WS Chronicle

By Busta Brown

In 2003 D Nichole French’s mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. During her mom’s journey, D Nichole was the primary caregiver, which became her second job. Being a mom was job three. “It was a lot!” said D Nichole. 

“My mother prayed and the Lord told her that this sickness is not unto death. So, during her chemotherapy treatments, she would roll her pole around the hospital praying for other patients and asking if they needed anything. She loved to help others even during her process,” said a smiling D Nichole. 

In 2005, her mom became a cancer survivor and thriver. In November of 2020, D Nichole had a cancer scare. “I discovered a lump in my breast, so I went to get a mammogram. The doctor said I was fine. Because I was African American and we tend to have very dense tissue, I was premenopausal, and so on, they said I was fine, and that was a sigh of relief,” said the mother of three. 

Unfortunately, in 2021 that all changed. “As time progressed, I felt the lump getting bigger. But, in my mind I kept telling myself, I did what I was supposed to do. I went to the doctor to get my mammogram; they gave me a clean bill of health. So, I told myself, you’re just overreacting,” shared an emotional D Nichole.

In July of 2021, the lump became noticeable, so she went back to the doctor and they recommended a diagnostic mammogram. “After the mammogram, they noticed something was off,” said D Nichole, as she held back her tears. “I’m trying not to get emotional,” she said, while holding her head down and continuing to fight the small puddle of tears that were building up. 

She regained her composure and as I looked into her eyes, I saw this strong woman with an unwavering faith in God. When they told her things didn’t look good, D Nichole refused to claim that she had cancer. “I told them,

‘You don’t see anything because the God I serve is going to make everything alright.’” 

D Nichole’s sense of humor kicked in with a hilarious impersonation of the nurse’s response. “She looked at me with a smirk, and said, “Alright … “ and then we roared with laughter. The impersonation and facial expressions were priceless. 

What D Nichole said next was one of the most powerful statements of faith that I’ve heard in my nearly 60 years of living. “After her smirking and lack of faith, I thought to myself, something is going to happen so God can use it to show who he is, and use me to do it,” she said with the confidence and faith that only a true believer possesses.

What would have put doubt in most people of God, gave D Nichole strength. “The doctor said, ‘I’m so sorry to tell you this. You have stage 3 breast cancer.’ I knew in my spirit they were going to diagnose me with breast cancer, but I also know that everything God does is orchestrated and ordained. So, I said, ‘Doc, I know you’re expecting me to cry, but I don’t have any tears to give you, because this isn’t mine. I’m getting ready to pay you a lot of money to take this. This is yours. I only take possession of things I want to keep, and I’m not keeping this,’” shared the resilient wife of three years. She added, “The doctor wanted to make sure I understood what was going on, because I wouldn’t say I have cancer.” 

D Nichole prayed and asked God for grace for her journey. “His response was that your only responsibility during this process is to bless others.” On February 22, 2022, D Nichole did just that. RePursepose was born. It’s her nonprofit that alleviates some of the stress of cancer for women. The process is you donate a gently used and loved handbag as a tax-deductible donation. The bags are beautifully restored for purchase at an extremely discounted price. One hundred percent of the profits are donated to women dealing with cancer and the treatment process to assist financially.

As of March 2023, because of her obedience to help others, D Nichole’s prayer was answered. She’s now a cancer survivor and thriver, and RePursepose is thriving as well. Their program, Visiting Angels, is amazing, “If you have cancer, it’s hard to talk to someone about what you’re going through. So, a valuable resource is someone that has

been through the same journey. So, we do Zoom calls, take them out to lunch, or meet at my office to let them vent and ask any questions they need answered. Although our journeys are different, there’s always something similar. 

“We also help them understand their pathology report. Knowledge is power, so we encourage women to do research after reading their pathology reports.” She added, “When you’re diagnosed with cancer and sit there in fear, it debilitates us and we become stagnant. If you sit there in fear, you’re not going to know what’s going on with you, because you’re going to be so broken. It’s extremely important to catch the cancer early, because early detection saves lives,” shared D Nichole.

RePursepose also provides Beautifully Brave Bags. “One of the hardest things that I experienced when I was going through my journey with breast cancer was looking at myself in the mirror.” D Nichole said that everything she thought made her beautiful was gone.“My hair, eyelashes, no eyebrows and my skin was messed up. So, God gave me the idea for Beautifully Brave Bags. The bags have all the necessities to help women battling with cancer feel beautiful and confident. Cancer takes a toll on you mentally and physically. Since July of 2022, we have blessed over 300 women with Beautifully Brave Bags,” said a smiling D Nichole. 

The program has also raised $5,000 for patients’ copays and adopted two families for Christmas. Their goal is to help 5,000 women in the next three years. 

“Lord, your Grace is sufficient. That’s what I would say when I was hurting and getting frustrated. Give me a double portion of your Grace.” 

My phenomenal Person of the Week is D Nichole French. For more info, visit www.RePursepose.org and RePursepose on social media platforms.