Rays of Hope Foundation Launch!
Donation protected
My name is Tenora Finley. I’m a single mom, a business woman, a daughter, a sister and an optimist. I’m also a breast cancer survivor.
I’m reaching out to you all in hopes to support women who were in my position. Single moms who discover that the unfathomable has happened; they have breast cancer. Just like I did about five years ago. Here is my story:
2010 was a year like any other. My son Kameron, five at the time was in Kindergarten. He loved hanging out with me, playing games and just watching a movie. My younger son Kaleb was two and skipping the whole terrible phase, to my delight! My work was satisfying, all in all, I had no complaints and I was very content. Then December came…
It was almost a fluke. I happened to do a self-breast examine in the name of caution, only to discover “something” there. I scheduled a doctors appointment and my deepest fear was confirmed. At thirty-eight years old I was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. In that first week I was in complete denial. Reality came in the mail, in the form of a packet from Atlanta Cancer Care. That’s when it all sunk in. The terror, depression, anger and the panic at what would happen next overwhelmed me. All the worries came barreling into focus, and the greatest worry of all; how would I take care of my kids?
I started an aggressive chemo treatment right after my diagnoses. It bulldozed me. Seventeen days into the treatment I lost all my hair. I felt like an empty shell, just trying to make it through the day. I was so sick and tired, but even amongst all the pain, the most heartbreaking component of it all, was the effect on my oldest son Kameron.
After my fourth treatment Kameron didn’t want to come home. He told my neighbor who had been watching him at the time, that “Mommy wasn’t fun anymore.” At that point I tried to be strong. I mustered all the energy I had. I tried to play with him, make him dinner. When I failed, I apologized to him. I told him that I would do anything for him and that I loved him so much. But I was sick. He just put his head in his lap and cried. I wasn’t strong enough to resist joining him.
So what gave me strength? What brought me hope? It was acts of kindness done out of love and performed by my parents, my five sisters, my neighbors and my friends. Think of all the things you do for yourself and your family that you take for granted. Those were the things all of these wonderful people did for me. You can’t imagine how comforting it was to have a hot meal after treatment. To have a ride to the hospital when I was to sick and tired to drive myself. Just the thought that someone who cared was watching over my children gave me the focus to get better.
All of this support and a thousand other little things, plus nine months of chemotherapy, radiation and undergoing a lumpectomy lead to my clean bill of health in December of 2011. A year after everything fell apart, everything came together. In my elation, I began to realize that I wanted something to come from what I went through. I wanted to help the women who weren’t as lucky as I was.
With that flame kindled, Tenora began the slow and steady journey to establish the Rays of Hope Foundation.
Fast forward to August 2015…after a routine checkup, less than five years after her original diagnosis Tenora is informed that the cancer is back with a vengeance. At the onset, she asked herself a very common question, “How will I endure a second time?” After a few short days of making arrangements and coming to grips with the situation, Tenora formulated a very simple answer to this question.
“I will take this opportunity to note every need, every want and every comfort we can give through Rays of Hope.” She decided to find the silver lining. To use her condition and treatment as a means to help other women. With this mission embedded in heart, she knew how she would endure. Because she had to…
Not only for her sons, her friends and family, but for all the women who cannot find the silver lining.
So regardless of going through a bilateral mastectomy surgery to remove the cancer. A port-a-cath insertion with unforeseen side effects, chemo and radiation treatment, she persevered and continued on with hope in her heart.
For a little while things were getting better. She felt stronger, her treatment was finally at its end and it seemed there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Then September rolled around again. This time it was 2016 and the pain had changed. What she had thought were sore muscles, stress and exhaustion actually was cancer. When the call came, it wasn’t her that was choking with tears over the receiver, it was her physician.
The cancer had metastasized on the L1 & L2 lumbar of her spine, as well as her lungs. The severity of the situation was so dire that she was admitted to the hospital that the same day.
Everything moved quickly from that point. There was no “letting it sink in”. She and her doctors began a third battle with an even more formidable enemy.
Radiation, blood and platelet transfusions, countless days in the hospital, and so many days without seeing her sons. The Chemo was so invasive that at one point it literally crippled her.
Through it all, she is still fighting. The cancer is dwindling, fleeing from an unlikely defense; a positive body and mind.
Both parts working together in an intricate dance, unseen and unfathomable, by anyone outside looking in.
