Lorenda Coakley-Woodside couldn’t bring herself to cry when she learned she had cancer. In fact, she even went by herself, believing it would be benign.
She credits her ability to cope through the process to the deep relationship she has with her saviour above. Having had some 10 rounds of chemo (which continues every three weeks until November 2019), Lorenda is gearing up for a mastectomy, in addition to three to four rounds of radiation.
“I’m good all the time, despite the side effects of the chemotherapy. Cancer has a small ‘c’ and has provided numerous opportunities for me to visit, encourage and witness to fellow warriors, conquerors, total strangers, their families and friends,” she said.
Lorenda said her diagnosis has deepened her faith and she is thankful to the Almighty God for allowing her to go through the journey as a witness of His awesome power and goodness. She believes cancer is not a death sentence; rather, she sees it as an opportunity to make right all of the things gotten wrong and to seek forgiveness. The dutiful wife of Aaron Woodside for the past 25 years and proud mother of two beautiful and brilliant daughters Lauren (23) and Erin (15)described it as a “cleansing process.”
In the interim, this survivor serves as the Manager of Retention and Customer Loyalty at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company, but she has more than 36 years of administrative experience having worked in the legal field, banking, electricity and telecommunications in both private and quasi-government companies throughout The Bahamas.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management (Honors) from the College of The Bahamas along with a Master of Science in Human Resource Management (Distinction) from Nova Southeastern University; hence her induction into the Alpha Delta Beta Honors Society for Academic Excellence. She also holds a certification in Labor/Union Negotiations and Administration, having been a former executive of The Bahamas Electrical Workers Union for seven years.
Lorenda first became a published author in 2010 when her article, “The Big Five Personalities & their Impact on Customer Service” was published in the Academy of Marketing Studies in the United States of America, Vol. 15, No. 1. The Androsian then published her first book, “A Cook Book featuring Crabs: The Taste of The Bahamas,” in August, 2014. This book is a three-year labor of love and features crab stories, a history of Andros and crabbing, tools needed for crabbing, how to catch, pen, clean and store crabs, along with 46 crab recipes.
Further, Lorenda worked as a part-time lecturer at Success Training College for three years, lecturing in Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior and Training & Development and for a short stint as a Keyboarding instructor at the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute (BTVI), just prior to being diagnosed in 2018.
This focused, professional, determined woman believes the opportunity is ripe and encourages all warriors, conquerors, survivors to remember that, “God gat you and He won’t bring you to nothing…so fellow honorees, be encouraged. We are more than conquerors.”