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Anne Graham Lotz: I Am Prepared for This Fight

Anne Graham Lotz expressed her gratitude for all the support and prayers from around the world as she deals with a breast cancer diagnosis. Anne will undergo surgery September 18.

As Anne Graham Lotz faces a cancer battle, she expressed her gratitude for all the support and prayers from around the world. Anne will undergo surgery for breast cancer on September 18.

In an interview with WRAL’s David Crabtree in Raleigh, North Carolina, Anne said that she is feeling great although she knows that will change with surgery and follow-up treatment.

“That’s sort of the scary thing about something this serious,” Anne says, “that you can feel normal and something that deadly would be attacking you.”

Anne Graham Lotz’s Cancer Battle Began With Mammogram Results

According to Breastcancer.org, about 1 in 8 women (about 12.4%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women.

Regular mammograms are critical to early detection of cancer. Mammography Saves Lives reports that “mammograms show changes in the breast up to two years before a patient or physician can feel them.”

Anne says she learned of the breast cancer diagnosis on August 17 after a mammogram. The time of the day that she got the news had an interesting tie-in to her husband’s death and Jesus’ death on the cross.

She says that the “enemy of my soul is responsible; that’s a very ugly thing. And we do have an enemy called the devil…For a moment, there was a chill of fear that the enemy could have that kind of access and then it was like he doesn’t have that kind of access unless God gives him permission. So I know that God is in control.”

Anne likens her situation to the threat of Hurricane Florence; people must prepare. And hurricanes hit on a personal level too, such as death, divorce, or breast cancer.

She’s been prepared for a long time for this hurricane because “I’ve placed my faith in Jesus. I know I have a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus. And God is in charge. So I can relax. I know God loves me. I know His will is best. I know He’s going to see me through.”


Anne says that she believes that God has said that He is going to heal her as she read James 5:16 after the diagnosis:

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

Anne felt that God wanted her to let people know and ask them for prayer. And because of those prayers, Anne says that she knows she’s going to be healed before the surgery, because of the surgery, because of the surgery and follow-up treatment, or because of the Resurrection.

“When you pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I will be with you,” she said, quoting the Bible. “This is a valley of the shadow of death. It’s not death, but it could be fatal if you don’t deal with it.”

Bottom Line: Anne knows that God is going to see her through. And she’s grateful for her brothers and sisters in Christ who are getting God’s attention just for Anne’s benefit (which is very humbling, she says).