Tenora is fighting:
To recover
To learn from her own pain
To be thankful for small kindness
To lean on the people she loves
To have faith in God
To provide resources through Rays of Hope that aren’t out there for women just like her, working to do all the same things.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my story! If you'd like more information on the services that Rays of Hope provides, here is our website: http://raysofhopefoundation.net/
I’m reaching out to you all in hopes to support women who were in my position. Single moms who discover that the unfathomable has happened; they have breast cancer. Just like I did about five years ago. Here is my story:
2010 was a year like any other. My son Kameron, five at the time was in Kindergarten. He loved hanging out with me, playing games and just watching a movie. My younger son Kaleb was two and skipping the whole terrible phase, to my delight! My work was satisfying, all in all, I had no complaints and I was very content. Then December came…
It was almost a fluke. I happened to do a self-breast examine in the name of caution, only to discover “something” there. I scheduled a doctors appointment and my deepest fear was confirmed. At thirty-eight years old I was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. In that first week I was in complete denial. Reality came in the mail, in the form of a packet from Atlanta Cancer Care. That’s when it all sunk in. The terror, depression, anger and the panic at what would happen next overwhelmed me. All the worries came barreling into focus, and the greatest worry of all; how would I take care of my kids?
I started an aggressive chemo treatment right after my diagnoses. It bulldozed me. Seventeen days into the treatment I lost all my hair. I felt like an empty shell, just trying to make it through the day. I was so sick and tired, but even amongst all the pain, the most heartbreaking component of it all, was the effect on my oldest son Kameron.
After my fourth treatment Kameron didn’t want to come home. He told my neighbor who had been watching him at the time, that “Mommy wasn’t fun anymore.” At that point I tried to be strong. I mustered all the energy I had. I tried to play with him, make him dinner. When I failed, I apologized to him. I told him that I would do anything for him and that I loved him so much. But I was sick. He just put his head in his lap and cried. I wasn’t strong enough to resist joining him.
So what gave me strength? What brought me hope? It was acts of kindness done out of love and performed by my parents, my five sisters, my neighbors and my friends. Think of all the things you do for yourself and your family that you take for granted. Those were the things all of these wonderful people did for me. You can’t imagine how comforting it was to have a hot meal after treatment. To have a ride to the hospital when I was to sick and tired to drive myself. Just the thought that someone who cared was watching over my children gave me the focus to get better.
All of this support and a thousand other little things, plus nine months of chemotherapy, radiation and undergoing a lumpectomy lead to my clean bill of health in December of 2011. A year after everything fell apart, everything came together. In my elation, I began to realize that I wanted something to come from what I went through. I wanted to help the women who weren’t as lucky as I was.
With that flame kindled, Tenora began the slow and steady journey to establish the Rays of Hope Foundation.
Fast forward to August 2015…after a routine checkup, less than five years after her original diagnosis Tenora is informed that the cancer is back with a vengeance. At the onset, she asked herself a very common question, “How will I endure a second time?” After a few short days of making arrangements and coming to grips with the situation, Tenora formulated a very simple answer to this question.
“I will take this opportunity to note every need, every want and every comfort we can give through Rays of Hope.” She decided to find the silver lining. To use her condition and treatment as a means to help other women. With this mission embedded in heart, she knew how she would endure. Because she had to…
Not only for her sons, her friends and family, but for all the women who cannot find the silver lining.
So regardless of going through a bilateral mastectomy surgery to remove the cancer. A port-a-cath insertion with unforeseen side effects, chemo and radiation treatment, she persevered and continued on with hope in her heart.
For a little while things were getting better. She felt stronger, her treatment was finally at its end and it seemed there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Then September rolled around again. This time it was 2016 and the pain had changed. What she had thought were sore muscles, stress and exhaustion actually was cancer. When the call came, it wasn’t her that was choking with tears over the receiver, it was her physician.
The cancer had metastasized on the L1 & L2 lumbar of her spine, as well as her lungs. The severity of the situation was so dire that she was admitted to the hospital that the same day.
Everything moved quickly from that point. There was no “letting it sink in”. She and her doctors began a third battle with an even more formidable enemy.
Radiation, blood and platelet transfusions, countless days in the hospital, and so many days without seeing her sons. The Chemo was so invasive that at one point it literally crippled her.
Through it all, she is still fighting. The cancer is dwindling, fleeing from an unlikely defense; a positive body and mind.
Both parts working together in an intricate dance, unseen and unfathomable, by anyone outside looking in.
Tenora is fighting:
To recover
To learn from her own pain
To be thankful for small kindness
To lean on the people she loves
To have faith in God
To provide resources through Rays of Hope that aren’t out there for women just like her, working to do all the same things.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my story! If you'd like more information on the services that Rays of Hope provides, here is our website: http://raysofhopefoundation.net/
Organizer
Tenora Finley
Organizer
Alpharetta, GA
