Cancer survivor recounts ordeal-‘On the brink of death I realised how much my family loves me’ |03 June 2011
The mother of a five-year-old girl, Chloe, Claudia is living her life to the fullest and taking time to do things she has always wanted to do but had never seemed to find the time. This is all after her close shave with death through breast cancer.
“For more than three years I suffered a lot and it was only when I was on the brink of death that I came to realise how much my family loves me and how much my friends care for me,” Claudia said.
Little did Claudia know that the lower back pain she started having some time in 2007 was going to result in her being diagnosed with breast cancer.
At that time, aged 27 years with a chubby daughter more than a year old, Claudia attributed the pain she was feeling to lifting and carrying her.
“I thought it was nothing serious and I became used to it,” said Claudia.
For over six months the pain was there with her – constant, lingering but bearable pain.
“But gradually I realised that the pain was increasing and had reached a point that I could no longer sleep properly. In whatever position I turned it did not ease and my husband had to take me to the casualty clinic where the doctor gave me injections for relief. That was only the start of a long series of visits to the casualty clinic,” said Claudia.
Soon her only comfort was the injections she received. But in spite of all her pain, the young woman went about her daily activities such as reporting for work - at that time as a quality and safety manager with Air Seychelles.
Consultations by various doctors at the Seychelles Hospital did not reveal anything abnormal or alarming in spite of the increasing lower back pain.
In her persistent desire to know the origin of her pain, Claudia did not rest but subsequently consulted private doctors for further tests and other opinion about her condition.
She obtained various possible causes for her back pain and among them the possibility that she was not sleeping on an appropriate mattress.
“But at least one of them gave me a referral requesting that further tests are carried out on me at the Seychelles Hospital,” Claudia remembered.
Following that, she had an ultrasound which again turned out to be normal according to the doctor.
After that Claudia had no choice but to move in with her mother.
“I was in so much pain and I could not look after my daughter, I needed my mother,” she said.
Claudia recalled at that time she had a fever above 40˚ every evening and she was also suffering from constipation which made her condition worst.
Her predicament made her family worry and one evening she was admitted back to hospital for more tests after her family insisted her condition was serious.
Again she was discharged from hospital after four days and she was told to rest and consult doctors in her clinic if the pain increased and her fever rose.
“At this point I was so disappointed and so was my family as we could not understand why I was being sent home when it was so obvious I was in severe pain and was not in good shape physically,” said Claudia.
Claudia’s husband, William, used the money borrowed to complete a family project to take his wife for further medical consultations abroad.
After two weeks spent in Mauritius where she had some more tests, an MRI scan revealed an abnormal fluid in her back bone. A biopsy analysis of the fluid proved it to be yet an unidentified cancer which required immediate treatment to stop its progression.
Already short of money Claudia came back with her medical references. At the Seychelles Hospital her case was assessed by the authorities but was not considered for overseas treatment. Rather, she was advised to continue her treatment overseas at any hospital of her choice at her own costs.
Again it was thanks to the solidarity of her family, friends, religious community (the Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses) who joined hands to help her in any way they could.
Claudia pointed out that Air Seychelles was also very supportive, understanding and compassionate and she would always be grateful for all the company did to help her.
Seeking to identify the cancer and treating it
By now Claudia’s condition had worsened and she was having difficulty walking as the excruciating pain spreaded to other parts of her body.
Following her previous biopsy analysis in Mauritius, samples of the fluid was sent to Reunion for further tests.
Doctors in Mauritius advised her to follow treatment in Reunion. It was there, at a hospital in Ste Clothilde and with the help of a doctor who was also a Jehovah Witness that she was admitted for both radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
After a month in Reunion, Claudia was to finish her chemotherapy sessions in Seychelles. She returned home where she went back to work and continued with her life. But still, the cancer had not been identified and her doctors had advised her to be on the lookout and alert them if she found any abnormal lumps or growths on her body.
It was at the end of 2008 that she noticed a small lump under her left arm but after she rushed to the hospital to have it examined, she was informed that it was harmless. Claudia was not at peace and another check with her specialist in Mauritius proved her suspicions right. She was rushed to the theatre where a big lump was removed and her cancer was later confirmed as breast cancer.
Chemotherapy for breast cancer started and she was feeling much better as her condition improved but still her cancer cells were not reducing and this baffled the doctors.
Further checks on her condition proved that the cancer had spread to other parts of her body. In January last year, the young mother had a complete hysterectomy (surgical removal of her uterus and ovaries) thus dashing her hopes of enjoying motherhood over again.
More than a year after her operation, Claudia is her old self though there’s a high risk that the cancer resurfaces.
She keeps her appointment at the local Oncology Unit and she takes her medicine as required.
Claudia has a good relationship with the nurses and doctors there and she feels that they are doing a good job.
“There are devoted and compassionate people working there and the hospital has some good and sophisticated pieces of equipment. But I think interpreting the finding and giving the correct diagnosis is still a problem,” says Claudia.
But the good thing is the cancer cells in her body are continuing to reduce and she is very happy to be living her life and enjoying her child and family.
“I feel so good and healthy,” Claudia told me while we talked about her ordeal.
The 32-year-old is not bitter about what she has been through, on the contrary she is very positive.
“Cancer survivors and those living with the disease should always be grateful they are still alive and they should always be positive about life and their illness and the only way to do that is to turn to God, as the Bible helped me a lot during my time of illness,” Claudia said.
She believes that to help you live your life healthily you should do things you enjoy and have always wanted to do. Do not stress yourself out with life’s worries, change your lifestyle to a healthy one and do things that make you happy and stop you from thinking of what may happen to you in the future.
“Think positive, live positive and look forward to good things in your life instead of the bad ones,” Claudia said.
By Marie-Anne Lepathy