HOUSTON - One doctor gave a local woman a death sentence when he diagnosed her with late-stage melanoma.
That's when Teresa Whittington changed doctors. Then, a mysterious man came into her life, who she believes helped change things, forever.
It's definitely been a long road for Teresa.
"On March 1, 2007, my dad passed away from liver and lung cancer. Two weeks after that, I woke up and had a lump under my arm, the size of a golf ball," says Teresa.
It was melanoma that had spread from a mole on her shoulder. Her first doctor diagnosed her with stage 4-C melanoma, told her it had spread to her brain and most of her organs.
He told her to "tie up all her loose ends," the end was near.
"He said, you probably have about a month to live," says Teresa.
She and her husband refused to believe it.
They switched her care to University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Doctors there re-tested and diagnosed her with Stage 3-C Melanoma.
"3-C means the patient has many lymph nodes involved," Dr. Kevin Kim with MD Anderson tells us.
He's an Associate Professor in Melanoma Oncology. This was still a very grim diagnosis, but not quite as bad as the first one.
Doctors at M.D. Anderson found three tumors, each the size of an orange. She underwent chemothererapy.
Instead of shrinking the tumors, doctors were discouraged to find out the cancer even larger, to the size of a grapefruit.
Doctors decided they'd have to operate.
Only four weeks after the cancer was completely removed during surgery, doctors were horrified to find out it grew back quickly.
Dr. Kim tells us it came back this time, the size of a ping pong ball.
"She had aggressive disease, amazingly aggressive disease," says Dr. Kim. At this point, Dr. Kim fought back with an aggressive treatment called Bio-Chemotherapy, where he pumped 5-chemo drugs into Teresa, at the same time.
Meanwhile, Teresa had been praying and trying to rely on her faith. She met with her own pastor and had gone to a healing service at a local church. Then, a mysterious man appeared at her hospital bedside when she was at her worst.
"He was a tall man, looked like he was 7 feet tall, I'm not joking! He just walked in and he was beautiful. He was African American. He had the whitest suit on. I was just in awe, white shoes on and his suit was just so white and clean. He asked me, can I pray with you? After he prayed with me, I'm telling you, I could just feel something. I just knew everything was okay."
So, who was this man?
Teresa found it fairly odd that he was dressed in a white suit in December. Teresa doesn't know who he was, no one at the hospital knows.
We went to an expert, Dr. Cecil Cockerham, who founded The American Institute of Christian Education for insight.
"I think all healings are miraculous in itself. The fact that this is a mystery person in white, shall we say, the Bible talks about 'entertaining angels unaware.' I looked up angel and it just means 'messenger unaware,' but I think this person who appeared was a messenger, to bring her healing that she desperately needed."
Teresa prayed to survive long enough to see her son graduate from high school.
One month after that mysterious visit, Teresa said, "I went to the doctor's office and they were all smiling and I didn't know what was going on. She goes we've got good news. We don't get to give good news in this office, we can't find an ounce of it in your body!"
Cancer free! It's been more than two years, and the cancer hasn't come back. Doctors say that's almost unheard of.
"Eighty-90 percent of people would have a reoccurrence," says Dr. Kim.
Teresa not only got to see her son graduate, she's watching him thrive in college. Teresa believes she's here for a reason.
Now she's a woman on a mission.
"I'm supposed to tell people what God's done for me, because He has healed me."
Teresa believes she was healed through a combination of her faith and being led to doctors at M-D Anderson.
Keith Wommack, from the Committee on Publication for Texas, tells us that surveys show there's a widespread use of prayer among Americans.
Over a third of these Americans said they have experienced, or have seen, healing as a result of prayer. Wommack tells us 100 of the 150 medical schools in the United States teach some version of spirituality in medicine.
Again, we spoke with Dr. Cockerham who has a PhD in Psychology.
He also founded the Christian Council Certification and helps certify local folks to become Christian Counselors. While he's an Ordained Minister, he says his heart leads him to teach others.
"God obviously has a plan for (Teresa Whittington's) life, and it obviously wasn't quite over yet," he says. "This healing has brought her the opportunity to spread the word that God heals today. The proof is in the pudding."
Teresa couldn't agree more. She says she often wears a shirt that says "I'm on a mission."
People often ask her what that means, while she's out shopping. Before she knows it, five or six people are listening
