I am Second® - Tamara jolee

He said, "Tamara, I don't know how to tell you this, but you have cancer. And not only do you have cancer, it's advanced, and you'll probably only live five to seven years. You'll never be able to have kids most likely, and oh yeah, it's incurable." How in the world do I tell my family this? I was truly on top of the world. Everything was going in the direction that I had hoped. All my life. I wanted to be a TV reporter. I received my first major award as a journalist, and then right after that I was awarded my own television show, my sports show, reached 25 million people. Everything in the world was going great. I can't imagine that anything would be going any better, career-wise, for me. My life was about to dramatically change a few months later. The tiredness and the fatigue turned into weight loss, but I never really felt sick. And then the lymph nodes popped up all over my body. The lymph nodes swell when you get sick, but the problem was, I had 147 of them swollen all over my body. I was working a lot, but there would be days where I could not get out of bed. I couldn't get out of bed at all. They swelled so large that they were actually coming out of my legs. That's when I went to the doctor, and she's like, something's not normal. But it still didn't register that hey, you're sick. On September 24th, 2009-- I remember it was a sunny day, it was beautiful-- I found out that I had blood cancer all the way, all over my body. It was in 90% of my body. As a reporter, I want to approach things, I want to hit things head-on, and I wanted to see what my inside of my body looked like. 147, I'll never forget that number. So immediately what went through my mind is I didn't ever pray and say, "Lord, why is this happening to me?" I said, "Lord, what's next?" I had such a peace that came over me. Initially, I was in shock, but in just a matter of seconds, a peace came over me. I remember knowing right then that no matter what happens, that it's going to be OK. A personal relationship with Jesus means surrendering completely. If I didn't have that relationship, I don't know how people can deal with-- you know, how they can deal with the sickness, how they can deal with the divorce, how they can deal with whatever battle is going on in their life. I don't know what it would be like. Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is living in the moment, and it's knowing that having joy and having peace can really, really impact and change your life. It doesn't matter about the best ratings, it doesn't matter if I have the best TV show. It's that I go home and I know I'm content, and know that I have the Lord on my side no matter what. If I did not have a relationship with the Lord, my cancer journey would be completely different. We're going to struggle, we're going to have battles, but at the end of the day, or at the end of the moment, it's okay, because we're all forgiven. Say a prayer. Ask the Lord, come into my heart. Come into my life. And just know at that moment, that everything is going to change for you. I hope to be a living testament, and I hope that He speaks through me to other people to tell my story. I love life, but if the Lord said, "hey, Tamara, it's time for you to go home tomorrow, five years from now, ten years from now", then I'm fine with that. I'm Tamara Jolie, and I am Second.