WOMAN WITH CANCER HOPES TO HELP OTHERS

Lavern L. Johnson is visiting family in Cape Girardeau over the Christmas holiday. Her brother has come down from Columbia to meet Johnson and their 87-year-old mother at the home of their sister.

Since late 1986 -- when she was first diagnosed as having breast cancer -- family and friends have become very important to Johnson.

"I'm seeing things more clearly now; the cancer put things into perspective," she said Sunday. "Possessions are not very important to me any longer. Now I dwell on spirit and the love of family and people around me."

Johnson has published a booklet entitled "Hear to Heal: A Personal Guide for People in Crisis," in which she shares her experience as well as information for others in the same or similar situations.

She writes: "It's been some seven years since I was propelled into this battle for my survival. As the pages on the calendar have turned, one by one, I've seen some things, done some things; hopefully, I've learned some things that have proven useful to me. Here are a few of them, offered in the humble belief they may be useful to you, or your friends and family."

Johnson discovered a lump in her left breast during a self-examination, which she performed religiously. The first doctor she told about the lump told her there was nothing to worry about. The doctor told Johnson that the mammogram he ordered also came up "normal."

"I was `just fine,' he said," Johnson tells in her book. But she says she knew something was not right and sought a second opinion from another doctor. Less than 30 minutes after he examined Johnson and her mammogram, he ordered an immediate biopsy of the lump. The tests came back positive, showing a malignant growth in the breast.

On Dec. 24, 1986 -- her husband's birthday -- Johnson had a modified radical mastectomy to remove the affected breast and surrounding lymph nodes.

"I didn't have much time to think about it," said Johnson. "The doctor literally walked me over to the hospital and ordered the tests. Two weeks later I had the operation."

For the next four and a half years, Johnson was fine. But on June 21, 1991 "my world blew up -- again," she said.

The breast cancer had metastasized to her liver and to the bone.

"I was devastated, dismayed and, most of all, frightened," she wrote. "To make matters worse, my right breast, which had remained disease-free until now, chose this moment to join the party."

For two days, Johnson said she was in the deepest despair, not knowing what to do next or which way to turn.

Since cancer of the liver can be controlled but not cured, Johnson has been taking regular chemotherapy and radiation treatments since July 1991.

"During this time, I have used a lot of audio tapes and reference books that not only explain what is happening to by body, but also create a positive attitude," she said. "I have also learned visualization and meditation techniques which allow me to control the pain and continue to work."

For the past 18 years, Johnson has worked as a relator around her home in McLean, Va. Out of the 6,000 agents in her company, Johnson's sales rank 47th.

"Every afternoon between 3 and 5 p.m., I take time out to rest," she said. "I put that time in my appointment book just like any other engagement, and won't schedule anything else during that time. I've learned that it is very important to listen to your body and give it the rest it needs."

At the end of "Hear to Heal" Johnson lists the names and prices of several books on the market to help cancer patients in all aspects of their lives.

"These books and tapes are positive and inspiring, and a good place to turn when you are first hit in the nose with a diagnosis of cancer," she said. "You need to really research and listen if you are going to get more positive attitudes and beat this thing. You cannot just lie back and allow it to take its course."

Johnson also stressed the need for a strong family background and how cancer is a family affliction; not something a person should face on his or her own.

She writes: "I still don't know what the outcome of my war with `C' is going to be, but at every stage and on every battlefront, I have found there are things to learn and things to do. Panic has given way to resolve; the confusion and aimlessness to direction and purpose. I've found, in short, that I can exercise a considerable amount of control over the way the war is fought, the way I live and the way people treat me. I believe the same would have been true no matter what my crisis had been."

For a copy of "Hear to Heal," call Audio Diversions, at 1-800-628-6245.