40 October 2022
Sisterhood of
survivors
After her breast cancer diagnosis, Kathy McPhail
found strength in church friends and a support
team at Cape Fear Valley Health
BY JAMI MCL AUGHLIN
W
hen Kathy McPhail received the news earlier
this year that she had breast cancer, she was not
alone. She had a sisterhood of church friends
and a support team at Cape Fear Valley Health
who held her hand, sent her cards and offered to
attend doctor's appointments with her.
PHOTO
BY
TONY
WOOTEN
HEALTH
Donna Oswalt and Kathy
McPhail are sharing the
same experience through
the Cancer Center at
Cape Fear Valley.
ey were there for her not just because they had been friends for
more than a decade but because they had gone through breast cancer
themselves.
One of McPhail's closest supporters, Donna Oswalt, went with her
to her first doctor's appointment. Oswalt had undergone treatment
for breast cancer the previous year and was one of the first friends
McPhail told when she was diagnosed.
"She knew the questions to ask,'' McPhail says. "She had been
through it and knew the terminology. I didn't know what to ask. It
was all new to me, and I was nervous."
Friends since 2014, the pair both attend church at Snyder Memorial
Baptist Church. ey participate in the Singing Christmas Tree —
McPhail in the chorus and Oswalt as a writer and narrator. ey pray
together in Bible study and Sunday.
Now, they are sharing the same experience through the Cancer
Center at Cape Fear Valley.
"She's an angel on earth — such a blessing," McPhail says.
Oswalt says they support each other.
