She has survived

Susan, a young mother of three girls aged 18, 14 and 12 years, does not at first glance appear to be someone who has been traumatised by illness. Her story started some years ago when in response to a recurrent vaginal infection which responded periodically to prescribed treatment, she sought the second opinion of a new doctor. The problem kept recurring and an additional issue of bleeding was observed. Susan became concerned about this and in seeking more advice from her doctor, was referred to have a pap smear done.

Although aware of how important this test was, Susan kept putting it off and in fact did not have her test done until early 1995, which was sometime after the birth of her third daughter. Initial results from the test required further testing and Susan, knowing deep down in her stomach that something was terribly wrong, kept avoiding the calls from the lab.

"I didn’t want to hear. It was cancer. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t manage."

Another factor which contributed to Susan’s reluctance was the fact that she knew someone with cancer who "did not have a good experience."

It was a nightmare come true as Susan was always paranoid about developing cancer. She eventually convinced herself that she needed to go and "check this thing out."

What was most terrifying for Susan at this point in time was that she couldn’t tell anyone.

She just didn’t know who to tell.

Susan eventually contacted the nurse and after discussions with her doctors was given the option of having her biopsy done at the University Hospital of the West Indies or the Kingston Public Hosptial. She chose to do her biopsy at KPH where further investigations were carried out. When the issue of possible surgical intervention was raised Susan was ambivalent on the matter.

"I didn’t say yes or no."

Irradiation was the treatment option selected for her and following a treatment planning session in July 1996 which included marking the area to be treated. Five weeks of external irridiation (radiation source is outside the body) followed during the months of August to September and was followed later in the year by a three day course of interactivity irridiation (radiation source placed within a cavity of the body, e.g. the uterus).

Patients are checked at three, six months and one-year intervals post procedure. There were no cancer cells detected when the last check was done. The news came after a long and hard battle with debilitating treatments which at times left Susan with numb legs. Episodes of a burning sensation from the waist down and a feeling of heaviness in the legs made her feel something was wrong especially when she considered that two ladies who had the same type of treatment did not have those symptoms.

Her legs felt numb as if "a bag of cement were there". Her persistence that something was wrong led to her having a complete physical done, which revealed that the heaviness of her legs resulted from a pooling of fluid as some aspects of the lymphatic system responsible for draining this fluid had been damaged. Susan decided that she had to make some critical changes to her lifestyle, especially her diet. She has reduced her intake of starchy foods, as well as diary products and has limited her consumption to fresh fruits and vegetables and natural juices. High on her list of food items are carrots, beetroot, irishmoss and molasses. With her cancer now in remission, Susan attributes her present health status to the dietary changes.

Support systems are also very important to the very optimistic survivor. Support of her sister and two friends, the only persons who were informed of her illness in the early stages, has helped ease the psychological burden of living with cancer. She also has high praises for the Cancer Society, her church family and her three daughters who all gave their full support. Her former boyfriend also did his part when informed, but many of her friends were afraid to confront the illness and instead chose to keep away. She has made new friends, two of whom lost their fight with the disease.

One lady died six months after starting therapy and the other one year and six months after starting. Asked whether she would consider entering a new relationship, Susan said she will only contemplate the issue after undergoing counseling and discussions with her doctor.

Men she said tend to "bolt" when they hear the dreaded "c" word.

Recently she was afforded the opportunity of visiting Paris over the period January 31 to February 4, 2000 as the sole representative to Jamaica and the Caribbean at the World Summit.
 

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