Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 10-23-15 Edition

Features
City Proposing Uplift And
Woman Diagnosed With Stage 4 Breast Cancer Is Praising God Now That She’s Cancer-Free
Roundabout On Scott Street
This is a conceptual outline of some of the areas where the proposed improvements will take place.
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Trust in the Lord with all
thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understand- ing. In all thy ways ac- knowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5,6
That is the scripture a Tampa mother and grand- mother used daily to praise God for the blessings he has bestowed upon her. Ms. Ve- Donna Williams was diag- nosed with breast cancer February, 2014. From that di- agnosis, the cancer metasta- sized to stages 3 and then stage 4.
Ms. Williams had felt a small pebble before going in for her annual exam that she thought was a cyst. But a month later it had grown and follow-up tests and biopsies revealed it was cancerous and had grown to 5 centimeters.
After the diagnosis, she spoke with the Lord and said, “We have a battle to fight. He answered and said, ‘don’t be afraid, it’s a long journey, but I’ll be with you all the way’.”
After speaking with her doctors, it was determined that she would start on chemotherapy. By law, she could only take 4 treatments of a treatment called ‘Red
her co-parishioners and pas- tor in testimony on Sunday, October 18, 2015 at Bible- Based Fellowship Church of Temple Terrace.
While enduring the can- cer challenge, Ms. Williams became a divorcee after 22 years of marriage. She says that only gave her more time to focus on God and what He had in store for her life. “I promised the Lord that when he healed me I was going to work only for Him. My chil- dren, my family, co-workers, all know that.” Although she was very active at her church, she is now more involved in other ministries in the church.
The mother of 3 sons and grandmother to 5 grand- daughters, and 2 grandsons Ms. Williams expresses gratitude to her family, friends, church family, and Pastor Earl B. Mason, Sr., Senior Pastor, Bible- Based Fellowship Church of Temple Terrace, for giving her the courage to continue the fight.
“Although God assured me that I would be healed, I found so much comfort in knowing that I am loved. I have a special thank you to my sister, Vet who was there from the start to make sure I
got to every appointment and made sure I got all the atten- tion I needed while going through chemo. Pastor Earl B. Mason would always tell me he wanted me to live and don’t throw in the towel.”
“Every day God walks be- side me. Now I know I will never be alone,” she con- cluded.
In line with the continued development of the Encore site to the south, the City of Tampa is proposing streetscape improvements for Scott Street, beginning at Perry C. Harvey Park, and going east to 7th Avenue.
Federal grant funds will be used to beautify the street, and will feature green stormwater management techniques, improved pedes- trian amenities, traffic calm- ing elements, and new landscaping.
Laurie Potier-Brown, Landscape Architect, Parks and Recreation Department, City of Tampa said there will be benches bike racks and trash containers strategically located along Scott Street.
“We want people who travel along Scott Street on foot to enjoy more shade, en- hanced street crossings and places to sit and rest along the way.
“As a part of the traffic calming elements, we are proposing a roundabout and curving to slow down traffic. We’re also proposing narrow- ing the roadway and putting in street furniture. The cur- rent brick façade of Scott Street will be returned. We just want to make the street safer and slower.”
Brown said the objective of low impact development is to capture and treat rainwa- ter where it falls to reduce pollution in urban water- sheds.
“We will not be making any improvements on the north side of Scott Street with the exception of the sidewalk. Be- cause of its historic designa- tion, we aren’t allow to make any changes to the landscape north of Scott Street.”
The project will also call for new tree planting and plant- ing beds along the entire stretch of roadway.
MS. VEDONNA WILLIAMS
Dragon.’ The cancer had taken a very aggressive ap- proach. She was then treated with 2 other forms of chemotherapy. On June 30, 2014, Ms. Williams had a double mastectomy.
The cancer continued to move. It moved to the 5th ver- tebrae on the spine, and next to the lung and heart. She even had 11 lymph nodes re- moved, 10 were cancerous.
After chemo treatments, she had to take shots to build up the white blood cell count.
“Even though the cancer was moving rapidly, it stayed on the left side of the body,” she would explain.
She then endured 8 weeks of strong radiation and boost through mid December. When she went through the CT scan in January, 2015, her doctors were very pleased with her progress. In Febru- ary, she was told that she is cancer-free. “God performed a miracle on my life,” she told
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