver, and cancer from my skull to my toes, in every bone in my body. The day I found out, I cried, I screamed, and I was mad at the world, questioning, "Why me?"

But the day cancer decided to show up, my God showed up bigger. He promised me that day that I would never have to face my fears or my battle alone. As of May of 2025, all of my scans have been stable, and for that, I am incredibly thankful.

Cancer is only going to be a chapter of my life, not my whole story. There may not be a cure just yet, but there is always hope for today, tomorrow, and every day after. Metastatic breast cancer is tough, but so am I.