Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Road less travelled or maybe not! (You Decide) - A true Story

Almost 400 views later, i don't know if i have twitter to thank or the fact that I know alot of horny boys. Yeah, so my post about Breast Cancer resulted in feedback, comments etc but this particular reaction does not have twitter to thank but BBM (Haha, yes, i still hate blackberry, i mean dislike but ey, kids hate broccoli, that doesn't mean its not beneficial). I believe this lady took the road less traveled. I say this because the average Nigerian woman diagnosed late takes the popular route; Death. I can only wish you read and learn from this.

I'll stop here and have you read for yourself. Hope you learn something like I did.



'May your road be rough...' these are the famous words of Dr. Tai Solarin. I heard these words for the first time sometime in secondary, but no one; absolutely no one could have prepared me for the intense roughness of the roads I was to face.

My name is Jasmine, Jasmine Alade. I am a pretty, sensible, upwardly mobile almost 22-year old. Everything was seemingly perfect until like my last year in university (3 years ago). Prior to that time, my mum had been falling ill with different symptoms, but we didn’t take it seriously.

I remember that day very vividly. I had just got back the results of my Industrial Biochemistry test and I was in the celebratory mode because I came out tops as usual. Anyways, my phone rang, it was my mum. I didn’t pick the call because I wanted to call her back. So I waited till about 6pm and rang her up.

‘Jasmine, how soon can you come home?’ rolling my eyes, I said ‘mum, I know you miss me, but I have exams in 2 weeks, I need to read’. ‘it’s urgent’, she said. ‘okay I’ll come tomorrow, but just for a few hours’. Little did I know that that was the beginning of the roughness of my road.

Uncle John, our driver came to get me from school around 8am the next day and he drove me straight to the hospital. I thought nothing about it, I thought maybe my mum was in the hospital to visit someone, or he wanted to run a quick errand. It was when he said ‘jasmine, your mum is in room g1 of the private wing’ that I realized what was happening. My mum was in the hospital.

Immediately I walked in and introduced myself as Jasmine her daughter, the doctor was summoned. That was when he took me to his office and told me my mum had been diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer. She would need cryotherapy and chemotherapy. I took the news in stride, and somehow my mum made it through a series of gruelling chemotherapy.

Fast forward 2 years after this, I was winding up my NYSC. I had noticed some pain around my breast region. So I took a self-exam (it was routine for me). I found three lumps. 2 in the right, 1 in the left. I panicked, but luckily I worked with a hospital at the time. The very next day, I got an appointment with a surgeon. I was referred to oncology. That was when I knew something was very wrong.

After several physical examinations by different surgeons, I was sent for a mammography, you see they were confused. I was only 21, they couldn’t understand how I would have a cancerous lump in my breasts. The results came back, they weren’t satisfied, and so they did a biopsy.

I had to take two biopsies, because they just couldn’t believe it. After several meetings, they decided to come out with it. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The next few months were especially from hell from me. First I had surgery to take out the benign lump in my left breast and then the cancerous lumps in the right one.

Then came chemotherapy. I do not wish chemotherapy on my enemy’s enemy. I cut all my hair off before it could fall out. I told my friends I was going natural. I couldn’t tell them I had cancer. I don’t know why, but I didn’t need anybody’s sympathy. I still do not need it, and that’s why I’m using an alias. My friends just knew I went underground for a while, lost some weight and cut my hair. Nobody knows what I went through.

I wrote this because I need people to know that cancer is real, and nobody is too young. Do all you can do to prevent a scenario like mine. I was lucky to have detected it early. Imagine if I had to lose my breasts at this age.

Vaccines for cervical cancer are available in Nigeria, get every female you know to go and get it. It’s a bit expensive, but some places offer it at subsidized rates. Donate, if you can, to organizations like BRECAN, Pink Pearl and Bloom who are working actively to reduce the spread of this disease. I was lucky, but people die every day from the disease.



There you have it. I would so love to spill the beans on this ladies identity but i have sworn not to tell (With the hope of conducting a BSE on her one day.... hehe. Aiight, I kid I kid). Sorry guys! But a major lesson learn't that wasn't mentioned is that if there is a history of cancer in your family, your chances of getting cancer went up through the roof. Think about it.

Here is to hoping you take the road less traveled.

Till next time, the boob doctor has left the building.

Kolomental

1 comment:

  1. ah! breast cancer terrifies me, infact i am going to do a self exam just in case right now
    she was so young
    it can happen to anyone.
    thank God she was able to go through it

    ReplyDelete