Rosie Fulks got the news that she had Stage II Breast Cancer just as she and her husband were leaving town for a romantic weekend at a bed-and-breakfast.

“Instead, it was a retreat for finding our deepest feelings about my diagnosis,” Rosie recalls. “My husband and I believe in God, and we thought it was a test of our faith in Him. We went back home and called all the family together and gave them the news about what was wrong and what we were going to do about it.”

Not only did Rosie find strength in her family and her faith, but she also drew upon the care and compassion of the team at Nacogdoches Medical Center (NMC), where her double mastectomy surgery was performed.

“Their caring compassion made me feel like NMC was the only choice,” Rosie says. “They kept me positive about everything.”

After the successful surgery, Rosie went through chemotherapy with the support of all her family and friends from her job and her church.

“My husband even shaved his head so I wouldn't be alone, and I thank God for him,” she says.

“I am thankful for the loving care and concern that the medical director of the NMC Cancer Center expressed during my treatment,” she says.

Rosie continued to receive support after her treatment was complete. “It was an honor to be the first participant in the American Cancer Society’s “Look Good, Feel Better” program located in the cancer resource room at NMC.”

Rosie rates NMC’s quality of patient care as excellent and the medical expertise and skill of the physicians and staff as an “A-Plus.”

“It’s a place that will take care of you and you will not feel like a number. Their love truly showed through to me, and that is a ‘God Trait.’ They all went beyond their scope of duties to make me feel like I was the only one.”

“The nursing staff was always there for whatever I needed,” she says. “It was a successful outcome and NMC helped me to overcome my challenges in order for me to move forward to help others.”