As Guyana joins the rest of the world to observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month (observed annually in October) one survivor is calling for more family support for cancer patients because for her the illness has not had as much of an impact as a lack of support did.
Fifty-six-year-old Nanranie Deochand was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago and has had a double mastectomy. While she is taking it one day at a time to return to normal, what she needs more is peace of mind.
“It is very hard. I not guh lie and tell you but I still happy that I get so far. But sometimes I just wish, you know, I could get a place of me own and live and be happy; like a turnkey home, because I want peace of mind,” she said in a recent interview.
Deochand recalled that it was a pain in her chest which alerted her that something was wrong. She was also seeing a discharge from one of her breasts, but initially took it for nothing.
“I was always crying out about a chest pain and like everything I eat, it rest there, and then I noticed on my right side breast used to discharge a green dark substance… I never like take it in hand,” she recalled.
It was when she developed a slight fever, cramps and some weakness that she eventually saw a doctor. Tests were done but no diagnosis was made. Then she described the other symptoms and the doctor suggested she visit the Georgetown Public Hospital, where a mammogram was done. She said, “something funny” was seen but she was still hopeful that it was not breast cancer.
“I was like okay, I am not scared about anything or worried… Whatever the case is, that would be it,” she shared.
A biopsy later revealed cancer of her right breast and surgery was suggested.
The mother of three said she felt “a bit hurt when I heard the news but I wasn’t scared”, even though she baulked at the idea of surgery. An early date for surgery was scheduled but Deochand said she turned up on the date to inform the doctors that she was not doing it. Even after the seriousness of her illness was explained by the doctors she opted not to.
Her relatives, inclusive of her two older children, encouraged her to travel to the US to get a second opinion. She did so just before the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality and was told that both of her breasts were cancerous and she needed emergency surgery.
Asked how she felt at that moment, Deochand responded: “My sister, if the earth could have opened I would have go down. It break my heart to know both breasts; how am I going to live? And eventually I started crying but the doctor was so nice to me… she kind of comfort me and try to console me and I said, ‘okay doc I would do the surgery’.”
After leaving the doctor’s office, Deochand said, she sat “down all by myself and I think it over” and she reasoned that it was not the end of the world.
The surgery lasted for three and a half hours, following which she had home care attendants who ensured that she recovered.
However, two days before Mother’s Day 2020 she was told she had to do another surgery because the cancer was spreading. A second surgery was done and “it was a life-changing experience for me until a day like today,” she said.
Chemo
Eventually, Deochand returned to Guyana and when she visited her local clinic she was advised to undergo chemotherapy.
“When I did my first chemo, in less than a week, my hair start falling out. Chemo is such a hard thing. It make me feel weak. I couldn’t stomach anything and then I had no one to do anything for me so you can imagine what was going on with me,” she related.
She lives with her husband and her youngest son and according to the woman, who was close to tears, she got no support from them.
In the end, her brother took her to his home where care was provided for her, which helped her to overcome the effects of the chemotherapy. Her doctor in New York later encouraged her not to continue with the chemo since her estrogen level was very low.
She returned to the US last year and cancerous lymph nodes were removed from her armpits. In January this year she again went for a follow-up and has been back home since July.
“My experience… It was not a good thing to see. I had to come out and start to work to help upkeep myself over there. Life was so changing…,” the woman struggled to say.
Deochand, who worked as a domestic for most of her life, said the cancer has weakened her body. Since she returned she has gotten a job as a sales representative and she works six days a week.
“It is poor support that I have to come out and work. They work but if I ask them for a dime, they don’t have to give me,” she said of her relatives with whom she lives.
“My dear I am going through a lot…, and it is not an easy thing. Many days I would sit and cry because to see the reaction of my family, it is not an easy task,” she continued almost close to tears.
But Deochand said she is not one to go about being “sorrowful” and once she is out of her house, she is a “joyful person who love to laugh and make jokes and nobody would know the inner side”.
The need to talk
Deochand said she felt the need to talk about her cancer because, “sickness is something you not supposed to be ashamed about or hide. Giving my view can make somebody stronger and they would know what to look out for…”
She was expected to return to the US this month but Deochand said it seems as an impossibility since she would have to find her own airfare and money to upkeep herself and the funds are just not there.
At present, Deochand said, she is not close to any of her children, not even the son with whom she lives and she is unclear “why they are treating me like this. When I need all the support I am not getting it and it is hard as a mother…
“Before cancer they used to call me, talk to me, they used to keep close to me… It left me with a pain every time I think about it and I ask why is it my children treating me like this? I can’t understand. They are not saying anything. If I try calling my son he would not answer. I’d message him; he would read the message and not respond…”
Deochand said most of her siblings have been supportive but she does not “want to be a burden to anyone”. She has a particular sister who, along with her children, would call daily to ensure that all is well and for that she is grateful. “They would check on me, more than how my children would check on me,” she said.
She believes her children are of the opinion that “I did surgeries and everything is bright and beautiful and everything is normal but everything is not normal. Some days I am not myself
but I just put faith in God. I do any kind of work but sometimes when I force myself I does feel like something just open up in me, a pain.”
Even before the cancer, Deochand said, she had been estranged from her husband. While they live in the same house, they have not been husband and wife in the true sense for years. Her husband has never asked her about the cancer journey.
However, she continues to “wash, cook and clean for my husband and son” she said. “Even now every day I cook and wash. My husband buys the food and he pay the bills. He buys the food, he does not give me the money and if I ask for anything I don’t get any. He does not buy anything personal for me so I have to keep working to get things for myself,” she shared.
“Sometimes I feel like going away but where would I go? I don’t want to go and burden anybody but I am trying and praying hard to get a home because I would work and make myself comfortable because I am not a lazy person.
“Right now I want peace because having cancer you can’t stress because it is a possibility that it comes back,” she pointed out.
She is grateful for the support she has received from the Guyana Cancer Foundation and its founder Bibi Hassan who has been a source of moral strength.
“She is very supportive not just in words and encouragement and through the foundation you get to meet and interact with a lot of people and you know that you are not alone. It is like a family there,” she said.
Deochand said she looks forward to participating in the activities planned by the foundation for this month.
Activities
The Guyana Cancer Foundation has planned a number of activities to observe this month and these include a fundraising High Tea Party at Pegasus on 27th October.
National Mammography Day is October 21st and this will be held at the foundation’s East Street location.
The Breast Cancer Awareness Walk is on October 23rd from 6 am. It begins at the Kingston Seawall (Band Stand end), goes through Main Street to the Bank of Guyana and returns to the seawall.
A Candlelight Vigil will be held from 6:30 on October 28th at the foundation’s East Street location. For further information, Hassan can be contacted on 618-2085 or 624-3121.
