By Shauna Jemmott

IFEYANA Pompey-Roberts was just 14-years-old when she fell off a tree and hit her breast on an abject. Later that year she felt a lump in her breast. Ten years later, she was diagnosed with ‘grade 1’ breast cancer.Ifeyana knew little of the disease but was aware that both her father’s parents died as a result of the dreaded disease, and like many women today, she feared the thought of a death sentence after feeling the trespassing lump.

For years she refused to walk into the doctor’s office, until one particular day.
“It becomes painful and bigger so I went to the doctor and I did a biopsy. The result shows I have cancer.”

I felt a terrible fear and thought it was the end. But when she was 20-years-old, Ifeyana gave birth to her first child – a daughter.
“I didn’t want to nurse her on the breast with the lump (and) I get an abscess on it. The abscess heals up and I leave it alone.”

Hearing the doctor’s revelation at 24-years-old, she said “I lost it. I start to cry thinking I am going to die young. I grieve for days.”

The news tore her family apart, as the man with whom she shared a common-law relationship walked away, strengthening her thought that survival was impossible.
“Then I say I will live my life and when time to die I will die. I am not going to do no treatment.”

An aunt, Wendy, convinced her to revisit the doctor and she knew her options then. “(The doctor said) I have to remove the breast. I asked him if he is crazy. I am 25 years old, how I am going to live with one breast. I say I am not doing it. My aunt say think about your daughter.”

That was the moment she secluded herself and drifted into reflections and deep thought.
Ifeyana had spent her childhood without her mom. She lived in an extended family in Two Friends Village, East Coast Demerara with her grandparents, father, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and step-mom. Life was good, but not easy. Her mom died leaving her and four other siblings while the last of them was just a few months old.

While her father worked hard to maintain them, her responsibilities as the eldest were great. Dad remarried and produced other children, and she also had an older sister Ayana. The thought of her daughter growing up without a mother became unbearable.

HARD DECISION
“I want to live for her so I decided to remove it. From the doctor office my aunt take me to the cancer society (and) they gave me some booklets.”

She read and researched on cancer, the disease to which she had just become victim, and realised she had a 90 per cent chance of becoming a survivor. But after breaking the news to her then partner, “he didn’t say anything. He left (and) he didn’t return until about three days. The same day I went to get some sleeping clothes to go in the hospital to remove the breast, that same day he moved out”.

Though she had made up her mind, Ifeyana said she battled with devastation, shame and a broken heart. Still battling whether or not to undergo the surgery, a persistent aunt and awareness about the disease gave her the courage to make the hard decision.

“But I had to for my daughter. So I went (and) I remove the breast. That was the hardest thing I ever did. I was so ashamed. My aunt was there encouraging me to fight back. So more I read about cancer more I get the courage to fight back.”

Ifeyana said she travelled to Trinidad for radiation therapy and chemotherapy therapy, and with the use of some herbal medicine and family support, “I beat cancer.”

Getting rid of the infected breast and a man who did not love her enough to support her through her difficult times brought her a new beginning.
“I get four children and married after beating cancer and today I am still cancer -free and going strong in God grace,” she confessed.

Ifeyana is advising those diagnosed with cancer to never give up the fight.
“First ask your doctor about your diagnosis then educate yourself about it … take the treatment. I know the treatment is hard. Your diet is very important. The healthier you are the stronger you become (and) the less side effects you will get.

A diagnosis of cancer is not usually the end. Never stop fighting, no matter what… With God anything is possible,” she said.

Ifeyana has now joined others in raising awareness about cancer. At the beginning of her awareness campaigns, she proudly states, “My name is Ifeyana Pompey Roberts. I am a cancer survivor for 17 years.”