Darlene DeHarde Faul feels like she’s a walking, talking miracle.
In many ways, it’s hard to dispute that belief. The Hahnville High School graduate was diagnosed with stage III pancreatic cancer six years ago, a disease that is known to rapidly claim the lives of those afflicted. Yet, Faul is still here, among, she notes, the one percent of people who can claim to have survived that illness as long as she has.
“You’re talking to a miracle,” she proudly proclaimed. Faul was a teacher when she began to notice pains in her back and upper abdomen. She attributed those to attempting to carry heavy books, but the pain persisted for nearly a year. After a visit to the doctor, she made arrangements for surgery to have what was thought to be a cyst removed; but surgeons found it was more than that, and immediately recommended Faul see a specialist in Houston, at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“You think that it will never happen to you,” Faul said. “Nobody is completely free from it. I was healthy as a horse, until I wasn’t.”
She’s had to undergo multiple procedures to remove large tumors resulting from the cancer. Faul has undergone chemotherapy treatments since then.
“I was stable for a long time,” she said. “I’ve never been in remission or completely cancer-free since my diagnosis. My first doctor told me that as long as I have pain, the cancer is there.”
But she’s still here fighting, something she attributes partially to the great care she’s received at MD Anderson.“It’s just an amazing place,” she said. “The research they do and the new equipment they’re always utilizing. It’s been a blessing.”
Still, as with any fight against cancer, it’s a rough ride, even for someone holding their own. Over the summer, Faul’s skin began to change color — it was discovered to be jaundice. Infections began to take hold, and it was unknown what was causing them.
“I actually thought my number was up at that point,” Faul said.
A friend of hers, Regina Allemand, organized a prayer group in support of Faul and her battle. Allemand attended Hahnville High School along with Faul, and the two got to know each other well while serving on the school’s student council together.
“She’s kind of one of those souls that you like to be around,” Allemand said. “She’s always been extremely positive. Even (in high school), she was always very thoughtful (and) one to look at the bright side of things.“When we called her for our class reunion, she told us she couldn’t make it because she was going in for surgery. She didn’t complain, she just wanted to tell us to have a great time.”
It wasn’t long after that when Allemand and their former classmates learned Faul had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“Everyone was very surprised and scared for her,” she said. One of Faul’s friends — her “Yah-Yah sisters,” as she calls them—alerted Allemand to Faul’s turn for the worse over the summer. So Allemand led a prayer group for Faul that was active 24 hours a day — organized through Facebook — for an entire month.
Faul pushed through her setback, and Allemand tearfully recalled her friend’s reaction.
“She shared with me that she thinks that’s what kept her alive,” Allemand said. “And she always said, every person that prayed for her, she prays for them right back.”
“I thought it was amazing,” Faul said. “They took hours to pray for me, even days. They’ve put together benefits to help me. That people would care enough to do that for me makes me feel incredibly blessed.”
Faul believes that her optimism and faith has been as vital to her recovery as any medicine.
“God’s not ready for me yet,” she said. “And one of the reasons for that, I believe, is he wants me to shine through helping others understand the symptoms and get the help they need.”
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