Yvonne Thomas went on a journey this year. "I'm going through this storm, it gets dark and cloudy and you can't see your way out, but in the midst of that storm there's a blessing," said the 39-year-old mother of two. "And the blessing for me was I'm better, I'm stronger."

Thomas, who was diagnosed shortly after the New Year, credits God for her survival and her success. She finished her radiation in July and is waiting for her follow-ups.

"I'm a faith walker, so I'm trusting and believing that situation has been taken care of," said Thomas, who lives in Normal and works at Central Illinois Pediatrics. "I'm going to believe in what God has already told me - that I am cured."

In late December, Thomas discovered a lump in her breast after a self examination, crediting WEEK TV's Buddy Check program that encourages women to perform self exams on the 25th of each month.

"Wow, I thought, what is this? So I waited a day because I thought maybe something bit me," she said. A day or two later, she went to the doctor. After some tests, she was told she had "very, very aggressive" Stage 3 cancer.

After an initial lumpectomy at the end of January, doctors operated again to clean up the margins, or the area around where the tumor was. The cancer had not traveled to her lymph nodes.

She started chemotherapy in March, but did not react well to the treatment, staying in the hospital three or four days for three of the last four sessions.

"As soon as you get up and you feel back to normal, its time for your next treatment. And you just go right back down again," Thomas said. " … Those few days I'd rush and do everything I could because I knew that was coming. But I also knew that it would be a time when all of this would be behind me. This will come to pass. I didn't know when. I didn't know it would be so quick. It seemed to me that everything went by fast for me. And I thank God."

But during the whole ordeal, Thomas had her faith and family, both at home and at her church, Mount Pisgah in Bloomington.

"I was pretty sick. I had to have people come in and care for me. That was hard," Thomas said. "I had to sit back and let them take care of me and just know they were sent by God. They helped me with everything I needed. My church family supported me through everything.

"I needed somebody," continued Thomas, who was going through a divorce at the time. "I had my husband, and my husband was supposed to do that, and God said, 'No problem I'll send somebody.' And he didn't send just one person, he sent the entire church."

A woman she'd only said hello to in the church choir became her "cancer coach," not only offering advice and experience but helping take care of her and her home.

"Whenever I had to go to the hospital because I wasn't feeling well, she would come over and clean for me and sterilize everything," Thomas said. "I didn't even know her. … she was with me the entire time … Just amazing."

Being independent and shy, Thomas was hesitant to tell people about her diagnosis.

"I just wanted time to soak that in and be by myself. I wasn't really ready to share that with anyone," she said. "If there was any way I could have gotten by without saying, I would have. But of course I wouldn't be the person I am today because I allowed people in to help me."

That hesitation extended to her 15-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter. She was worried about their reactions, especially since they were already dealing with the divorce. But she knew she had to, given that she was going to need their help, too.

"I told them that God has me and don't worry about this sickness taking me out," Thomas said. "I really did not feel this was something to take me out. This was a journey that God and I were going through and I'm going to be alright."

Her children reacted pretty well, shedding a tear or two, but like their mother, staying strong.

In the end, Thomas says she is a better person, a stronger person because of the ordeal.

"It's God. He restores you, better than what I was. I had my health and everything before and you would think that person was better, but no, this person you see today is a much better person," she said. "Because I'm stronger. Because my relationship with God is better."