Football star's wife tells how Catholic faith helped her fight cancer

Published: 2007-10-23

GREEN BAY, Wis. (CNS) -- Most wins by a starting quarterback. Most consecutive games played by a quarterback. Most touchdown passes thrown. Fans of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre relish counting the number of NFL records their hero owns. But Favre's wife Deanna, a breast cancer survivor, finds comfort in counting her blessings. The football star's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She spent four months undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The following year, after her last radiation treatment, Deanna was declared cancer-free. She says the life-changing experience brought her closer to her husband and her Catholic faith. "I just feel like, with faith, it helps me see the good in everything," Deanna said in a telephone interview with The Compass, diocesan newspaper of Green Bay. Since overcoming breast cancer, Deanna has become a spokeswoman for breast cancer prevention. She founded the Deanna Favre HOPE Foundation in 2005, which provides grants for uninsured and underinsured women battling breast cancer. Deanna's latest fundraising effort is the Oct. 1 release of an autobiographical book, "Don't Bet Against Me: Beating the Odds Against Breast Cancer and in Life," which she wrote with Angela Hunt.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .