Even with 25 years of experience treating cancer patients, former Roswell Park nurse, Mildred Jackson was unprepared when her doctor told her the suspicious lump on her breast might be cancer.

"All my clinical training and hands-on experience as a nurse couldn't prepare me for the terror I felt when I learned I might have cancer,"  she recalls. "I told God that if I did have breast cancer, he was going to have to help me because I couldn't do it alone. I had only cared for cancer patients. I had never been one."

Mildred became a breast cancer patient in February 1995. She had a lumpectomy which was followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Her daughter Angela, in the military at the time, was reassigned closer to home to help her mother.

"The person I knew as Mildred Jackson died when they told me about the cancer and I had to rely on my faith," Mildred said about herself.

Mildred had a long road to recovery. After her treatments, she fought overwhelming fear and depression and was unable to return to the work she loved at Roswell Park.

"The outpouring of support and love from my co-workers and colleagues was overwhelming," she explained. "But I had to move on and do something different. I couldn't care for cancer patients as I was fighting to become a cancer survivor."

In 1999, she had a stroke and today struggles daily with health issues. She is a deacon at the MacAlpine Presbyterian Church in Buffalo; is involved in the Sisters Network of Western New York, a   breast cancer support group and is the great-grandmother of two. She also participates in a clinical   study at Roswell Park helping to analyze perceptions about cancer in the African-American community.

"African-American women don't feel comfortable talking about cancer but if we can help even one person get diagnosed early or cope with this disease, then it will be worth it," she said.

Mildred's message of hope for the holidays: "When tragedy strikes, faith will get you through. Trust in yourself, accept the help and support of family and friends, and believe in your God."