Surviving Colon Cancer to Help Children: Donna Bullard

On Jan. 9, 2019, Donna Bullard went in for a routine colonoscopy. Before she was completely out of anesthesia, the doctor told her husband they needed to see someone right away. Two days later, she received a call stating she had aggressive stage four cancer; it had already grown outside Bullard’s colon and pushed into her reproductive organs and abdominal wall.

Bullard says it took several days to process the news and get over the initial shock; she says she cried and felt angry. But after her first doctor’s appointment when she better understood what she was up against, she began to get her battle plan together.

“I have cancer, but cancer doesn’t have me,” she recalls telling herself. She says this mindset helped her through many challenges she faced throughout the next few years.

Prior to her diagnosis, Bullard had a relationship with God, but she says her experience with cancer brought her closer to God.

“From the beginning, I had this mindset — once I realized it was out of my control and the only thing I had to do is pray, I was at peace with it,” Bullard says. “If I stay here and pray about this, I’m a winner. If I get called home, I’m still a winner.”

From the first day Bullard went in for her radiation treatment, she says she knew God was with her and would comfort her. She says she walked into the treatment room feeling alone and scared, terrified by all of the equipment, and became overwhelmed with tears and emotion. The staff asked if she would like to listen to music, and she requested Christian music. The song “Trust in You,” by Lauren Daigle, came on, and she immediately knew she would be OK.

Bullard says she came to understand facing challenges is about the perspective, and she never gave up. She never wanted a pity party, and she never wanted people to use her cancer as an excuse for her.

“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me,” Bullard says she remembers thinking. “I want them to feel happy for me, because this will be life-changing.”

Eighty-eight percent of people diagnosed with the type of cancer Bullard was diagnosed with don’t survive, and for those who do survive, there is an 83% chance of the cancer returning within five years. Bullard says she was shocked when she called her health insurance and an insurance agent told her she automatically qualified for disability, because she had a diagnosis that ends in death. Despite the sobering statistics, Bullard did not want disability, because she knew she wasn’t disabled.

Bullard faced many more unforeseen challenges throughout the course of her treatment. For example, someone rear-ended her vehicle on the way to one of her appointments, and her colostomy bag ruptured. On another occasion while in the hospital, a tornado came through the area, and they had to evacuate.

And then there were the challenges she expected: She went through radiation and then chemotherapy. She lost her eyebrows, lashes and nails. She had 11 surgeries and 19 hospital stays. She missed holidays and birthdays for both loved ones and herself. The chemotherapy began to affect her heart, so she had to stop treatment. She still has neuropathy in her feet, and she struggles with brain fog from the chemotherapy.

And yet, Bullard maintains her positive mindset.

“I’m alive, and those are all things I can push through,” Bullard says.

Bullard says through her experience with cancer, she understands God was telling her this is just a season, and it won’t always be like this. She is grateful for the amazing support system God gave to her.

“My husband is phenomenal, my work and church family are unbelievable,” Bullard says.

Bullard’s perspective on life is that no matter the struggle or obstacles one faces, nothing is impossible. This is where her career as a social worker kicks in: She embraces the idea she needed to go through her cancer diagnosis and treatment to be able to better help others.

As a school social worker, Bullard has been able to empower students to overcome a temporary situation and gain a better understanding that whatever they are experiencing is just a small season of struggle. Many students she has worked with have experienced cancer, either through a parent’s, grandparent’s or family friend’s diagnosis.

“Kids associate cancer with death, and when I share my experience, they see it doesn’t always have to be that way,” Bullard says. “We all have things that make us who we are. This is just another scar. This is just another season.”