How Faith Influences a Health Battle
- Singer Fantasia Barrino, 38, will be part of an all-star cast in the remake of the 1985 film “The Color Purple.”
- Barrino privately dealt with two benign tumors in her throat that threatened her singing voice.
- She had surgery to remove them, and her beautiful voice remained in tact.
- Having faith, like Barrino, can help keep your spirits high even during times of struggle, such as a challenging health diagnosis.
- Leaning on faith is something SurvivorNet experts also say helps cancer patients during their cancer journeys.
Singer Fantasia Barrino, 38, has been a mainstay on the R&B music scene ever since winning “American Idol” in 2004. But when two tumors developed on her vocal chords, she wasn’t going to let it take away her voice. The inspiring artist is now moving fans to tears with her passionate performance in the musical movie remake of “The Color Purple.”
“A bold new take on the beloved classic,” Barrino wrote in an Instagram post with a preview of t.
Read MoreView this post on InstagramWidely known as “Fantasia,” the artist was introduced to the national stage in 2004 during the “American Idol” music competition reality show. Since then, she’s released several studio R&B and gospel albums that helped earn her awards and Grammy nominations.
Barrino will join an all-star cast for the remake of the 1985 iconic film “The Color Purple. She will portray Celie in the film, coming out in theaters in December.
The film is produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg and will be a “musical adaption of Alice Walker’s novel about the life-long struggles of an African American woman living in the south during the early 1900s,” music and entertainment news outlet IMDB describes.
The preview Barrino shared gave audiences a little taste of what we can expect from her in the movie. Her powerful and emotional voice will be on full display for all to hear.
It’s incredible what can be heard from Barrino in the trailer, especially since her singing voice was threatened by two benign tumors.
In republished quotes by Ace Showbiz from the now-defunct magazine Sister 2 Sister, Barrino revealed in 2008, “I couldn’t get enough sleep sometimes onstage, I could taste blood…every now and then.”
She went on to describe the moment she learned a tumor was causing her symptoms.
Leaning on Faith
“I went into surgery, and he (the doctor) came out and told my mother it was a tumor,” she said.
At the time, Barrino was in the Broadway musical version of “The Color Purple,” and she had to skip some performances due to the lingering impacts of the tumors.
“I couldn’t work or sing for six weeks,” she told Oprah during an interview.
“I’m good as gold now,” Barrino added.
Despite her health challenges, Barrino continued to persevere with her music career and become a mother of three children.
The Challenges of Throat Surgery
While we don’t know much about the tumors Barrino dealt with, throat surgery can be extremely tricky. In cases of throat cancer, Mayo Clinic says if the cancer is “confined to the surface of the throat or the vocal cords” a hollow endoscope may be inserted into your throat or voice box. The endoscope will allow surgical tools or a laser through the scope to “scrape off or cut out” the cancer.
Larger tumors may require your entire voice box to be removed. This likely could have been concerning for Barrino after learning she had a tumor in her throat. Fortunately for Barrino, her surgery was successful and her beautiful voice remained in tact.
WATCH: How a breast cancer survivor relied on her faith to get her through her journey.
How Barrino’s Faith Helped Her Overcome Adversity
Barrino developed her power behind the microphone in the church. Her soulful voice is indicative of her background in gospel singing and overall faith.
“I was always grounded,” Barrino said in an interview with The Breakfast Club.
“Church was where I started and I never got into the game for the perks, the limelight, the number ones…I just knew that singing was my ministry,” she added.
Having faith can help keep your spirits high even during times of struggle. It’s something SurvivorNet experts also say helps cancer patients during their cancer journeys.
New York City Presbyterian Pastor Tom Evans previously spoke with SurvivorNet about the importance of finding ways to cope with the complex web of feelings you may be experiencing after a challenging health diagnosis, such as cancer or a threatening tumor.
“It’s important to reach out in a simple prayer to God, even if you’ve never prayed before, you don’t know what to say, a heartfelt plea, ‘God, help me, be with me,’” Pastor Evans told SurvivorNet.
“You can reach out to God, and you can reach out to people, your friends and, family, and say, ‘I can’t do this on my own. I need you.’ “It’s in that willingness to be open and to receive that we can find something deeper that we never would’ve encountered without this hardship,” Evans continued.
SurvivorNetTV’s produced a special episode, “Turning to Faith”, where we followed the journeys of four women and how they turned to faith to get them through their diagnoses.
For some of these brave warriors, turning to faith can be a great way to keep spirits high when cancer starts taking an emotional and/or physical toll. For more on the impact faith can have on a cancer journey check out the episode.
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