It wasn’t the Christmas present Ronda Walker hoped for: Just days before the 2014 holiday, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. The year had opened with wonderful news – in January, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announced that he was appointing Walker to represent District 3 on the Montgomery County Commission. In the NewsCenter video and story, Walker discusses her Christian faith and shares how she fought the disease. Walker wants to help strengthen other women in “fighting the valiant fight” through her blog.

All I wanted for Christmas was some new perfume – instead, I got cancer. I found out in mid-December 2014. It was a Friday night, and we were getting ready to go to a Christmas party. While I was bathing, I felt a lump on my right side. I was sick to my stomach. I sat down on the bed and began to cry. I just knew. I wanted to get a mammogram that night. I called a friend who is a nurse, and she told me that no hospital would do a mammogram on the weekend, and nothing would change before Monday.

Ronda Walker’s fight against breast cancer from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

It was the worst weekend of my life – I don’t have a poker face. My husband, Jason, knew I was concerned. We got through that weekend and the first thing on Monday, I tried to get in with my obstetrician’s office to get a mammogram. I had a Montgomery County Commission meeting that morning, and I slipped out of the meeting, called the doctor’s office and got their voice mail. I went and sat in my office until I got someone on the phone. I was bawling my eyes out, and went to my doctor’s office as soon as I could. I had a mammogram and an ultrasound, and the doctor immediately said we needed to get a biopsy that day. They did the biopsy, and I waited 24 hours to get the pathology report. It was the next afternoon when I found out. My husband and I decided not to tell our families or children until after Christmas, so everyone could enjoy the holidays.

[Related Story: Breast cancer survivor before the age of 30]

Commissioner Walker’s family

My first chemo treatment was on Dec. 29, a Monday. That morning, we had a county commission meeting, and I announced the diagnosis to my colleagues. I love being a Montgomery County commissioner. I believe that God allowed me to take on this role, and everything that is allowed into my life – whether good or bad – should be used for God’s glory. I want to be able to help others make it through this situation. My colleagues were all very supportive.

Dr. Stephen Davidson is my oncologist at the Montgomery Cancer Center. I’ve talked to many women whose diagnoses were similar to mine. But not all cancer is created equal. My doctor found that I had two tumors, which each had a different type of cancer.

In Montgomery, I had a one-stop shop for treating breast cancer, from imaging to chemo to an onsite pharmacy to radiation. The hospital staff is always smiling, and always compassionate. They are aware that all patients don’t come back the next day.

Cancer was in three places in my lymphatic system. If a breast cancer is larger and more advanced – which is what I had – you do chemo first. I had chemo from December to April. My body responded to chemo as well as it could. On June 5, I had a mastectomy on the right side, and in July and August I had radiation.

Now that I’m on the other side of treatment, so many women have opened up to me about their experiences. I’m in survival mode. I know that chemo is awful. I have four children: My eldest, Hugh and Grant, are teenagers, and the younger two – Eli and Margaret – are still small. At the time I was diagnosed, Eli and Margaret were 6 and 7 years old. I had to press through for my children.

I never missed a commission meeting through my entire treatment. I feel awful, but I’m here. One of my colleague’s mothers developed cancer at the same time I did. She is twice my age. I do not want to misrepresent the misery of this disease and the treatments. I talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. Sometimes when I’m out and about, people tell me, “My daughter got her first mammogram as a result of you sharing your story.” This gives my pain a purpose.

On Nov. 20, I’ll have my second mastectomy, which is a preventive surgery. I feel so great right now that it’s disturbing to think about retrogressing to pain. I’ve talked with no fewer than a dozen women about this. After the mastectomy, I’ll go through TRAM flap breast reconstruction surgery, which is a procedure that uses muscle, fat and skin from your abdomen to recreate the breast after mastectomy. It is major surgery, and takes anywhere from 12 to 14 hours. I’ll be homebound for two months. In the long term, it’s a personal decision, and the one I feel is best for me. I am 43. I know that I could stop now and press on with the rest of my life.

My choice is to fight breast cancer. My choice is to live and be there for my family.